How can I gray out or highlight in visual studio?

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

Hi,

I am working in a solution in Visual Studio (C#) that has a lot of code that shouldn't be changed. That is, only a small portion of the code files should be altered.

What would be the best way to show this to other programmers? I'm thinking that the ideal solution would be to be able to "highlight" the hands-off code using a gray color, but I don't think that's possible. Perhaps the best way is to use regions?

In case this question was a bit unclear: Let's say a code file has ten variables declared and thirteen methods. I don't want the other programmers to make changes to seven of the variables and to nine of the methods. How do I signal this in an easy and clear way?

In addition, some files and even two of the three projects in the solution should stay intact. Is there a way to show this (or perhaps to lock them)?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Petter

What I have tried:

I have tried to search for a good way of doing this, but don't really know what to look for. It's hard to search for this, as "code" and "highlight" gives me the wrong results.

Posted 14-Jun-16 1:09am

petter2012

Updated 18-Jun-16 18:21pm

Add a Solution

Comments

ZurdoDev 14-Jun-16 7:45am

I am not familiar with any method to do this other than regions. However, most importantly is to use some source control. There may be a 3rd party product that allows security at the line level but you'd have to search google.

Tadit Dash (ତଡିତ୍ କୁମାର ଦାଶ) 14-Jun-16 8:03am

May be some Visual Studio Plugin.

petter2012 14-Jun-16 8:54am

Okey, thank you. It would be handy though! It could be used not only for hindering changes but also for pointing to relevant code.

2 solutions

Solution 1

I'm satisfied with the solutions above (trying to close the question).

Posted 14-Jun-16 2:59am

petter2012

Updated 14-Jun-16 3:06am

Comments

petter2012 18-Jun-16 4:02am

Hi again,

To anyone looking for an answer to this question: I suddenly remembered that partial classes are great for this. I'm now using a partial class as a "wrapper" or an interface between the normal code-behind code and the more elaborate classes. This means that another coder can't (easily) accidentally trash the "wrapping" code.

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

BillWoodruff · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-18T18:21:00

Big picture: what you are talking about is usually resolved (by a programming team) by using version control software.

Consider putting the parts of the code you do not wish modified in separate assemblies. Define Classes in these assemblies that expose some members via 'Public or 'Protected access modifiers. Possibly make these classes "singletons" (?).

Of course you can use "partial classes" to split up the code; it's also possible to go into the file system, select the .cs file containing the partial Class and make it read-only. Note: I have not tried this.