.NET Extension Pack for VS Code (CSharpDev)

This extension pack for Visual Studio Code aims to enhance the .NET development experience by providing a comprehensive set of tools and features to manage projects, code, NuGet packages, tests, tasks, and much more.

Key Features

1. CSharpDev Explorer

A custom project explorer view tailored for .NET development, providing a solution-centric view of your workspace. It acts as a powerful replacement for the standard VS Code explorer, offering features similar to Visual Studio's Solution Explorer, directly within VS Code.

• Solution & Project Tree View:
  • Displays solutions (.sln, .slnx), projects (.csproj), and files in a hierarchical structure.
  • Groups files for better organization (e.g., .designer.cs files nested under their parent).
• Project Management:
  • Create New Solution/Project: Easily create new solutions and projects from a wide range of .NET templates.
  • Add/Remove Projects: Add existing projects to a solution or remove them.
  • Add/Remove Project References: Manage dependencies between projects in the solution.
• File Management:
  • Create New Files: Add new C# files (classes, interfaces, enums, etc.) or any other file type directly into your projects.
  • Rename/Delete: Rename or delete files and folders with automatic updates to the .csproj file.
  • Drag and Drop: Move files and folders within the explorer.
• Run & Debug:
  • Run/Watch Project: Execute or watch executable projects directly from the context menu.
  • Auto-Restart Debugger: A dedicated debugger that automatically restarts your application when file changes are detected.
• NuGet Package Management:
  • View, install, update, and remove NuGet packages for each project.
  • Check for package vulnerabilities.
• Database Management (Entity Framework Core):
  • Create and remove migrations.
  • Update the database and generate SQL scripts.
• .NET Workspace Tools:
  • Manage .NET global tools (install, uninstall, update).
  • Manage .NET SDK workloads (install, uninstall, update, repair).
• Auto Reveal: Automatically highlights the active file in the explorer tree.

2. Code Generation and Utilities

• C# File Generation: Quickly create new C# files (classes, interfaces, enums, records, endpoints) from the explorer context menu. The generated file automatically includes the correct namespace based on its location within the project.
• Convert JSON to C# Classes: Paste JSON from the clipboard and automatically convert it into C# classes in the active editor or a new file.
• Convert XML to C# Classes: Paste XML from the clipboard and transform it into C# class definitions.
• Generate GUID: Create and insert GUIDs (UUIDs) into the editor with various formatting options (uppercase/lowercase, with/without hyphens, with/without braces).

3. .NET Test Explorer

• Automatic Discovery: Automatically detects test projects (.csproj) in the workspace.
• Test Explorer View: Displays tests hierarchically (Project -> Namespace -> Class -> Method).
• Run Tests: Run tests individually, by class, namespace, or project.
• Debug Tests: Start debugging sessions for your tests directly from the Test Explorer.
• Code Coverage: Run tests with code coverage data collection (requires coverlet.collector).
  • Analyzes coverage reports in OpenCover and Cobertura formats.
  • Displays coverage directly in the code files.
• Detailed Results: Processes .trx result files to provide feedback on the status of each test.

4. Code Notes Viewer

• Notes Viewer: Find and view code annotations like TODO:, FIXME:, BUG: in your C# files.
• Easy Navigation: Notes are displayed in a TreeView, organized by Workspace Folder -> Folder -> File -> Note.
• Go to Code: Click on a note to navigate directly to the corresponding line in the file.
• Configurable Terms: Customize the search terms for notes (e.g., HACK:, NOTE:).

5. Debug and Task Asset Generation

• Debug Files and Tasks: Automatically generate and update launch.json (debug configurations) and tasks.json (build, clean, publish tasks, etc.) for executable projects and solutions.
  • Monitors launchSettings.json for automatic updates.

6. AI-Powered Commit Messages

• Automatic Generation: Use AI (Google Gemini) to generate commit messages based on your changes (git diff).
• Conventional Commits: Messages are formatted following the Conventional Commits standard.
• SCM Integration: Automatically populates the Git commit message box in VS Code.
• Requires Configuration: Needs a Google AI API key.

7. Miscellaneous Utilities

• Development Certificates: Command to trust the .NET HTTPS development certificate.
• Status Bar Clock and Timer:
  • Displays the current time.
  • Allows starting a countdown timer with an alert upon expiration.

How to Use

Many features are now integrated directly into the new CSharpDev Explorer view in the VS Code sidebar. Right-click on solutions, projects, folders, or files to access a context-sensitive menu of commands.

Other features can be accessed via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P). Look for commands prefixed with "CSharpDev:", ".NET:", "EF:", etc.

The extension also adds dedicated views to the sidebar:

• CSharpDev Explorer
• Code Notes
• Test Explorer (integrated with VS Code's native Test Explorer)

Configuration

Some features may require specific configuration in VS Code settings (settings.json):

General

• csharpdev.logging.level: Sets the logging level for the extension's output channel. Options: NONE, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, DEBUG. Default: INFO.

CSharpDev Explorer

• csharpdev.explorer.autoReveal: If true, automatically reveals and selects the active file in the explorer. Default: true.
• csharpdev.explorer.excludedDirectories: A list of directory names to exclude from the explorer view.
• csharpdev.explorer.allowedFiles: A list of specific file names to always show in the explorer view.
• csharpdev.explorer.allowedExtensions: A list of file extensions to show in the explorer view.

NuGet Package Management

• csharpdev.explorer.packages.usePrerelease: If true, includes pre-release versions in NuGet package search and updates. Default: false.

Entity Framework Core

• csharpdev.explorer.database.script.idempotent: If true, generates idempotent SQL scripts for EF Core migrations. Default: false.

.NET Tools & Workloads

• csharpdev.explorer.tools.usePrerelease: If true, includes pre-release versions when searching for .NET global tools. Default: false.
• csharpdev.explorer.workloads.usePrerelease: If true, includes pre-release versions when installing .NET workloads. Default: false.

Code Notes

• csharpdev.notes.searchTerms: List of terms to search for in code notes (e.g., ["TODO:", "FIXME:"]).

Test Explorer

• csharpdev.testExplorer.debugJustMyCode: If true, enables "Just My Code" when debugging tests. Default: false.

AI Commit Messages

• csharpdev.googleAi.apiKey: Your Google AI API key for commit message generation.
• csharpdev.googleAi.model: The Google AI model to be used (e.g., gemini-1.5-flash).
• csharpdev.googleAi.language: The language for generated commit messages (e.g., en-US).

Refer to the extension's "Contributions" tab in VS Code for a complete list of available commands and settings.