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Walkthrough: Implement code snippets

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Applies to: yesVisual Studio noVisual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

You can create code snippets and include them in an editor extension so that users of the extension can add them to their own code.

A code snippet is a fragment of code or other text that can be incorporated in a file. To view all snippets that have been registered for particular programming languages, on the Tools menu, click Code Snippet Manager. To insert a snippet in a file, right-click where you want the snippet, click Insert Snippet, or Surround With, locate the snippet you want, and then double-click it. Press Tab or Shift+Tab to modify the relevant parts of the snippet and then press Enter or Esc to accept it. For more information, see Code snippets.

A code snippet is contained in an XML file that has the .snippet* file name extension. A snippet can contain fields that are highlighted after the snippet is inserted so that the user can find and change them. A snippet file also provides information for the Code Snippet Manager so that it can display the snippet name in the correct category. For information about the snippet schema, see Code snippets schema reference.

This walkthrough teaches how to accomplish these tasks:

  1. Create and register code snippets for a specific language.

  2. Add the Insert Snippet command to a shortcut menu.

  3. Implement snippet expansion.

    This walkthrough is based on Walkthrough: Display statement completion.

Prerequisites

Starting in Visual Studio 2015, you don't install the Visual Studio SDK from the download center. It's included as an optional feature in Visual Studio setup. You can also install the VS SDK later on. For more information, see Install the Visual Studio SDK.

Create and register code snippets

Typically, code snippets are associated with a registered language service. However, you do not have to implement a LanguageService to register code snippets. Instead, just specify a GUID in the snippet index file and then use the same GUID in the ProvideLanguageCodeExpansionAttribute that you add to your project.

The following steps demonstrate how to create code snippets and associate them with a specific GUID.

  1. Create the following directory structure:

    %InstallDir%\TestSnippets\Snippets\1033\

    where %InstallDir% is the Visual Studio installation folder. (Although this path is typically used to install code snippets, you can specify any path.)

  2. In the \1033\ folder, create an .xml file and name it TestSnippets.xml. (Although this name is typically used for a snippet index file, you can specify any name as long as it has an .xml file name extension.) Add the following text, and then delete the placeholder GUID and add your own.

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<SnippetCollection>
    <Language Lang="TestSnippets" Guid="{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}">
        <SnippetDir>
            <OnOff>On</OnOff>
            <Installed>true</Installed>
            <Locale>1033</Locale>
            <DirPath>%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\</DirPath>
            <LocalizedName>Snippets</LocalizedName>
        </SnippetDir>
    </Language>
</SnippetCollection>

  3. Create a file in the snippet folder, name it test.snippet, and then add the following text:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
    <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
        <Header>
            <Title>Test replacement fields</Title>
            <Shortcut>test</Shortcut>
            <Description>Code snippet for testing replacement fields</Description>
            <Author>MSIT</Author>
            <SnippetTypes>
                <SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
            </SnippetTypes>
        </Header>
        <Snippet>
            <Declarations>
                <Literal>
                  <ID>param1</ID>
                    <ToolTip>First field</ToolTip>
                    <Default>first</Default>
                </Literal>
                <Literal>
                    <ID>param2</ID>
                    <ToolTip>Second field</ToolTip>
                    <Default>second</Default>
                </Literal>
            </Declarations>
            <References>
               <Reference>
                   <Assembly>System.Windows.Forms.dll</Assembly>
               </Reference>
            </References>
            <Code Language="TestSnippets">
                <![CDATA[MessageBox.Show("$param1$");
     MessageBox.Show("$param2$");]]>
            </Code>
        </Snippet>
    </CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

    The following steps show how to register the code snippets.

To register code snippets for a specific GUID

  1. Open the CompletionTest project. For information about how to create this project, see Walkthrough: Display statement completion.

