Command Window & VS Commands for VS Studio, not for VS Code

Command Window

The Command window is used to execute commands or aliases directly in the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE). You can execute both menu commands and commands that do not appear on any menu. To display the Command window, choose Other Windows from the View menu, and select Command Window.

Displaying the Values of Variables

To check the value of a variable varA, use the Print Command:

>Debug.Print varA

The question mark (?) is an alias for Debug.Print, so this command can also be written:

>? varA

Both versions of this command will return the value of the variable varA.

Entering Commands

The greater than symbol (>) appears at the left edge of the Command window as a prompt for new lines. Use the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys to scroll through previously issued commands.

The following shortcuts help you navigate while in Command mode.

Mark Mode

When you click on any previous line in the Command window, you shift automatically into Mark mode. This allows you to select, edit, and copy the text of previous commands as you would in any text editor, and paste them into the current line.

The Equals (=) Sign

The window used to enter the EvaluateStatement command determines whether an equals sign (=) is interpreted as a comparison operator or as an assignment operator.

In the Command window, an equals sign (=) is interpreted as a comparison operator. You cannot use assignment operators in the Command window. So, for example, if the values of variables varA and varB are different, then the command >Debug.EvaluateStatement(varA=varB) will return a value of False.

In the Immediate window, by contrast, an equals sign (=) is interpreted as an assignment operator. So, for example, the command >Debug.EvaluateStatement(varA=varB) will assign to variable varA the value of variable varB.

Parameters, Switches, and Values

Some Visual Studio commands have required and optional arguments, switches and values. Certain rules apply when dealing with such commands. The following is an example of a rich command to clarify the terminology.

Edit.ReplaceInFiles /case /pattern:regex var[1-3]+ oldpar

In this example,

• Edit.ReplaceInFiles is the command

• /case and /pattern:regex are switches (prefaced with the slash [/] character)

• regex is the value of the /pattern switch; the /case switch has no value

• var[1-3]+ and oldpar are parameters

  Note

  Any command, parameter, switch, or value that contains spaces must have double quotation marks on either side.

The position of switches and parameters can be interchanged freely on the command line with the exception of the Shell command, which requires its switches and parameters in a specific order.

Nearly every switch supported by a command has two forms: a short (one character) form and a long form. Multiple short-form switches can be combined into a group. For example, /p /g /m can be expressed alternately as /pgm.

If short-form switches are combined into a group and given a value, that value applies to every switch. For example, /pgm:123 equates to /p:123 /g:123 /m:123. An error occurs if any of the switches in the group does not accept a value.

Escape Characters

A caret (^) character in a command line means that the character immediately following it is interpreted literally, rather than as a control character. This can be used to embed straight quotation marks ("), spaces, leading slashes, carets, or any other literal characters in a parameter or switch value, with the exception of switch names. For example,

>Edit.Find ^^t /regex

A caret functions the same whether it is inside or outside quotation marks. If a caret is the last character on the line, it is ignored. The example shown here demonstrates how to search for the pattern "^t".

Use Quotes for Path Names with Spaces

If, for example, you want to open a file that has a path containing spaces, you must put double quotes around the path or path segment that contains spaces: C:\"Program Files" or "C:\Program Files".

Visual Studio Commands

Visual Studio commands allow you to invoke a command from the Command window, Immediate window, or Find/Command box. In each case, the greater than sign (>) is used to indicate that a command rather than a search or debug operation is to follow.

You can find a complete list of commands and their syntax in the Keyboard, Environment Options dialog box.

The escape character for Visual Studio commands is a caret (^) character, which means that the character immediately following it is interpreted literally, rather than as a control character. This can be used to embed straight quotation marks ("), spaces, leading slashes, carets, or any other literal characters in a parameter or switch value, with the exception of switch names. For example,

>Edit.Find ^^t /regex

A caret functions the same whether it is inside or outside quotation marks. If a caret is the last character on the line, it is ignored.

In localized versions of the IDE, command names can be entered either in the native language of the IDE or in English. For example, you can type either File.NewFile or Fichier.NouveauFichier in the French IDE to execute the same command.

Many commands have aliases. For a list of command aliases, see Visual Studio Command Aliases.

The following commands take arguments and/or switches.

Visual Studio Command Aliases

Command aliases let you type fewer characters when you want to execute a command. You enter aliases into the Find/Command box or Command window. For example, instead of entering >File.OpenFile to display the Open File dialog box, you can use the pre-defined alias >of.

Type alias in the Command window to display a list of the current aliases and their definitions. Type >cls to clear the contents of the Command window. If you want to see an alias for a specific command, type alias <command name>.

You can easily create your own alias for one of the Visual Studio commands (with or without arguments). For example, the syntax for aliasing File.NewFile MyFile.txt is alias MyAlias File.NewFile MyFile.txt. You can delete one of your aliases with alias <alias name> /delete

The table below contains a list of the pre-defined Visual Studio command aliases. Some command names have more than one pre-defined alias. Click the links for the command names below to display detailed topics that explain the correct syntax, arguments, and switches for those commands.