VSPackage State

  • Article

Many factors determine the set of persisted values, or state, of a Visual Studio application.

  • Projects have project and configuration properties.

  • Solutions have properties.

  • User settings determine the size and position of document windows, tool windows, docking state, and keyboard shortcuts.

  • Applications can have options that a user sets.

  • Objects that an application creates can have properties of their own.

    Here are some of the ways that a Visual Studio application state can be managed:

  • Through the project and solution property pages.

  • Through the Import and Export Settings Wizard, which enables a user to move settings from one computer to another.

  • Through the Options dialog box, which includes options related to applications.

  • Through the Properties window, which exposes properties of objects.

  • Through Automation. An application can access VSPackage and object properties that have been exposed to Automation.

    Underlying the application state are various persistence mechanisms that enable the application state to be saved and restored.

In This Section

Support for State Persistence
Lists common strategies for saving, restoring, and resetting the state of a VSPackage.

Options and Options Pages
Introduces general and custom Options pages and explains how to implement them.

Creating an Options Page
Explains how to create two Options pages, a simple page and a custom page.

Support for Settings Categories
Discusses user settings and how they are created and persisted.

Creating a Settings Category
Explains how to create a Visual Studio settings category and use it to save values to and restore values from a settings file.

Extending Properties and the Property Window
Explains how to display and change the value of an object in the Properties window.

Exposing Properties to the Properties Window
Explains how to expose the public properties of an object to the Properties window.

Support for Project and Configuration Properties
Explains how to display and change project and configuration properties.

Getting Project Properties
Guides you through the steps of creating a managed VSPackage that displays project properties in a tool window.

Using the Settings Store
Explains the Settings Store persistence mechanism and how to use it.

VSPackages
Provides a general orientation to topics that explain how to create and use VSPackages.