  2. In the project, add references to the following assemblies:

    • Microsoft.VisualStudio.TextManager.Interop

    • Microsoft.VisualStudio.TextManager.Interop.8.0

    • microsoft.msxml

  3. In the project, open the source.extension.vsixmanifest file.

  4. Make sure that the Assets tab contains a VsPackage content type and that Project is set to the name of the project.

  5. Select the CompletionTest project and in the Properties window set Generate Pkgdef File to true. Save the project.

  6. Add a static SnippetUtilities class to the project.

    static class SnippetUtilities

    Module SnippetUtilities

  7. In the SnippetUtilities class, define a GUID and give it the value that you used in the SnippetsIndex.xml file.

    internal const string LanguageServiceGuidStr = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000";

    Friend Const LanguageServiceGuidStr As String = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000"

  8. Add the ProvideLanguageCodeExpansionAttribute to the TestCompletionHandler class. This attribute can be added to any public or internal (non-static) class in the project. (You may have to add a using directive for the Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell namespace.)

    [ProvideLanguageCodeExpansion(
SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr,
"TestSnippets", //the language name
0,              //the resource id of the language
"TestSnippets", //the language ID used in the .snippet files
@"%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\TestSnippets.xml",
    //the path of the index file
SearchPaths = @"%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\",
ForceCreateDirs = @"%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\")]
internal class TestCompletionCommandHandler : IOleCommandTarget

    <ProvideLanguageCodeExpansion(
SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr,
"TestSnippets",
0,
"TestSnippets",
"%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\SnippetsIndex.xml",
SearchPaths:="%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\",
ForceCreateDirs:="%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\")>
Friend Class TestCompletionCommandHandler
    Implements IOleCommandTarget

  9. Build and run the project. In the experimental instance of Visual Studio that starts when the project is run, the snippet you just registered should be displayed in the Code Snippets Manager under the TestSnippets language.

Add the Insert Snippet command to the shortcut menu

The Insert Snippet command is not included on the shortcut menu for a text file. Therefore, you must enable the command.

To add the Insert Snippet command to the shortcut menu

  1. Open the TestCompletionCommandHandler class file.

    Because this class implements IOleCommandTarget, you can activate the Insert Snippet command in the QueryStatus method. Before you enable the command, check that this method is not being called inside an automation function because when the Insert Snippet command is clicked, it displays the snippet picker user interface (UI).

    public int QueryStatus(ref Guid pguidCmdGroup, uint cCmds, OLECMD[] prgCmds, IntPtr pCmdText)
{
    if (!VsShellUtilities.IsInAutomationFunction(m_provider.ServiceProvider))
    {
        if (pguidCmdGroup == VSConstants.VSStd2K && cCmds > 0)
        {
            // make the Insert Snippet command appear on the context menu 
            if ((uint)prgCmds[0].cmdID == (uint)VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.INSERTSNIPPET)
            {
                prgCmds[0].cmdf = (int)Constants.MSOCMDF_ENABLED | (int)Constants.MSOCMDF_SUPPORTED;
                return VSConstants.S_OK;
            }
        }
    }

    return m_nextCommandHandler.QueryStatus(ref pguidCmdGroup, cCmds, prgCmds, pCmdText);
}

    Public Function QueryStatus(ByRef pguidCmdGroup As Guid, ByVal cCmds As UInteger, ByVal prgCmds As OLECMD(), ByVal pCmdText As IntPtr) As Integer Implements IOleCommandTarget.QueryStatus
    If Not VsShellUtilities.IsInAutomationFunction(m_provider.ServiceProvider) Then
        If pguidCmdGroup = VSConstants.VSStd2K AndAlso cCmds > 0 Then
            ' make the Insert Snippet command appear on the context menu 
            If CUInt(prgCmds(0).cmdID) = CUInt(VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.INSERTSNIPPET) Then
                prgCmds(0).cmdf = CInt(Constants.MSOCMDF_ENABLED) Or CInt(Constants.MSOCMDF_SUPPORTED)
                Return VSConstants.S_OK
            End If
        End If
    End If

    Return m_nextCommandHandler.QueryStatus(pguidCmdGroup, cCmds, prgCmds, pCmdText)
End Function

  2. Build and run the project. In the experimental instance, open a file that has the .zzz file name extension and then right-click anywhere in it. The Insert Snippet command should appear on the shortcut menu.

