I'm doing some architectural cleanup that involves moving a bunch of classes into different projects and/or namespaces. Currently I'm moving the files by hand, building, and then manually adding using Foo statements as needed to resolve compilation errors. Anyone know of a smarter way of doing this? (We're a CodeRush and Refactor! shop, but I'd be interested to hear if Resharper has support for this)
Visual Studio 2019 provides at least 2 built-in options:
'Move to namespace...' refactoring can be triggered on any class, and VS will prompt for the target namespace.
'Change namespace to...' refactoring is provided for when the current file namespace doesn't match with the folder structure.
This can be used to move individual classes to a different namespace by:
creating the desired folder structure
moving the file
applying the mentioned refactoring (CTRL+. with the cursor over the namespace)
These operation ensures that all references are updated accordingly.
Visual Studio 2010 has the possibility to rename a namespace. Place the cursor over the namespace name and press F2. Or simply rename it in the code and press Shift+Alt+F10, Enter after seeing the red squiggle appear.
Reharper can also rename namespaces. Quote:
The Rename Namespace refactoring
allows users to rename a specific
namespace and automatically correct
all references to the namespace in the
code. The following usages are
renamed:
Namespace statements
Using directives
Qualified names of types
As mentioned in the comments, this answer is now outdated. Please see the up-to-date answer below
Resharper is the only tool I am aware of what has this ability. There is also a lot of other functionality that it has that is missing in CodeRush and Refactor!
This answer applies to at least Visual Studio 2013 and 2015 with no resharper required
Move class files to new folder
Open 'Find and replace'
Select 'Replace in Files'
Type the original namespace definition in the 'Find what' field eg. MyCorp.AppStuff.Api
Type the new namespace definition in the 'Replace with' field eg. MyCorp.AppStuff.Api.Extensions
Select the new folder using the 'Look in' field's browse button ..., or type the folder path
Press the Replace All button
There are partial solutions for VS 2015 & VS 2017 without Resharper using free extensions.
One extension which I like today (end of 2017) is the Fix Namespace VS Extension:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vs-publisher-599079.FixNamespace#overview
It analyses the folder structure of your solution and offers namespace refactoring using that. Unfortunately it isn't perfect: It doesn't track dependencies that well, but solved the lion's share of the work for me.
With Resharper: CTRL+R+O
Then press the down arrow key twice to select Move Type To Another Namespace.
Since the answer above was provided (I'm guessing) this feature has been added to CodeRush. Just place the carat on the Type to be moved and you'll see a Move Type to Namespace option on the Refactor! context menu. This will move the type to the new namespace and update references. You may still want to move the file to a solution folder that matches the name of the namespace though.
It's not the best outcome but can be done without plugins or tools, only with Visual Studio. Find and replace in Entire Solution, Match case, Match whole word.
Find what: class name, Replace with: New.Namespace.ClassName (fully qualified class name).
If you have 100+ references of the moved class and other classes in old namespace what are not moved this is the only foolproof and free solution I found. The only case when it leads to errors is when you have same class name in other namespace.
If you cannot, or do not want to use Re$harper, Notepad++ is your friend:
Make sure you don't have usaved changes inside Visual Studio for the files you need to move to the new namespace
Open all the files that contain the namespace that needs to be changed in Notepad++
Open Find & Replace (CTRL + H)
Fill the Find what and Replace with fields
Press Replace All in All Opened Documents
Save all changes in all documents (CTRL + SHIFT + S)
Switch to Visual Studio and reload all the documents (Yes to all at the prompt)
DONE
Related
It's come to light that at least one file within a subdir in my project had no namespace set, causing issues.
How can I find any other files missing a namespace?
I searched Google and Stack Overflow to no avail. I'd imagine it could be done with a RegEx Find in Files, but my RegEx is a little rusty.
Hi I have observed one straightforward thing that built in Visual studio itself. Open the solution in Visual studio and
Click on View > Object Browser
. Here It lists all the dlls and Projects. If you expand each project first it shows namespaces and inside them it shows sub items as Classes, Interfaces, Enums, Delegates ... . If any class doesn't have a namespace then it will be in Classes folder outside the namespace
Other way is
If your code is compiling fine, then you can check the compiled EXE or DLLs in the 'IL disassembler'.
To open the GUI, go to Start > Programs > Visual Studio 2013 > Visual Studio Tools > VS2013 x64 Native Tools Command Prompt and execute ildasm.
