Datasheet

Toolbars
Visual Studio’s toolbars are easy to rearrange. Grab the four gray dots on a toolbar’s left or upper edge
and drag the toolbar to its new position. If you drag a toolbar to one of Visual Studio’s edges, it will dock
there either horizontally (on the IDE’s top or bottom edge) or vertically (on the IDE’s left or right edge). If
you drop a toolbar away from the IDE’s edges, it becomes a floating window not docked to the IDE.
You can use the menu commands described earlier in this chapter to determine which toolbars are visi-
ble, to determine what they contain, and to make custom toolbars of your own.
Many menu commands are also available in standard toolbars. For example, the Debug toolbar contains
many of the same commands that are in the Debug menu. If you use a set of menu commands frequently,
you may want to display the corresponding toolbar to make using the commands easier.
Secondary Windows
You can rearrange secondary windows such as the Toolbox and Solution Explorer almost as easily as
you can rearrange toolbars. Click and drag the window’s title area to move it. As the window moves, the
IDE displays little blue icons to help you dock the window, as shown in Figure 1-51. This figure probably
looks somewhat confusing, but it’s fairly easy to use.
The IDE displays four docking icons near the edges of the IDE. You can see these icons near the edges of
Figure 1-51. If you drop the window on one of these icons, the window docks to the corresponding edge
of the IDE.
When you drag the window over another window, the IDE displays docking icons for the other window.
In Figure 1-51, these are the five icons near the mouse in the middle of the screen. The four icons on the
sides dock the window to the corresponding edge of the other window.
The center icon places the dropped window in a tab within the other window. If you look closely at
Figure 1-51, you can see a little image of a document with two tabs on the bottom in this icon.
When you drag the mouse over one of the docking icons, the IDE displays a dark gray rectangle to give
you an idea of where the window will land if you drop it. In Figure 1-51, the mouse is over the main
document window’s right docking icon, so the grayed rectangle shows the dropped window taking up
the right half of the main document window.
If you drop a window somewhere other than on a docking icon, the window becomes free-floating.
Once you drop a window on the main document area, it becomes a tabbed document, and you cannot
later pull it out. To free the window, select it and use the Window menu’s Dockable or Floating command.
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