Extending the Solution Explorer Filter

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Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2015. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

You can extend Solution Explorer filter functionality to show or hide different files. For example, you can create a filter that shows only C# class factory files in the Solution Explorer, as this walkthrough demonstrates.

Prerequisites

Starting in Visual Studio 2015, you do not install the Visual Studio SDK from the download center. It is included as an optional feature in Visual Studio setup. You can also install the VS SDK later on. For more information, see Installing the Visual Studio SDK.

Create a Visual Studio Package Project

  1. Create a VSIX project named FileFilter. Add a custom command item template named FileFilter. For more information, see Creating an Extension with a Menu Command.

  2. Add a reference to System.ComponentModel.Composition and Microsoft.VisualStudio.Utilities.

  3. Make the menu command appear on the Solution Explorer toolbar. Open the FileFilterPackage.vsct file.

  4. Change the <Button> block to the following:

    <Button guid="guidFileFilterPackageCmdSet" id="FileFilterId" priority="0x0400" type="Button">  
    <Parent guid="guidSHLMainMenu" id="IDG_VS_TOOLBAR_PROJWIN_FILTERS" />  
    <Icon guid="guidImages" id="bmpPic1" />  
    <Strings>  
        <ButtonText>FileNameFilter</ButtonText>  
    </Strings>  
</Button>

Update the Manifest File

  1. In the source.extension.vsixmanifest file, add an asset that is a MEF component.

  2. On the Assets tab, choose the New button.

  3. In the Type field, choose Microsoft.VisualStudio.MefComponent.

  4. In the Source field, choose A project in current solution.

  5. In the Project field, choose FileFilter, and then choose the OK button.

Add the Filter Code

  1. Add some GUIDs to the FileFilterPackageGuids.cs file:

    public const string guidFileFilterPackageCmdSetString = "00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000"; // get your GUID from the .vsct file  
public const int FileFilterId = 0x100;

  2. Add a class file to the FileFilter project named FileNameFilter.cs.

  3. Replace the empty namespace and the empty class with the code below.

    The Task<IReadOnlyObservableSet> GetIncludedItemsAsync(IEnumerable<IVsHierarchyItem rootItems) method takes the collection that contains the root of the solution (rootItems) and returns the collection of items to be included in the filter.

    The ShouldIncludeInFilter method filters the items in the Solution Explorer hierarchy based on the condition that you specify.

    using System;  
using System.Collections.Generic;  
using System.ComponentModel.Composition;  
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;  
using System.Threading.Tasks;  
using Microsoft.Internal.VisualStudio.PlatformUI;  
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell;  

namespace FileFilter  
{  
    // Implements ISolutionTreeFilterProvider. The SolutionTreeFilterProvider attribute declares it as a MEF component  
    [SolutionTreeFilterProvider(FileFilterPackageGuids.guidFileFilterPackageCmdSetString, (uint)(FileFilterPackageGuids.FileFilterId))]  
    public sealed class FileNameFilterProvider : HierarchyTreeFilterProvider  
    {  
        SVsServiceProvider svcProvider;  
        IVsHierarchyItemCollectionProvider hierarchyCollectionProvider;  

        // Constructor required for MEF composition  
        [ImportingConstructor]  
        public FileNameFilterProvider(SVsServiceProvider serviceProvider, IVsHierarchyItemCollectionProvider hierarchyCollectionProvider)  
        {  
            this.svcProvider = serviceProvider;  
            this.hierarchyCollectionProvider = hierarchyCollectionProvider;  
        }  

        // Returns an instance of Create filter class.  
        protected override HierarchyTreeFilter CreateFilter()  
        {  
            return new FileNameFilter(this.svcProvider, this.hierarchyCollectionProvider, FileNamePattern);  
        }  

        // Regex pattern for CSharp factory classes  
        private const string FileNamePattern = @"\w*factory\w*(.cs$)";  

        // Implementation of file filtering  
        private sealed class FileNameFilter : HierarchyTreeFilter  
        {  
            private readonly Regex regexp;  
            private readonly IServiceProvider svcProvider;  
            private readonly IVsHierarchyItemCollectionProvider hierarchyCollectionProvider;  

            public FileNameFilter(  
                IServiceProvider serviceProvider,  
                IVsHierarchyItemCollectionProvider hierarchyCollectionProvider,  
                string fileNamePattern)  
            {  
                this.svcProvider = serviceProvider;  
                this.hierarchyCollectionProvider = hierarchyCollectionProvider;  
                this.regexp = new Regex(fileNamePattern, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);  
            }  

            // Gets the items to be included from this filter provider.   
            // rootItems is a collection that contains the root of your solution  
            // Returns a collection of items to be included as part of the filter  
            protected override async Task<IReadOnlyObservableSet> GetIncludedItemsAsync(IEnumerable<IVsHierarchyItem> rootItems)  
            {  
                IVsHierarchyItem root = HierarchyUtilities.FindCommonAncestor(rootItems);  
                IReadOnlyObservableSet<IVsHierarchyItem> sourceItems;  
                sourceItems = await hierarchyCollectionProvider.GetDescendantsAsync(  
                                    root.HierarchyIdentity.NestedHierarchy,  
                                    CancellationToken);  

                IFilteredHierarchyItemSet includedItems = await hierarchyCollectionProvider.GetFilteredHierarchyItemsAsync(  
                    sourceItems,  
                    ShouldIncludeInFilter,  
                    CancellationToken);  
                return includedItems;  
            }  

            // Returns true if filters hierarchy item name for given filter; otherwise, false</returns>  
            private bool ShouldIncludeInFilter(IVsHierarchyItem hierarchyItem)  
            {  
                if (hierarchyItem == null)  
                {  
                    return false;  
                }  
                return this.regexp.IsMatch(hierarchyItem.Text);  
            }  
        }  
    }  
}

  4. In FileFilter.cs, remove the command placement and handling code from the FileFilter constructor. The result should look like this:

    private FileFilter(Package package)  
{  
    if (package == null)  
    {  
        throw new ArgumentNullException("package");  
    }  

    this.package = package;  
}

    Remove the ShowMessageBox() method as well.

  5. In FileFilterPackage,cs, replace the code in the Initialize() method with the following:

    protected override void Initialize()  
{  
    Debug.WriteLine (string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "Entering Initialize() of: {0}", this.ToString()));  
    base.Initialize();  
}

Test Your Code

  1. Build and run the project. A second instance of Visual Studio appears. This is called the experimental instance.

  2. In the experimental instance of Visual Studio, open a C# project.

  3. Look for the button you added on the Solution Explorer toolbar. It should be the fourth button from the left.

  4. When you click the button, all the files should be filtered out, and you should see “All items have been filtered from view.” in the Solution Explorer.