InlayIndex

Visual Studio: 2022/2026 | License: MIT | Version: 1.0.0

View on GitHub: https://github.com/Ghost-Girls/InlayIndex

InlayIndex is a Visual Studio 2022/2026 extension that enhances C/C++ code readability by providing inline hints for array indices, enum values, and struct field names directly within the editor.

Powered by ClangSharp (libclang) for precise AST-level code parsing, it brings a code-reading experience comparable to CLion's inlay hints to Visual Studio.

Features

Array Index Hints

Display [0]:, [1]:, [N]: labels for each element in array initializers, supporting up to 10 dimensions.

// Before: hard to tell which element is which
int matrix[2][3] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 };

// After: indices are displayed inline
int matrix[2][3] = { [0][0]:1, [0][1]:2, [0][2]:3, [1][0]:4, [1][1]:5, [1][2]:6 };

Struct Array Hints

struct Point { int x; int y; };
struct Point pts[3] = {
    [0]:{ .x:1, .y:2 },
    [1]:{ .x:3, .y:4 },
    [2]:{ .x:5, .y:6 }
};

Enum Value Hints

Display NAME=value labels at enum definitions, showing both explicitly assigned and automatically computed values.

// Before: need to manually count
enum Color { RED, GREEN, BLUE };

// After: values are displayed inline
enum Color { RED=0, GREEN=1, BLUE=2 };

Struct Field Hints

Display .fieldName: labels within struct/unions initializers, recursively for nested structures.

struct Point { int x; int y; };
struct Point points[2] = {
    [0]:{ .x:1, .y:2 },
    [1]:{ .x:3, .y:4 }
};

Depth-based Color Coding

Array indices are color-coded by nesting depth using a rainbow scheme, making multi-dimensional structures visually distinguishable.

Installation

Via VSIX (Manual)

1. Download the latest .vsix from the Releases page on GitHub
2. Double-click the .vsix file
3. Follow the installation wizard
4. Restart Visual Studio

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/Ghost-Girls/InlayIndex.git
cd InlayIndex

Open InlayIndex.slnx in Visual Studio, then build and deploy:

• Release: Build the InlayIndex project → produces .vsix in bin/Release/
• Debug: Set InlayIndex as startup project → F5 launches Experimental Instance

Configuration

Navigate to Tools → Options → InlayIndex to customize:

Feature Toggles

Style

Display Limits

Project Awareness

Performance

Architecture

         Source Code
              │
              ▼
  ┌──────────────────────┐
  │    ClangParser       │  ◄── ClangSharp (libclang) AST
  │  (CXTranslationUnit) │
  └──────────┬───────────┘
             │
             ▼
  ┌──────────────────────┐
  │  InlayHintGenerator  │  ◄── Extract: ArrayInfo, EnumInfo, StructInfo
  └──────────┬───────────┘
             │
             ▼
  ┌──────────────────────┐
  │   InlayHintManager   │  ◄── Cache & manage List<InlayHintTag>
  └──────────┬───────────┘
             │ TagsUpdated event
             ▼
  ┌──────────────────────┐
  │  InlayHintTagger     │  ◄── ITagger<IntraTextAdornmentTag>
  │  (GetTags)           │       Create WPF adornments
  └──────────┬───────────┘
             │
             ▼
  ┌──────────────────────┐
  │  Visual Studio       │
  │  Editor Pipeline     │  ◄── Render inline in text view
  └──────────────────────┘

Key Components

Documentation & Support

For full documentation, source code, and to report issues, visit the GitHub repository: https://github.com/Ghost-Girls/InlayIndex

License

MIT License

Publisher: Ghost-Girls

Made for C/C++ developers who value code readability.