Implement snippet expansion in the Snippet Picker UI

This section shows how to implement code snippet expansion so that the snippet picker UI is displayed when Insert Snippet is clicked on the shortcut menu. A code snippet is also expanded when a user types the code-snippet shortcut and then presses Tab.

To display the snippet picker UI and to enable navigation and post-insertion snippet acceptance, use the Exec method. The insertion itself is handled by the OnItemChosen method.

The implementation of code snippet expansion uses legacy Microsoft.VisualStudio.TextManager.Interop interfaces. When you translate from the current editor classes to the legacy code, remember that the legacy interfaces use a combination of line numbers and column numbers to specify locations in a text buffer, but the current classes use one index. Therefore, if a buffer has three lines each of which has 10 characters (plus a newline, which counts as one character), the fourth character on the third line is at position 27 in the current implementation, but it is at line 2, position 3 in the old implementation.

To implement snippet expansion

  1. To the file that contains the TestCompletionCommandHandler class, add the following using directives.

    using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Text.Operations;
using MSXML;
using System.ComponentModel.Composition;

    Imports Microsoft.VisualStudio.Text.Operations
Imports MSXML

  2. Make the TestCompletionCommandHandler class implement the IVsExpansionClient interface.

    internal class TestCompletionCommandHandler : IOleCommandTarget, IVsExpansionClient

    <ProvideLanguageCodeExpansion(
SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr,
"TestSnippets",
0,
"TestSnippets",
"%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\SnippetsIndex.xml",
SearchPaths:="%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\",
ForceCreateDirs:="%InstallRoot%\TestSnippets\Snippets\%LCID%\")>
Friend Class TestCompletionCommandHandler
    Implements IOleCommandTarget
    Implements IVsExpansionClient

  3. In the TestCompletionCommandHandlerProvider class, import the ITextStructureNavigatorSelectorService.

    [Import]
internal ITextStructureNavigatorSelectorService NavigatorService { get; set; }

    <Import()>
Friend Property NavigatorService As ITextStructureNavigatorSelectorService

  4. Add some private fields for the code expansion interfaces and the IVsTextView.

    IVsTextView m_vsTextView;
IVsExpansionManager m_exManager;
IVsExpansionSession m_exSession;

    Dim m_vsTextView As IVsTextView
Dim m_exManager As IVsExpansionManager
Dim m_exSession As IVsExpansionSession

  5. In the constructor of the TestCompletionCommandHandler class, set the following fields.

    internal TestCompletionCommandHandler(IVsTextView textViewAdapter, ITextView textView, TestCompletionHandlerProvider provider)
{
    this.m_textView = textView;
    m_vsTextView = textViewAdapter;
    m_provider = provider;
    //get the text manager from the service provider
    IVsTextManager2 textManager = (IVsTextManager2)m_provider.ServiceProvider.GetService(typeof(SVsTextManager));
    textManager.GetExpansionManager(out m_exManager);
    m_exSession = null;

    //add the command to the command chain
    textViewAdapter.AddCommandFilter(this, out m_nextCommandHandler);
}

    Friend Sub New(ByVal textViewAdapter As IVsTextView, ByVal textView As ITextView, ByVal provider As TestCompletionHandlerProvider)
    Me.m_textView = textView
    Me.m_provider = provider
    Me.m_vsTextView = textViewAdapter

    Dim textManager As IVsTextManager2 = DirectCast(m_provider.ServiceProvider.GetService(GetType(SVsTextManager)), IVsTextManager2)
    textManager.GetExpansionManager(m_exManager)
    m_exSession = Nothing

    'add the command to the command chain
    textViewAdapter.AddCommandFilter(Me, m_nextCommandHandler)
End Sub

  6. To display the snippet picker when the user clicks the Insert Snippet command, add the following code to the Exec method. (To make this explanation more readable, the Exec()code that's used for statement completion is not shown; instead, blocks of code are added to the existing method.) Add the following block of code after the code that checks for a character.

