What happened to the Class view in VS2005?

[Cyril Gupta]

In VS2003 There is a Class viewer option in Solution explorer which lets me
browse the classes in my project. This feature is missing from VS2005
Express edition which I downloaded. Is this feature present in the
professional version?

I hope its there because I am quite used to the class viewer.

Are there significant differences between the Express version and the
professional version in the interface? All Microsoft's website mentions is
that the Express Edition interface is 'Streamlined' and Professional's
interface is 'Full'

Any idea about this?

Regards
Cyril

 

[Armin Zingler]

In VS2003 There is a Class viewer option in Solution explorer which
lets me browse the classes in my project. This feature is missing
from VS2005 Express edition which I downloaded. Is this feature
present in the professional version?

Can't help you, but in VB 2005, in the object browser, you can sort by
namespace at top level now, not only by assembly. Maybe this helps? I dunno,
but if the class view is not present in the prof. version, too, maybe they
dropped it because the object browser is a good replacement and both are
very similar. A guess only.


Armin

 

[Peter Macej]

Express edition which I downloaded. Is this feature present in the

professional version?

Yes it is. But Class View window is not visible by default. Maybe this
is the case in Express edition too. Try going to View - Other Windows -
Class View.

 

[Cyril Gupta]

Hello Peter,

I had already checked the View menu for ClassView. It's not there. Maybe
that is a part of what Microsoft means by 'streamlined' interface for the
Express edition.

Cyril Gupta

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

I had already checked the View menu for ClassView. It's not there. Maybe
that is a part of what Microsoft means by 'streamlined' interface for the
Express edition.

Yes, I assume it is not included because of the streamlined interface.
However, as said by others, you may want to use the object browser instead,
which is hopefully available in the Express edition too. Personally I have
never used the class view although the versions of VS I am using include it.

 

[Carlos J. Quintero [VB MVP]]

Microsoft also removed the Solution Configurations combobox on the Standard
toolbar (it is not even hidden there) in VB 2005 but the command exists so,
your last chance: can you go to the menu "Tools", "Customize...", section
"Environment", "Keyboard" and search for the command "View.ClassView"? If it
is not there, then it was totally removed in the Express Edition.

--

Best regards,

Carlos J. Quintero

MZ-Tools: Productivity add-ins for Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio .NET,
VB6, VB5 and VBA
You can code, design and document much faster in VB.NET, C#, C++ or VJ#
Free resources for add-in developers:
http://www.mztools.com

 

[Cyril Gupta]

I also noticed that now there is no facility to create bookmarks in the code
in the Express edition. If this is missing from the Standard edition too
then I am glad that I opted for professional.

Another thing I noticed was the variables watch window which listed the
values of all variables in scope during debug is not present either. That's
an important feature too.

Hmm... Wonder what else is missing in the streamlined interface. Most sites
that talk about the differences between the streamlined interface and the
full interface do not mention these factors which are very important in a
buying decision. Why doesn't Microsoft provide more details about this on
their website?

Cyril

 

[Carlos J. Quintero [VB MVP]]

The bottom line is that the Express editions are intended for students,
hobbyists, etc. not for serious programming. So, previously you had the SDK
command-line compilers and notepad and now you have a minimal IDE...

--

Best regards,

Carlos J. Quintero

MZ-Tools: Productivity add-ins for Visual Studio 2005, Visual Studio .NET,
VB6, VB5 and VBA
You can code, design and document much faster in VB.NET, C#, C++ or VJ#
Free resources for add-in developers:
http://www.mztools.com