Visual Studio keyboard shortcut to automatically add the needed 'using' statement

Question

Ctrl + . shows the menu. I find this easier to type than the alternative, Alt + Shift + F10.

This can be re-bound to something more familiar by going to Tools > Options > Environment > Keyboard > Visual C# > View.QuickActions

Alt + Shift + F10 will show the menu associated with the smart tag.

I can highly recommend checking out the Visual Studio plugin ReSharper. It has a QuickFix feature that does the same (and a lot more).

But ReSharper doesn't require the cursor to be located on the actual code that requires a new namespace. Say, you copy/paste some code into the source file, and just a few clicks of Alt + Enter, and all the required usings are included.

Oh, and it also makes sure that the required assembly reference is added to your project. Say for example, you create a new project containing NUnit unit tests. The first class you write, you add the [TestFixture] attribute. If you already have one project in your solution that references the NUnit DLL file, then ReSharper is able to see that the TestFixtureAttribute comes from that DLL file, so it will automatically add that assembly reference to your new project.

And it also adds required namespaces for extension methods. At least the ReSharper version 5 beta does. I'm pretty sure that Visual Studio's built-in resolve function doesn't do that.

On the down side, it's a commercial product, so you have to pay for it. But if you work with software commercially, the gained productivity (the plug in does a lot of other cool stuff) outweighs the price tag.

Yes, I'm a fan ;)

In Visual Studio 2010 you will find the keyboard command to resolve namespaces in a command called View.ShowSmartTag. Mine was also mapped to Shift + Alt + F10 which is a lot of hassle - so I usually remap that promptly.

On Pete commenting on ReSharper - yes, for anyone with the budget, ReSharper makes life an absolute pleasure. The fact that it is intelligent enough to resolve dependencies outside the current references, and add them both as usings and references will not only save you countless hours, but also make you forget where all framework classes reside ;-) That is how easy it makes development life... Then we have not even started on ReSharper refactorings yet.

DevExpress' CodeRush offers no assistance on this regard; or nothing that is obvious to me - and DevExpress under non-expert mode is quite forthcoming in what it wants to do for you :-)

Last comment - this IDE feature of resolving dependencies is so mature and refined in the Java IDE world that the bulk of the Internet samples don't even show the imports (using) any more.

This said, Microsoft now finally has something to offer on this regard, but it is also clear to me that Microsoft development (for many of us) has now come full circle - the focus went from source, to visual designers right back to focus being on source again - meaning that the time you spend in a source code view / whether it is C#, VB or XAML is on the up and the amount of dragging and dropping onto 'forms' is on the down. With this basic assumption, it is simple to say that Microsoft should start concentrating on making the editor smarter, keyboard shortcuts easier, and code/error checking and evaluation better - the days of a dumb editor leaving you to google a class to find out in which library it resides are gone (or should be in any case) for most of us.

• Context Menu key (one one with the menu on it, next to the right Windows key)
• Then choose "Resolve" from the menu. That can be done by pressing "s".