    //code previously written for Exec
if (pguidCmdGroup == VSConstants.VSStd2K && nCmdID == (uint)VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.TYPECHAR)
{
    typedChar = (char)(ushort)Marshal.GetObjectForNativeVariant(pvaIn);
}
//the snippet picker code starts here
if (nCmdID == (uint)VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.INSERTSNIPPET)
{
    IVsTextManager2 textManager = (IVsTextManager2)m_provider.ServiceProvider.GetService(typeof(SVsTextManager));

    textManager.GetExpansionManager(out m_exManager);

    m_exManager.InvokeInsertionUI(
        m_vsTextView,
        this,      //the expansion client
        new Guid(SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr),
        null,       //use all snippet types
        0,          //number of types (0 for all)
        0,          //ignored if iCountTypes == 0
        null,       //use all snippet kinds
        0,          //use all snippet kinds
        0,          //ignored if iCountTypes == 0
        "TestSnippets", //the text to show in the prompt
        string.Empty);  //only the ENTER key causes insert 

    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

    'code previously written for Exec
If pguidCmdGroup = VSConstants.VSStd2K AndAlso nCmdID = CUInt(VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.TYPECHAR) Then
    typedChar = ChrW(CUShort(Marshal.GetObjectForNativeVariant(pvaIn)))
End If
'the snippet picker code starts here
If nCmdID = CUInt(VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.INSERTSNIPPET) Then
    Dim textManager As IVsTextManager2 = DirectCast(m_provider.ServiceProvider.GetService(GetType(SVsTextManager)), IVsTextManager2)

    textManager.GetExpansionManager(m_exManager)
    m_exManager.InvokeInsertionUI(
        m_vsTextView,
        Me,
        New Guid(SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr),
        Nothing,
        0,
        0,
        Nothing,
        0,
        0,
        "TestSnippets",
        String.Empty)
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End If

  7. If a snippet has fields that can be navigated, the expansion session is kept open until the expansion is explicitly accepted; if the snippet has no fields, the session is closed and is returned as null by the InvokeInsertionUI method. In the Exec method, after the snippet picker UI code that you added in the previous step, add the following code to handle snippet navigation (when the user presses Tab or Shift+Tab after snippet insertion).

    //the expansion insertion is handled in OnItemChosen
//if the expansion session is still active, handle tab/backtab/return/cancel
if (m_exSession != null)
{
    if (nCmdID == (uint)VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.BACKTAB)
    {
        m_exSession.GoToPreviousExpansionField();
        return VSConstants.S_OK;
    }
    else if (nCmdID == (uint)VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.TAB)
    {

        m_exSession.GoToNextExpansionField(0); //false to support cycling through all the fields
        return VSConstants.S_OK;
    }
    else if (nCmdID == (uint)VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.RETURN || nCmdID == (uint)VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.CANCEL)
    {
        if (m_exSession.EndCurrentExpansion(0) == VSConstants.S_OK)
        {
            m_exSession = null;
            return VSConstants.S_OK;
        }
    }
}

    'the expansion insertion is handled in OnItemChosen
'if the expansion session is still active, handle tab/backtab/return/cancel
If m_exSession IsNot Nothing Then
    If nCmdID = CUInt(VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.BACKTAB) Then
        m_exSession.GoToPreviousExpansionField()
        Return VSConstants.S_OK
    ElseIf nCmdID = CUInt(VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.TAB) Then
        m_exSession.GoToNextExpansionField(0)
        'false to support cycling through all the fields
        Return VSConstants.S_OK
    ElseIf nCmdID = CUInt(VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.[RETURN]) OrElse nCmdID = CUInt(VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.CANCEL) Then
        If m_exSession.EndCurrentExpansion(0) = VSConstants.S_OK Then
            m_exSession = Nothing
            Return VSConstants.S_OK
        End If
    End If
End If

  8. To insert the code snippet when the user types the corresponding shortcut and then presses Tab, add code to the Exec method. The private method that inserts the snippet will be shown in a later step. Add the following code after the navigation code that you added in the previous step.

