Can Extension Methods Be Called From The Immediate Window

Question

I ask the question because whenever I attempt to call an extension method from the Immediate window in Visual Studio 2010 I get the following error:

System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable' does not contain a definition for 'ToList' and no extension method 'ToList' accepting a first argument of type 'System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

If the Immediate window doesn't support extension methods, then why is it that when I type my variable (of type IEnumerable<QueryFilter>) followed by a dot, the IntelliSense lists all the extension methods?

There is nothing wrong with what I am typing in the Command window because if I copy and paste it into my code file and run, it works.

With Visual Studio 2012 doing the same thing for the same solution works fine. If I switch back to VS2010 and the problem persists.

Answer 1

Extension methods are just static methods.

You should be able to use e.g. System.Linq.Enumerable.ToList()

Answer 2

The extension method translates to "Enumerable.ToList" The compiler would normally convert

myList.Tolist();

To:

Enumerable.ToList(myList);

during compile time. I believe you can use extension methods from the quickwatch window if you so wanted to.