Visual Assist

What's new: If you’re ready to move to Visual Studio 2022, so are we! In 2021.3 we introduced initial beta support for Preview 2 (and it’s worth using with Preview 3 as well - see our blog detailing the changes.). This represents a big leap for us through the move to the 64-bit architecture. As the VS IDE becomes more stable over the next few previews and releases we hope to release more improvements to take advantage of the new architecture. Much of our work in this release was done to move existing features to VS 2022, but for future releases we hope to add new features that were previously not possible. We are already seeing performance gains even in our current beta support and are excited to see this grow.

A huge thanks to our developers for making this happen. From the outside it might not seem like a big effort, but trust me, it was: our team went through bug after bug and feature after feature to verify compatibility, including checking if each feature was even still necessary, plus of course all the work to adapt to the new architecture and APIs. We’re really happy that we were able to get this out the door and welcome your feedback.

To take that a step further, we are always looking for the next new feature. Our strategy has been to keep our product simple and working smoothly, but if there’s something you’d like to see, let us know!

On top of Visual Studio 2022 Preview 2 support, we’ve also updated our Code Inspection engine to LLVM/Clang 12. While improvements may be modest, we will continue to keep up with the latest Clang.

Productivity tool for C/C++ and C# with support for UE4

Visual Assist fills gaps in the coding experience of Microsoft Visual Studio, making a great IDE a phenomenal IDE.

Download Visual Assist from this marketplace (gallery) page to install the extension into Microsoft Visual Studio 2019-2015.

Download an .exe installer from www.wholetomato.com if you want to install Visual Assist into mulitple IDEs or to install into Visual Studio 2013-2005.

Sample Features by Category

UE4 Specific Tooling

Make your games epic with integrated Unreal Engine support and new features that run as fast as your code. Save time, see more and work smarter.

Navigation

Move about your code efficiently and easily—to any file, method, symbol, or symbol reference in your projects and solutions. Navigate with commands like Find Symbol in Solution, Open File in Solution, an upgraded version of Find References, and Goto Related.

Go to related locations of any symbol, including base classes, derived classes, constructors, and members.

Navigate throughout a solution to VA Hashtags in comments. VA Hashtags are user-defined, shared bookmarks that move with code. Use the feature also as task manager.

Navigate among VA Hashtags using a dedicated tool window or local context menu.

Refactoring

Reduce the complexity of your code, improve its readability, and make it extensible without changing its external behavior. Refactor with commands like Rename, Encapsulate Field, Introduce Variable, and Change Signature.

Use Change Signature to add, remove and reorder parameters in definitions and call sites.

Code Generation

Generate code quickly with commands like Add Missing Case Statements, Implement Interface / Virtual Methods, and Create from Usage.

Create methods, variables, and enums without leaving your place in code.

Coding Assistance

Write code with assistance that doesn't get in your way. Select using enhanced member listboxes, surround selections with code snippets, quickly grow selections on logical boundaries, and accept suggestions that appear before you type.

Suggestions include relevant bits of nearby code.

Code Understanding

Make sense of complex or unfamiliar code with an assortment of informative fields, highlights that update as you move about code, and enhanced syntax coloring.

Decipher code faster with bold, italics, and more meaningful colors.

Debug Assistance

Use debugger enhancements in Visual Assist to shorten the time required to debug native C/C++. Browse PDBs efficiently; resolve symbols in text-only call stacks; and use the VA Step Filter step over trusted methods in argument lists.

Tool Windows

Access tool windows for a hierarchy of header files, list of recently visited places, and an outline of the current file that allows drag-and-drop to rearrange its contents.

VA Code Snippets

Expand frequently typed segments of code with a more powerful version of the like-named feature in the IDE. Expand symbols from the current context, prompt for user input, and edit VA Snippets in a custom editor.

Code Correction

Correct typing mistakes as you make them, including incorrect symbol case, invalid pointer notation, and spelling errors in strings and comments.

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