Some Time-Saving Commands and Key Remappings for the VC IDE

Over many months of using VC 6, I've come up with a few keyboard shortcuts that are really handy, save a few seconds here and there, and really impress co-workers. Many of the commands aren't apparent, and you wouldn't even know some of them existed unless you went through the entire command list on the Keyboard tab in the Tools-Customize dialog.

The first table lists the commands that I can't live without and use all the time. The second table lists commands I don't use quite as often, but which I still find handy. Commands marked as "built-in" already have the listed keyboard assignment. For the other commands, you'll need to map the keys yourself.

Must-Have Commands

Key		Command		Description
Ctrl+Shift+up arrow		WBGoToPrevious		Moves to the previous function in the current file.
Ctrl+Shift+down arrow		WBGoToNext		Moves to the next function in the current file.
Ctrl+Shift+G		FileGoTo (built-in)		If the cursor is over a filename, opens that file. Usually you move the cursor up to an #include line and then use this command.
Ctrl+Shift+H		WBOpenInclude		Brings up a dialog listing all headers #include'd in the current file. Select a header and it will be opened.
Ctrl+I		SearchIncremental (built-in)		Begins an incremental search. Press these keys and then start typing the text to search for. The caret will move through the file as you type. Hit Enter to leave search mode. You can then use the other search keys (like F3) to continue searching for the same text.
Ctrl+Shift+F7		BuildRebuildAll		Rebuilds all files in the current project.
Ctrl+F3		FindNextWord (built-in)		Finds the next occurrence of the word that the caret is currently over.
Ctrl+Shift+F3		FindPrevWord (built-in)		Same as Ctrl+F3, but searches backwards.
Alt+F7		ProjectSettings (built-in)		Opens the project settings dialog.
Alt+Num *		DebugShowNextStatement (built-in)		Moves the caret to the next statement to be executed (only when broken in debug mode).
Shift+Num *		DebugShowNextStatement		I add this key mapping because it's possible to type with one hand, while the previous one isn't. Yes, I'm lazy. :)
Ctrl+Shift+F9		DebugRemoveAllBreakpoints (built-in)		Deletes all breakpoints.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F9		DebugDisableAllBreakpoints		Disables all breakpoints.
Ctrl+M		CheckMnemonicKeys (built-in)		Checks for duplicate shortcut keys in a dialog or menu.

Other Time-Savers

Key		Command		Description
Ctrl+Enter		LineOpenBelow		Opens a blank line below the current line and moves the caret to the new line.
Ctrl+Shift+F8		SelectColumn (built-in)		Begins a selection - move the caret to select columns of text. Easier than Alt-dragging.
Ctrl+Shift+S		FileSaveAll		Saves all open files.
Alt+F8		SelectionFormat (built-in)		Formats the selected text according to your indentation preferences. Great for when you cut & paste code out of MSDN and the code loses its indentation.
Ctrl+Alt+up arrow		LevelUp		Moves to the previous occurrence of a start of a block (for instance, the next left brace).
Ctrl+Alt+down arrow		LevelDown		Moves to the next occurrence of an end of a block (for instance, the next right brace).
Ctrl+Shift+X		CutAppendNext		Press these keys right before a cut (Ctrl+X) to append the cut text to the end of the clipboard.
Ctrl+E		GoToMatchBrace (built-in)		If the caret is over a parenthesis, bracket, or brace, moves the caret to the matching character.
Ctrl+Shift+E		GoToMatchBraceExtend (built-in)		Same as Ctrl+E, but selects the text between the matching characters as well.
Ctrl+Shift+T		WindowScrollToTop		Scrolls the window so the current line is at the top of the window.
Ctrl+Shift+C		WindowScrollToCenter		Scrolls the window so the current line is at the center of the window.
Ctrl+Shift+B		WindowScrollToBottom		Scrolls the window so the current line is at the bottom of the window.
Ctrl+J		ConditionalUp (built-in)		Moves back to an enclosing #if.
Ctrl+K		ConditionalDown (built-in)		Moves forward to an enclosing #else or #endif.
Ctrl+Alt+S		WindowSplitHorizontal		Splits a text editor window into two panes (with the split running horizontally).
Alt+Up arrow		WindowSwitchPaneUp		Moves one pane up in a split window.
Alt+Down arrow		WindowSwitchPaneDown		Moves one pane down in a split window
Alt+Left arrow		WindowSwitchPaneLeft		Moves one pane left in a split window
Alt+Right arrow		WindowSwitchPaneRight		Moves one pane right in a split window

You can get the latest updates to this and my other articles at http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/code/