Classes without a namespace will be listed separately, and classes with a namespace will be listed in their respective groupings.
If you can get ReSharper, it adds an option in the right-click menu for projects (and possibly the solution) to adjust namespaces - that should pick up any classes that aren't in the correct namespace, based on the directories that each file is in.
In, Visual Studio 2010, I have a solution with various projects and I have two projects that share a C# namespace with the same name, however, they are intended to be separate namespaces.
I want to rename both namespaces to different ones to prevent confusion. However, I wonder if there is a safer solution other than having to use Ctrl+H and choosing to replace all the occurences in the project.
I know you can just retype the name of a namespace in code and VS will ask to you if you want to rename all occurences, however I don't know if VS will be smart doing this to each project separately, and it says if I rename it I cannot undo the action because it will be applied to too many files. I also tried to open a project alone to prevent this but VS automatically opens the whole solution.
You can use a refactoring tool such as Resharper to do this safely.
There are also other tools available, but I usually use this because it works very well for me.
Copy the folder that contains your solution, and projects, to another folder (just in case)
Create a new solution with just projectOne inside and perform the refactor of that namespace there.
Create another new soution with just projectTwo inside and perform the refactor of that namespace there.
Open the original solution, thas has those two projects inside, and see if the results are what you expected
You can load the projects one at a time and refactor the namespaces as you wish. Open the entire solution and unload one of the two projects.
If you want advanced refactoring, you can try DevExpress' Refactor Pro or ReSharper. Both are awesome refactoring tools.
I am a recently converted VB developer to C#, but there is one thing thus far that I haven't been able to find. In VB when I setup a new project I can specify the namespaces used in the project and add them to the default imports for all classes (so everything automatically has them as if I added "Imports System.Data.OracleClient" to each class). With C# I've found that I'm always typing these in for each new class. Is there a way to setup defaults for projects so it at least appends those to every class file for me automatically?
No there is no way. C# does not support the concept of project level imports or project level namespaces.
The only thing you can do is alter the item template you are using (Class.cs or Code.cs) to have the namespaces you would like. These files are located under the following directory
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\itemtemplatescache\CSharp\Code\1033
Under here you should see a Class.zip and Code.zip directory each with a .cs file under them. This is the template file used when you do an "Add New Item" operation in Visual Studio. You can change these to meet your needs and have the default namespaces you'd like.
A slightly easier solution though is adding a per-user code file for the particular project you'd like. Simply create a code file you want to be the template for your application and then place it in the following directory.
C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Templates\ItemTemplates\Visual C#
This file will now show up whenever you do a "Add New Item" operation.
Others have suggested using templates etc. Personally I find it's just not a problem - I type the name of the class that I want to use into Visual Studio, and even if it's not found the "smart tag" (or whatever it's called) icon pops up. I hit Ctrl-. and it adds a using directive for me.
I think ReSharper helps to make this work even better, but it's so automatic for me now that I don't really think about it much any more. (I suspect the difference is that with ReSharper I can hit Alt-Enter at any point in the line and it'll offer the correction, instead of having to have the cursor in the type name itself for Visual Studio.)
With C# 10 this answer has changed.
C# 10 introduces [Global using directives][1]:
Global using directives
You can add the global modifier to any using directive to instruct the compiler that the directive applies to all source files in the compilation. This is typically all source files in a project.
no, there's no my namespaces in C#. I think you can probably accomplish the same thing with project templates or code snippets.
See this post for the answer..
Which, in a nutshell, is adding the usings you want to a template.
I believe you want to start here.
First, a little background.
Currently namespaces and assemblies in our codebase (~60 assemblies, thousands of classes) looks like
WidgetCompany.Department.Something
We have now been spun off such that we are selling the software that drives a WidgetCompany, so we 'd like to rename the namespaces & assemblies
NewCompany.Something
Under normal circumstances I'd probably just stick with the old namespace, but the problem is our customers don't want to see the name of one of their competitors anywhere in the application. In the off chance that they see a stack trace, assembly properties etc, it shouldn't show up. It's not meant to hide our associates or do anything sinister, we just need to make sure that people know we are a separate entity, separate management, and they don't need to worry about data being shared etc.
Now the question. What is the best way to perform this type of all encompassing rename?
The following would need to change:
Namespace for (almost) every class in
the application
Every using statement in the application which references the old names
Folder structure for each project
References between projects which rely on changed folder structure
.Sln files which reference the changed folder structure
Any references to
those classes which are fully
qualified (should be few and far
between)
Any references to those
classes in xml config files (config
sections etc)
AssemblyInfo.cs files for every assembly
AssemblyName in every .csproj file
Am I stuck with the find-replace-pray strategy or is there something better?
