How to: Create a Basic Code Snippet

Create an XML file, and then open it in the editor.

Below the automatically generated line of XML, add a CodeSnippets element with the proper xmlns attribute value, and a CodeSnippet element to create an individual code snippet. For example:

<CodeSnippets xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
    <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">

Add a header section to the code snippet. For example:

<Header>
    <Title>
        My Snippet
    </Title>
</Header>

Add the elements that define the code snippet itself. In the following example, the language of the code snippet is Visual Basic.

<Snippet>
    <Code Language="VB">

    </Code>
</Snippet>

Note
The Language attribute also accepts the values CSharp, VJSharp, and XML. For more information, see Code Element (IntelliSense Code Snippets).

Inside the Code element, add the Visual Basic code for the snippet. All snippet code must be placed between <![CDATA[ and ]]> brackets. In the following example, the code that will be inserted is MessageBox.Show("Hello World").

<Code Language="VB">
    <![CDATA[MessageBox.Show("Hello World")]]>
</Code>

Inside the Snippet element, add the References element and all of the required child elements that add a reference to the project when the snippet is inserted. In this example, the code snippet adds a reference to System.Windows.Forms.dll when the snippet is inserted.

Note
Only Visual Basic code snippets support the References section. Code snippets in other languages require that the correct references be added manually.

<Snippet>
    <References>
        <Reference>
            <Assembly>System.Windows.Forms.dll</Assembly>
        </Reference>
    </References>
    <Code Language="VB">
        <![CDATA[MessageBox.Show("Hello World")]]>
    </Code>
</Snippet>

From the File menu, click Save <filename> As…, and save the file in Drive:\...\Documents\Visual Studio Version\Code Snippets\Language\with a .snippet extension.

For example, you can save the file according to the following path and name: \...\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Code Snippets\Visual Basic\HelloWorldMsgBox.snippet