So I've got two tool windows in my visual studio extension (package) and I'd like to open up the second window via a button on the first window.
I expected this to be explained here: "How to: Open a Tool Window Programmatically", but it wasn't.
So I've got two tool windows in my visual studio extension (package) and I'd like to open up the second window via a button on the first window.
I expected this to be explained here: "How to: Open a Tool Window Programmatically", but it wasn't.
You should use either Package.FindToolWindow
or IVsUIShell.FindToolWindow
to find or create a tool window.
If used from your own package (or if you have a reference to the package, just put it there instead of this):
private void OpenFromPackage()
{
ToolWindowPane window = this.FindToolWindow(typeof(MyToolWindow), 0, true); // True means: crate if not found. 0 means there is only 1 instance of this tool window
if (null == window || null == window.Frame)
throw new NotSupportedException("MyToolWindow not found");
IVsWindowFrame windowFrame = (IVsWindowFrame)window.Frame;
ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(windowFrame.Show());
}
If you can't do it from your package, or don't have a reference to it, use IVSUIShell:
private void OpenWithIVsUIShell()
{
IVsUIShell vsUIShell = (IVsUIShell)Package.GetGlobalService(typeof(SVsUIShell));
Guid guid = typeof(MyToolWindow).GUID;
IVsWindowFrame windowFrame;
int result = vsUIShell.FindToolWindow((uint)__VSFINDTOOLWIN.FTW_fFindFirst, ref guid, out windowFrame); // Find MyToolWindow
if (result != VSConstants.S_OK)
result = vsUIShell.FindToolWindow((uint)__VSFINDTOOLWIN.FTW_fForceCreate, ref guid, out windowFrame); // Crate MyToolWindow if not found
if (result == VSConstants.S_OK) // Show MyToolWindow
ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(windowFrame.Show());
}
When you create a new package with toolwindow support, you get a single toolwindow and a command that displays it. This command is handled in the package class with the ShowToolWindow method.
Examining that, you'll see that the base package object has a FindToolWindow method that you can use to find (and create if needed) any toolwindow you have implemented in your package. That FindToolWindow method is just a nice wrapper around the IVsUIShell.FindToolWindow method, which is what ultimately gets invoked when displaying any toolwindow.
So instead of using the old EnvDTE automation interface, I would recommend using the lower level services built into the actual package object.
Here's how I solved it, the following code is the code-behind method of the button on the first window:
private void ButtonBase_OnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var dte = Package.GetGlobalService(typeof(DTE)) as DTE;
if (dte == null) return;
var window = dte.Windows.Item("{WindowGUID}");
window.Visible = true;
}
You should find the "WindowGUID" in the Guids class and above the class of the ToolWindow.