MonoDevelop Tips: Comment Block of Code

While experimenting with code, it can be very useful to comment a block of code temporarily.

To comment a block of code, use select Toggle Line Comment(s) from the context menu, or use the Control-Alt-C keybinding on Windows and Linux. If the current line is commented, it will be uncommented, or if it is not commented, it will be commented. If multiple lines are selected, then if any are not commented, they will all be commented. If all are commented, they will all be uncommented.

MonoDevelop Tips: Changing Indentation

It’s easy to increase or decrease indentation of a block of code in MonoDevelop. Hit the Tab key while there is a selection, and the selected lines’ indentation will be increased. Similarly, hit Shift-Tab and the indentation will be decreased.

MonoDevelop Tips: Moving Lines

To move lines around in the next editor, use the Alt-Up command to move the current line or current selected lines up, and use the Alt-Down command to move the lines down. If the language addin supports it, the lines will be re-indented to match the context when they move in and out of scopes.

This is incredibly useful for changing the order of statements.

MonoDevelop Tips: Subword Navigation

Most users are familiar with word navigation, for moving the caret to the next or previous word: Control-Left/Control-Right on Windows and Linux, and Opt-Left/Opt-Right on Mac. A previous post discussed the different modes for word breaking.

MonoDevelop Tips: Navigate To Files and Types

If you know the name of a type or file and want to go straight to it without having to dig through the solution pad and file contents, the Navigate To… command is your friend. This command can be activated with Ctrl-, on Windows or Linux, and Ctrl-.on Mac, or from the Search->Navigate To.. menu. It opens a window that shows a list of all the files, types and members in the solution, and you can filter and search these items using the same substring matching that the completion list uses. When you find the one you want, hit enter and you will be taken straight to it.

MonoDevelop also has Go To File and Go to Type commands, which behave the same way but are restricted to only showing files or types respectively. These predate the Navigate To command, and although its functionality is a superset of both of the older commands combined, they have been kept around because they’re noticeably faster for extremely large projects.

MonoDevelop Tips: Word Breaking

There are various places where the MonoDevelop text editor needs to understand where words begin and end, for example, when you use control-left/right to move the caret (alt-left/right on Mac). We refer to this as “word breaking”. Unfortunately, word breaking behaviour differs between OSes, and word breaking is often intended for text, not code. In addition, people become used to particular kinds of word breaking. For these reasons, we allow users to change MonoDevelop’s word breaking mode in Preferences->Text Editor->Behavior.

MonoDevelop Tips: Completion List Categories

When using code completion to explore a new API, it’s often useful to know where in the type hierarchy members are defined. For example, when looking for things you can do with a button, the members on the button are more interesting than the members on its superclasses. MonoDevelop makes it easier to do this with a featured called categorized mode.

MonoDevelop Tips: Workspace Layout

The MonoDevelop workspace consists of a central document surrounded by pads containing complementary information, tools and navigation aids. Pads can be accessed from the View->Pads and View->Debug Windows menus, and closed when they are not needed. They may be assigned keybindings, which will open the pad if necessary then bring keyboard focus to it. Pads may also be opened automatically by various commands, such as the “Find in Files” command, which opens a pad of search results.

MonoDevelop Tips: Document Switcher

The document switcher is a quick way to switch focus between open documents and pads using the keyboard. It’s activated by the Ctrl-tab or Ctrl-shift-tab combinations, and remains open as long as Control remains held down. While it’s open, you can change the selection — up arrow or shift-tab moves the selection up, down arrow or tab moves the selection down, and the left and right arrows move the selection between the pads and documents lists. When you have selected the item you want, release Control, and it will be selected.

MonoDevelop Tips: Suggestion Mode

The default mode of the code completion list is to complete the symbol that’s being typed. Whenever the completion engine can determine that you are typing an existing symbol (such as a type name, variable name or member name), it automatically triggers the completion list and populates it with all the values that are valid at that point. As you type while the list is open, the list’s selection updates to match what best fits what you’re typing, and you can manually change the selection using the up/down arrow keys.