Share via

Formatting, C/C++, Text Editor, Options Dialog Box

  • Article

Lets you change the default behavior of the Code Editor when you are programming in C or C++.

To access this page, in the Options dialog box, in the left pane, expand Text Editor, expand C/C++, and then click Formatting.

Note

Your computer might show different names or locations for some of the Visual Studio user interface elements in the following instructions. The Visual Studio edition that you have and the settings that you use determine these elements. For more information, see Working with Settings.

C/C++ Options

  • Enable automatic Quick Info ToolTips
    Enables or disables the Quick Info IntelliSense feature.

Inactive Code

  • Show Inactive Code Blocks
    Code that is inactive due to #ifdef declarations are colorized differently to help you identify it.

  • Disable Inactive Code Opacity
    Inactive code can be identified by using color instead of transparency.

  • Inactive Code Opacity Percent
    The degree of opacity for inactive code blocks can be customized.

Indentation

  • Indent Braces
    You can configure how braces are aligned when you press ENTER after you begin a code block, for example, a function or a for loop. The braces can either be aligned with the first character of the code block or indented.

  • Automatic Indentation On Tab
    You can configure what happens on the current code line when you press TAB. Either the line is indented or a tab is inserted.

Miscellaneous

  • Enumerate the comments in the Task List window
    The editor can scan open source files for preset words in the comments. It creates an entry in the Task List window for any keywords that it finds. For more information about the Task List window see Task List (Visual Studio).

  • Highlight Matching Tokens
    When the cursor is next to a brace, the editor can highlight the matching brace so that you can more easily see the contained code.

Outlining

  • Enter outlining mode when files open
    When you bring a file into the text editor, you can enable the outlining feature. For more information, see How to: Outline and Hide Code. When this option is selected, the outlining feature is enabled when you open a file.

  • Automatic outlining of #pragma region blocks
    When this option is selected, automatic outlining for pragma directives is enabled. This lets you expand or collapse pragma region blocks in outlining mode.

  • Automatic outlining of statement blocks
    When this option is selected, automatic outlining is enabled for the following statement constructs:

See Also

Tasks

How to: Set Editor Tab and Indent Options

Reference

General, Environment, Options Dialog Box