Right click on your current namespace and select Refactor -> Rename and change the name in the pop up that comes up after a while. Enter your new name and click ok.
If you have multiple depths to your namespace, then Visual Studio won't let you type a dot. However, if you copy and paste a dot, despite a warning, it will do the business.
To completely change to the new name, you will likely need to make additional changes manually. You can find where by performing a project search (ctrl+shift+f) for other references to the name in the Project, Solution, or other supporting files from a separate text editor like VS Code. Finally, folders may need to be changed manually as well.
ReSharper. Get version 5.1 from JetBrains for free for 30 days (more than enough time to do your renaming). Put the cursor on the namespace you want to change and hit Ctrl-R twice (ReSharper Rename). It'll work with a namespace any number of levels deep, and converts any usage of that namespace to the new one. However, you will have to change every unique namespace in your solution (unless you just go with Find/Replace)
Visual Studio 2019 Community Edition supports this as described here. It works for any hierarchy (with dots, root namespace changes etc) and correctly updates all dependencies.
Place your cursor in the class name
Press Ctrl+. to trigger the Quick Actions and Refactorings menu
Select Move to namespace
In the dialog box that opens, select the target namespace you'd like to move the type to
If you have ReSharper:
Right click project, Properties. Change Default namespace to desired
namespace.
Right click project, Refactor -> Adjust Namespace to update all
the namespaces to use the default namespace
Then just let it do its magic.
Firstly I would try Refactor->Rename option. But as mentioned in comment for another answers it doesn't work that good (Or I haven't found how to make it working). So I prefer using following scenario, especially if you want to add some addiotional namespace.
1) Rename your root namespace (WidgetCompany) to something like NAMESPACE_TO_BE_REPLACED using Refactor-Rename
2) Replace NAMESPACE_TO_BE_REPLACED with your final namespace (NewCompany.WidgetSoftware) using find-n-replace dialog
And do not forget to rename projects, default namespaces, etc.
Open a random class in [WidgetCompany.Department.Something]
Edit->Find and Replace->Replace in Files
Type "WidgetCompany.Department.Something" in FindWhat area
Type "NewCompany.Something" in Replace with area
Select Current Project in Look in area.
Replace All
Alternative solution if you've already partially renamed:
Open find and replace (shortcut ctrl + h)
Make sure regex is selected (icon like .*)
Paste the full name of your current namespace, for example YourSolution.YourProject
Paste this regex YourSolution.Your[partiallyRenamedNamespaceCharacters].*
Make sure Entire Solution is selected not Current Document
Run
For Visual Studio 2022 this has finally been solved:
Right-click on the project or solution (not the directory or file)
Select "Sync Namespaces"
The namespaces in your entire project should now reflect the folder structure.
I am use to VB.NET. The game source code I am learning from is written in C#. I find it annoying that I have to add using System.Diagnostics to the source code in order to type Debug.WriteLine.... I checked under project properties, but I cannot find the References tab that allows me to add namespaces to Imported Namespaces. Where do I find this in C#?
Also, why can't I do this in C#? Imports System.Math
Place the cursor over Debug in the source code, a red squiggle appears in the right bottom corner of the word, press Shift+Alt+F10 Enter - the using is automatically added.
Also, why can't I do this in C#?
Imports x = System.Math
You can: using x = System.Math;
I don't think you can have "hidden" namespaces in C# like you can in VB.NET (not sure).
As for the second part about System.Math, you can do the following at the top of each file.
using SM = System.Math;
SM.Abs(...);
It is possible to modify Visual Studio's template for new C# classes. This is not exactly the same feature as in Visual Basic, but for any newly created class you can get the namespaces that you like.
It's a little more than just a few mouse clicks unfortunately, but you will find all the details described in Anson Horton's blog post:
Item templates - adding references by default
Note that this allows you not only to modify the default using directives but also to modify the assemblies that get referenced automatically when adding a new class.
As the blog post related to Visual Studio 2005, you probably need to adjust some paths, e.g. the class.zip file is located under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplates\CSharp\Code\1033 in Visual Studio 2008.
In c# you should always explicitly specify namespaces you want to use or use a full name:
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine ( ... );
Also, there is a references tab under a solution view, you have to reference desired assemblies there, because many assemblies are not referenced by default.