Visual Studio editor - extend selection to the nex

Question

In Visual Studio 2010, is there any way to quickly extend the selected text to the next logical code block? For example, if my cursor was here:

And I hit some magical keyboard shortcut, it would select the entire string:

Hit it again, and it would select the next larger logical block of code:

And so on. Does this exist? My google-fu seems to be failing me..

Answer 1

This is build-in feature in Visual Studio 2017 (current version 15.8.1)

Expand selection to containing block
Ctrl + Shift + Alt + +

Shrink selection to previous block
Ctrl + Shift + Alt + -

Also you can expand/shrink selection progressively by

Shift + Alt + + - Expand

Shift + Alt + - - Shrink

Answer 2

In the Visual Studio Menu Bar (Top) go to Tools > Options

Select Environment > Keyboard as shown below. Search for SelectCurrentWord and highlight the entry that comes up. Click the remove Button next to "Assignment".

Search for WordNextExtend, highlight the entry and add CTRL + W under "Press Shortcut Keys". Click the Assign button.

Usage: move the cursor to any word, press CTRL + Left and subsequently consecutively CTRL + W.

That's it. There is a great benefit to using the same scheme as JetBrains Products. Enjoy!

Answer 3

Visual Studio 2017 15.5.2 appears to have this feature built-in after it was first hinted at in a Visual Studio 2017 Preview blog post (see section "Smart Code Editor").

Invoking it can be done by going to Edit > Advanced > Expand Selection or by binding the Edit.ExpandSelection command to Ctrl+W (actually the new default if you start without any previous keybindings).

Shrinking / contracting the selection is possible as well, look for Edit > Advanced > Contract Selection or the Edit.ContractSelection command (default Ctrl+Shift+W).

Answer 4

Expand: Alt + Shift + =

Reverse: Alt + Shift + -

taken from here

Answer 5

In Visual Studio 2015 it's possible using a free "Hot Commands" extension: https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/f073b573-c9a3-4104-a682-bd7a6c1023a6

Use "Expand selection" command.

Answer 6

Ctrl-W will select an entire word in Visual Studio. I cannot seem to find an option to select an entire code block.