ParallelFolders

In essence the extension allows to bookmark files and lines. Bookmarks are structured in trees. When you bookmark line it is named according to selected text on the line. So, you may think of it as of advanced bookmarking solution. It is especially useful when you can't change original folder structure or want to have alternative view(s) or just want to focus on particular task, feature or aspect or... It allows you to map folder structure to another one. This is why I called it Parallel Folders.

Extension doesn't provide UI for everything, so, editing config files sometimes is okay. It is located in root of solution: parallelFolders.json.

I already use the extension in my everyday work. Usually real life projects are big and cluttered. What is even worse they often structured not according to business requirements. They often structured as hello world projects where files are grouped by file types (you know: Controllers, Views,...). The problem is that when the project grows this structure starts working against you. The bigger the project the bigger the part of time you spend on navigation in a mess. The most close proof of concept is well described in MSDN article: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/mt763233.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396 Being unable to restructure the projects in most cases, I have created this extension. It has proven itself as indispensable tool to stay focused only on things I need. There is actually quite a lot of other reasoning and I could go on and on about it for quite a long time (this was really a pain for many years). In particular reasons from the modern neuropsychology and a book "Algorythms we live by" but I keep it for next time.

Demo video

It may be quite confusing at the beginning because what you see initially is just empty panel. So, it is easier to understand usage from the two minutes demo video: https://youtu.be/VQzgzhwMMw4. The video is for VS Code's version of extension but should suffice.

Note: I test the extension only in VS 2017. I understand that most users are still on 2015. Please let me know if there are any problems.

Important: if after installation you struggle to find it then use Ctrl+Q and search for Parallel

UPDATE:

In version 1.3.3 I have added menu commands for <F and <B buttons. This allows to bind hotkeys to them. I use these commands very often. So, the hotkeys should be handy. Since I hadn't any free good hotkeys in VS I mapped Middle mouse button to keyboard. I use HydraMouse for that (the X-Mouse is free alternative but I haven't found how to use modifiers there). I map {Middle} to {Ctrl}+{Alt}+{F2} and {Ctrl}+{Middle} to to {Ctrl}+{Alt}+{F3}. Then I map these hotkeys to the commands in Visual Studio.
I am thinking about how to streamline the workflow even more. Ideas are welcome.