    //neither an expansion session nor a completion session is open, but we got a tab, so check whether the last word typed is a snippet shortcut 
if (m_session == null && m_exSession == null && nCmdID == (uint)VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.TAB)
{
    //get the word that was just added 
    CaretPosition pos = m_textView.Caret.Position;
    TextExtent word = m_provider.NavigatorService.GetTextStructureNavigator(m_textView.TextBuffer).GetExtentOfWord(pos.BufferPosition - 1); //use the position 1 space back
    string textString = word.Span.GetText(); //the word that was just added
    //if it is a code snippet, insert it, otherwise carry on
    if (InsertAnyExpansion(textString, null, null))
        return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

    'neither an expansion session nor a completion session is open, but we got a tab, so check whether the last word typed is a snippet shortcut 
If m_session Is Nothing AndAlso m_exSession Is Nothing AndAlso nCmdID = CUInt(VSConstants.VSStd2KCmdID.TAB) Then
    'get the word that was just added 
    Dim pos As CaretPosition = m_textView.Caret.Position
    Dim word As TextExtent = m_provider.NavigatorService.GetTextStructureNavigator(m_textView.TextBuffer).GetExtentOfWord(pos.BufferPosition - 1)
    Dim textString As String = word.Span.GetText()
    'if it is a code snippet, insert it, otherwise carry on
    If InsertAnyExpansion(textString, Nothing, Nothing) Then
        Return VSConstants.S_OK
    End If
End If

  9. Implement the methods of the IVsExpansionClient interface. In this implementation, the only methods of interest are EndExpansion and OnItemChosen. The other methods should just return S_OK.

    public int EndExpansion()
{
    m_exSession = null;
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

public int FormatSpan(IVsTextLines pBuffer, TextSpan[] ts)
{
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

public int GetExpansionFunction(IXMLDOMNode xmlFunctionNode, string bstrFieldName, out IVsExpansionFunction pFunc)
{
    pFunc = null;
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

public int IsValidKind(IVsTextLines pBuffer, TextSpan[] ts, string bstrKind, out int pfIsValidKind)
{
    pfIsValidKind = 1;
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

public int IsValidType(IVsTextLines pBuffer, TextSpan[] ts, string[] rgTypes, int iCountTypes, out int pfIsValidType)
{
    pfIsValidType = 1;
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

public int OnAfterInsertion(IVsExpansionSession pSession)
{
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

public int OnBeforeInsertion(IVsExpansionSession pSession)
{
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

public int PositionCaretForEditing(IVsTextLines pBuffer, TextSpan[] ts)
{
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

    Public Function EndExpansion() As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.EndExpansion
    m_exSession = Nothing
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

Public Function FormatSpan(ByVal pBuffer As IVsTextLines, ByVal ts As TextSpan()) As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.FormatSpan
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

Public Function GetExpansionFunction(ByVal xmlFunctionNode As IXMLDOMNode, ByVal bstrFieldName As String, ByRef pFunc As IVsExpansionFunction) As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.GetExpansionFunction
    pFunc = Nothing
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

Public Function IsValidKind(ByVal pBuffer As IVsTextLines, ByVal ts As TextSpan(), ByVal bstrKind As String, ByRef pfIsValidKind As Integer) As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.IsValidKind
    pfIsValidKind = 1
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

Public Function IsValidType(ByVal pBuffer As IVsTextLines, ByVal ts() As TextSpan, ByVal rgTypes() As String, ByVal iCountTypes As Integer, ByRef pfIsValidType As Integer) As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.IsValidType
    pfIsValidType = 1
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

Public Function OnAfterInsertion(ByVal pSession As IVsExpansionSession) As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.OnAfterInsertion
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

Public Function OnBeforeInsertion(ByVal pSession As IVsExpansionSession) As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.OnBeforeInsertion
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

Public Function PositionCaretForEditing(ByVal pBuffer As IVsTextLines, ByVal ts As TextSpan()) As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.PositionCaretForEditing
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

  10. Implement the OnItemChosen method. The helper method that actually inserts the expansions is covered in a later step. The TextSpan provides line and column information, which you can get from the IVsTextView.

    public int OnItemChosen(string pszTitle, string pszPath)
{
    InsertAnyExpansion(null, pszTitle, pszPath);
    return VSConstants.S_OK;
}

    Public Function OnItemChosen(ByVal pszTitle As String, ByVal pszPath As String) As Integer Implements IVsExpansionClient.OnItemChosen
    InsertAnyExpansion(Nothing, pszTitle, pszPath)
    Return VSConstants.S_OK
End Function

