Visual Studio 2019, XAML what are these properties symbols? - xaml

When I'm adding properties to a tag and it shows the dropdown, what do the different symbols mean? I've boxed them in the red square. If you know a good link to learn on how to use/bind each type that be cool.

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Missing "Define debug and define trace constant" checkbox in visual studio 2022

I'm missing two checkboxes for defining constants in my properties screen. Am I missing something?
It should look like this
I'm using a Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web project in net6.0
Somewhere along the way, Visual Studio streamlined these options to what you are seeing instead of what you are expecting to see. Actually, I don't think this is a Visual Studio-specific change, but rather it depends on what kind of project and what SDK you are using - those being:
.NET Framework
.NET (.NET Core)
I am guessing you are coming from one of my other answers, which sparked you to ask this question. In my post, that screenshot is from a .NET Framework project. I should have probably been slightly more specific in my reply to you. In your project, you are clearly using .NET 6 (as you mentioned above). Because of that, your properties menu looks way different. This is the streamlining I am talking about.
So where are your checkboxes for defining DEBUG and TRACE constants? They are gone! However, you are looking right at the control that replaced them - or rather, you are looking at how these controls work now. Essentially, the $(DefineConstants) replaces these checkboxes, and you can specify additional constants in the same textbox, separating each by a semicolon. If you hover over the "Conditional compilation symbols" controls and click the gear icon, you can toggle it to vary by configuration, which I think is more clear and useful to do:
Then, if you wish to add custom constants, simply add them to the configurations. In the below screenshot, I added an ONLY_DEBUG to the Debug configuration, and an ONLY_Release in the Release configuration:
In the code, you can use them as so:
Microsoft Documentation can be found here.

Visual Studio 2017 not auto-completing some XAML tags

I am currently learning about Xamarin.Forms and XAML using Visual Studio 2017. Intellisense seems to be working for XAML files for the most part, but there is at least one tag it doesn't autocomplete, which is OnPlatform. And when I manually write the tag, it doesn't autocomplete attributes like x:TypeArguments. However, it compiles and runs just fine with the OnPlatform element.
Is it normal that Intellisense does not work for a (seemingly random) tag? Are there certain tags that are not auto-completed on purpose?
Is it normal that Intellisense does not work for a (seemingly random) tag?
YES. Sadly, Intellisense support for XAML is patchy. It has been for as long as it has existed. As far as I can tell it does indeed seem random whether it works or not, like you say. I'm sorry that this probably isn't the answer you were hoping for.
There are some suggestions around getting xaml, Xamarin and Intellisense working together here but your mileage may vary:
https://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/93148/getting-xaml-intellisense-to-work-vs-2017

Inspecting XAML in Windows 8 Store Apps / VS2012

I'm looking for a way to inspect running XAML in a Windows 8 store app. Essentially, I want firebug / chrome inspector style functionality where I can look at the XAML source generated at runtime, to debug simple layout and style issues.
I've tried Snoop, Pistachio and WPF Inspector but none work for Windows Store apps. The only one I can find which seems to work for Store apps is XAML Spy, which is €90. I can't justify that cost.
Is there any other way to inspect running XAML?
WinRT XAML Toolkit now has an actual visual - visual tree debugger.
Get it from NuGet: nuget.org/packages/winrtxamltoolkit.Debugging then call WinRTXamlToolkit.Debugging.DC.ShowVisualTree() to display the debugger tool inside of your app. It's the third option so now you can use
the WinRTXAMLToolkit.Debugging.VisualTreeDebugger class - that enables you to debug the tree in your Visual Studio
XAML Spy - which is a great commercial visual tree debugger that runs in a separate window
and now this visual tree debugger in the WinRT XAML Toolkit that works inside of your app.
The VisualTreeDebugger class from WinRT XAML Toolkit is what you could use if you want a free tool. It doesn't do as much as XAML Spy, but you get what you pay for. I thought of adding more features to it like actual visualization of what you debug, but the work required would not justify the time investment + I didn't want to step on Koen Zwikstra's turf. I am sure he is doing a great job on that tool. Anyways - VisualTreeDebugger is enough for me, so maybe it would also be enough for you.
The way you can use it is add the class to your code, add a reference in your XAML like
xmlns:debug="WinRTXamlToolkit.Debugging"
then put a hook on a control where you would like to start debugging, like
debug:VisualTreeDebugger.BreakOnLoaded="True"
which will dump the core visual tree details as text in your debugger output window (Ctrl+W,O) and break in the code that dumped your tree where you can investigate the "path" variable, which contains the list of all visual tree elements from the debugged control to the root, so you can watch their values if what you need wasn't already dumped in the output window.
Other options include
debug:VisualTreeDebugger.BreakOnTap="True"
debug:VisualTreeDebugger.BreakOnLayoutUpdated="True"
debug:VisualTreeDebugger.BreakOnLoaded="True"
debug:VisualTreeDebugger.TraceOnTap="True"
debug:VisualTreeDebugger.TraceOnLayoutUpdated="True"
debug:VisualTreeDebugger.TraceOnLoaded="True"
Since it is source code and really a single simple class - you can easily add additional things to the code to do any custom debugging you need.
XAML Spy is what you need. You find it at http://xamlspy.com.
there is a new free tool called XAML Inspector. It's available through NuGet. Just search for "xamlinspector" or get if from the project page: www.xamlinspector.com
Greetings
Christian

What happened to Intellisense for enum types in Visual Studio 2010 using VB.NET?

I am using Visual Studio 2010 Prof.
In C# I can create my own Enumerator and use it like this:
MyEnum value =
Now, Intellisense will suggest a value of MyEnum.
In VB, when I write:
Dim value As MyEnum =
I get a huge list of every types. When starting to write my enumerator value (could be a word like "sunny") it filters out some types but I would like to have it like in C#. Anyway I will use the MyEnum type and no "String nor Objecte nor IntPtr...".
Any idea?
Screenshot
Also I made a short video:
Video with sample (new)
Regards
Simple, all you have to do is click the "Common" tab at the bottom of the Intellisense drop-down.
To prove it, here's a screenshot of what I see in VS 2010, immediately after typing =:
But, even if you have the "All" tab selected, the values defined in the enum will still be automatically displayed first, and even appear grouped together. You will indeed see all possible members and types, even those that are completely unrelated, but it's still pretty easy to find the ones you want.
And no, I'm not using any third-party add-ins or extensions to achieve the demonstrated feat. As best I can tell, I also haven't reconfigured any relevant options from the default settings.
This is a documented issue in VS 2010, pre-SP1. See: https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/551699/intellisense-enum-values. It has been fixed in SP1. If you can't install SP1, the only workaround is to use the mouse or Alt + , to switch from the "All" to the "Common" tab.

Changing colour of types for VB.net in VS

I am currently working on a VB.NET project and the hardest thing that I am having trouble with is that everything is black and blue.
Having worked a lot with C#, I really like the way that types are colored differently.
I have tried going in and having a look at the "Tools > Options > Fonts and Colors" and the various "User Types" under "Display Items" is set to a different colour but its not reflecting that colour in the text editor.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
You can change the 'Keyword' colour, but this will also change, well all keywords (such as Class and Function), not just types.
Down in the list is User Types as well as user types for delegates, enums, interfaces, and Value Types.
I wonder how VS2010 handles it? With the VB and C# teams working closer together now maybe this has already been addressed.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=922B4655-93D0-4476-BDA4-94CF5F8D4814&displaylang=en
--good luck with this - editor quirks can be the worst!
(excpet of course when your green screen dies...) :)