Navigating in the Object Browser

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The Object Browser displays container objects within each component being browsed in the Objects pane and their corresponding members in the Members pane. Selecting an object or member displays detailed information about it in the Description pane. For information on what displays in the Object Browser and how, see Object Browser Elements.

The contents of the Objects pane display in a tree view. Objects can be expanded or collapsed. Expanding an object displays additional information about it, such as base classes and interfaces, implemented interfaces, available overrides, and so forth.

As you select objects and members, they are added to the Object Browser's history list. You can use the Back and Forward buttons on the Object Browser toolbar to move through the history list.

To move from a symbol to a related symbol

  1. Select the symbol in the Objects or Members pane.

    This updates the Description pane to display related symbols, such as the parent object, parameter and return types, and default constant values.

  2. In the Description pane, click the link to the desired related symbol.

The Object Browser displays the related symbol. This symbol is also added to the history list.

To move through the history list

  1. Click the Back (left arrow) button to go back to the previously selected symbol. You can do this repeatedly to navigate through previously selected symbols until you reach the first browsed symbol.
  2. Click the Forward (right arrow) button to return to the selected symbol. You can do this repeatedly until you reach the currently selected symbol.

If you go back using the Back button and then select another symbol, all entries in the forward part of the history list are cleared.

To go to your code from the Object Browser

  1. Select the symbol in the Objects or Members pane.

  2. Right-click to display the shortcut menu and choose Go To Definition.

    Alternately, double-click the symbol. This displays the definition of the symbol in the code.

  3. In Visual C++, an additional command Go To Declaration is also available for some symbols. This displays the declaration for the symbol in the code, typically in the header file.

Use the shortcut keys for the commands View.ObjectBrowserBack (ALT + -) or View.ObjectBrowserForward (SHIFT + ALT + -), to quickly navigate to the next or previous definition, declaration, or reference of an item.

Note   The commands to view the symbol's source code are typically available only for symbols in your projects.

To open the Object Browser, either press CTRL+ALT+J, choose Object Browser on the View menu, or click the Object Browser button on the main toolbar.

In addition, the Browse Definition command, available from different parts of the IDE, allows you to go to the chosen symbol in the Object Browser. This command is typically available on symbols in the Code editor, Class View, Find Symbol Results, and so forth.

This command is also available on deeply nested nodes in the Object Browser **** and is useful for moving to the primary node for that symbol in the Object Browser. For example, invoking the Browse Definition command on CObject under CMyDialog takes you to the top level CObject node:

CMyDialog
   Bases and Interfaces
      CMyChildWindow
         CObject
<symbol>
<symbol>
...
CObject  (Browse Definition takes you to this node.)

See Also

Object Browser Elements | Using .bsc Files to Browse to References of C++ Symbols | Searching for Symbols: Objects, Definitions and References | Viewing and Altering the Browsing Scope