  11. The following private method inserts a code snippet, based either on the shortcut or on the title and path. It then calls the InsertNamedExpansion method with the snippet.

    private bool InsertAnyExpansion(string shortcut, string title, string path)
{
    //first get the location of the caret, and set up a TextSpan
    int endColumn, startLine;
    //get the column number from  the IVsTextView, not the ITextView
    m_vsTextView.GetCaretPos(out startLine, out endColumn);

    TextSpan addSpan = new TextSpan();
    addSpan.iStartIndex = endColumn;
    addSpan.iEndIndex = endColumn;
    addSpan.iStartLine = startLine;
    addSpan.iEndLine = startLine;

    if (shortcut != null) //get the expansion from the shortcut
    {
        //reset the TextSpan to the width of the shortcut, 
        //because we're going to replace the shortcut with the expansion
        addSpan.iStartIndex = addSpan.iEndIndex - shortcut.Length;

        m_exManager.GetExpansionByShortcut(
            this,
            new Guid(SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr),
            shortcut,
            m_vsTextView,
            new TextSpan[] { addSpan },
            0,
            out path,
            out title);

    }
    if (title != null && path != null)
    {
        IVsTextLines textLines;
        m_vsTextView.GetBuffer(out textLines);
        IVsExpansion bufferExpansion = (IVsExpansion)textLines;

        if (bufferExpansion != null)
        {
            int hr = bufferExpansion.InsertNamedExpansion(
                title,
                path,
                addSpan,
                this,
                new Guid(SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr),
                0,
               out m_exSession);
            if (VSConstants.S_OK == hr)
            {
                return true;
            }
        }
    }
    return false;
}

    Private Function InsertAnyExpansion(ByVal shortcut As String, ByVal title As String, ByVal path As String) As Boolean
    Dim endColumn As Integer, startLine As Integer
    'get the column number from  the IVsTextView, not the ITextView
    m_vsTextView.GetCaretPos(startLine, endColumn)

    Dim addSpan As New TextSpan()
    addSpan.iStartIndex = endColumn
    addSpan.iEndIndex = endColumn
    addSpan.iStartLine = startLine
    addSpan.iEndLine = startLine

    'get the expansion from the shortcut
    If shortcut IsNot Nothing Then
        'reset the TextSpan to the width of the shortcut, because we're going to replace the shortcut with the expansion
        addSpan.iStartIndex = addSpan.iEndIndex - shortcut.Length

        m_exManager.GetExpansionByShortcut(
            Me,
            New Guid(SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr),
            shortcut,
            m_vsTextView,
            New TextSpan() {addSpan},
            0,
            path,
            title)
    End If
    If title IsNot Nothing AndAlso path IsNot Nothing Then
        Dim textLines As IVsTextLines = Nothing
        m_vsTextView.GetBuffer(textLines)
        Dim bufferExpansion As IVsExpansion = DirectCast(textLines, IVsExpansion)

        If bufferExpansion IsNot Nothing Then
            Dim hr As Integer = bufferExpansion.InsertNamedExpansion(
                title,
                path,
                addSpan,
                Me,
                New Guid(SnippetUtilities.LanguageServiceGuidStr),
                0,
                m_exSession)
            If VSConstants.S_OK = hr Then
                Return True
            End If
        End If
    End If
    Return False
End Function

Build and test code snippet expansion

You can test whether snippet expansion works in your project.

  1. Build the solution. When you run this project in the debugger, a second instance of Visual Studio is started.

  2. Open a text file and type some text.

  3. Right-click somewhere in the text and then click Insert Snippet.

  4. The snippet picker UI should appear with a pop-up that says Test replacement fields. Double-click the pop-up.

    The following snippet should be inserted.

    MessageBox.Show("first");
MessageBox.Show("second");

    Don't press Enter or Esc.

  5. Press Tab and Shift+Tab to toggle between "first" and "second".

  6. Accept the insertion by pressing either Enter or Esc.

  7. In a different part of the text, type "test" and then press Tab. Because "test" is the code-snippet shortcut, the snippet should be inserted again.

Next steps