Understanding Find Symbol

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Keyboard:  ALT + F12
Menu:  Edit -> Find and Replace -> Find Symbol
Command:  Edit.FindSymbol
Versions:  2008,2010
Published:  8/23/2010
Code:  vstipFind0011

 

You can quickly search for symbols (objects, definitions, and references) by using the Find Symbol dialog (ALT + F12):

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Find what-this is pretty straightforward you just type in the search string you are looking for.

 

 

Look in-indicates where you want to look:

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As you can see, has a number of search options:

All components-this includes the current solution and its referenced components, all of the .NET Framework, and any components that you have added.

 

Framework X / Silverlight X-lets you search specific versions of the Framework for a symbol.

 

My Solution-searches the current open solution.

 

Custom Component Set (Object Browser) -searches the pre-defined custom component set in the Object Browser.

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Custom Component Set (Find Symbol) -searches the custom component set defined in this dialog.  You edit the list of components by clicking on the button containing the ellipsis in the dialog:

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The Edit Custom Component Set dialog allows you to pick components from a variety of areas to have a specialized search experience when looking for symbols.  It allows for a very refined search capability.

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Look in references-displays references in the projects in the current browsing scope.

 

 

Find Options

Match-sets criteria for the search string when finding matches.

Whole Word-will only find the complete word on its own and not part of a larger string.

Prefix-will find results where the search string is at the beginning of the result.

Substring-will find results where the search string is anywhere in the result.

 

 

Match Case-will only find results that exactly match the case of the search string.

 

 

Find All-clicking this button will execute the search based on the criteria that has been set.

 

 

 

Search Results

When you execute a search the results will look something like this:

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The icons indicate what type of symbol you are looking at in the results.  You can find a list of icons and their meanings here:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/y47ychfe.aspx

 

Additionally, you can use F8 or SHIFT + F8 to navigate forward or backward through the results while automatically showing the location of the result as you go through them.