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The VS.NET 2003 Script Plug-in for Jaws - V1.2

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To find additional resources, enter the search terms: "Visual Studio.net scripts"
 

 

Introduction


The VS.NET 2003 Script Plug-in works in conjunction with the default Visual Studio.net scripts packaged with Jaws5.0 or greater. (Using the JFWControl Addin, downloadable from Freedom Scientific.)

The plug-in contains a set of additional scripts, Which are designed to enhance Jaws functionality when using the Visual Basic interface of Visual Studio.net 2003.

These scripts are open source, free, and can be adapted however necessary to increase functionality for the user.

 

Details


When there are hundreds, if not thousands of items to scroll through, locating an allusive property, class library, or object, can easily become frustrating.

The VS.NET Script Plug-in was designed to automate this task, and enable the ability to search for specific items without effort.

Several bug fixes and enhancements have also been added, which have increased the accessibility of the Windows Form Designer remarkably.

 

Hotkeys and Features


 

General


Activate main menu and hotkey list:  Insert+Shift+H
Besides a list of the hotkeys that are available, the main menu lists several options that can be used at runtime. These include:
* Toggle maximum search within group lists.
* View online documentation.
* Uninstall the VS.Net Script Plug-in.

Open the Search For String dialog: Control+Shift+Numpad5
(Laptop Key: JawsKey+Pause)
This can be used to search for…
* A specific object within the Toolbox. (Simply highlight the Form Designer Window, press Control+Shift+Numpad5, then enter the desired search string.)
* A specific item within the properties list of the Properties Window. (Highlight the list of properties, press Control+Shift+Numpad5, then enter the desired search string.)
* A specific item within any tree view or list view. (Highlight the list to search, press Control+Shift+Numpad5, then enter the desired search string.)

The Maximize Search option can be toggled from the main menu (Insert+Shift+H). This option is off by default.
* When off, only the relevant list will be searched. (Expanded levels will not be included in the search. This is most prevalent within tree views, and within the properties list of the Properties Window.)
* When on, all relevant paths will be searched. (This takes more time, but yields more results.)
(To cancel a search, press Escape)

Multiple word searches are also supported. Type all of the words you want to search for, separated by a space, and the search will only return a match when all of the desired words are found.

Read selected item: Control+Shift+F12
This can be used within list views to read version info when viewing lists of class libraries.

 

Using the Windows Form Designer


To cycle between the various objects on a form, press: Tab & Shift+Tab

Important: Before you can edit a MainMenu control, MenuMode Support will need to be activated.
Simply press: JawsKey+Shift+Control at any time to do so.
To prevent conflicts, this feature is always off by default. When deactivated, Tab & Shift+Tab will continue to cycle through the various controls on the form, regardless whether a MainMenu control is present.

To reposition a control on the Windows Form Designer…
Towards the left, press: Alt+Shift+Leftarrow
Towards the right, press: Alt+Shift+Rightarrow
Towards the top, press: Alt+Shift+Uparrow
Towards the bottom, press: Alt+Shift+Downarrow
If pressed quickly, the jump-ahead rate will temporarily increase to 8 points. After 500 milliseconds (half a second), this value will again reduce itself to 1.

Important: MainMenu items can also be relocated using the repositioning hotkeys. Just make sure that MenuMode Support is active beforehand (JawsKey+Shift+Control).

Since the repositioning of MainMenu items is dependant on default pixel parameters, a formula is required to estimate the required up & down movement values. The default formula for this action is as follows:
Up&DownPixelMovement = 66% of Left&RightPixelMovement (Which is written as: 2/3)

If nothing unexpected occurs when moving a MainMenu item up or down in a list, then the default formula  is working fine. However, if the selected menu item is being dragged too far, or not far enough, the formula can be manually changed.
Simply press: Alt+Control+JawsKey to do so.
Here are some example formulas to try...
     If the menu item is not being dragged far enough to complete the action, try either of the following formulas: 3/4, 4/5, 5/6, etc.
     If the menu item is being dragged too far, try either of the following: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc.

To resize a control on the Windows Form Designer…
By increasing its height, press: Control+Shift+Downarrow
By decreasing its height, press: Control+Shift+Uparrow
By increasing its width, press: Control+Shift+Rightarrow
By decreasing its width, press: Control+Shift+Leftarrow
If pressed quickly, the jump-ahead rate will temporarily increase to 8 points. After 500 milliseconds (half a second), this value will again reduce itself to 1.

 

Important information


When the plug-in is installed into your Jaws script directory, the original Visual Studio.net script files will be saved in a folder named “msenvBK”. This too will be located in your Jaws script directory.

When the plug-in is uninstalled, these files will be restored to their original positions.

The scripts were written using JAWS5.0, with Visual Studio.net 2003.

 

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It allows plug-ins to be added that enhance the functionality at almost every level - including adding support for source control systems (like Subversion and Visual SourceSafe ) to adding new toolsets like editors and visual designers for domain-specific languages or toolsets for other aspects of the software development lifecycle (like the Team Foundation Server client: Team Explorer). Visual Studio supports languages by means of language services, which allow any programming language to be supported (to varying degrees) by the code editor and debugger, provided a language-specific service has been authored. In-built languages include C/ C++ (via Visual C++), VB.NET (via Visual Basic .NET ), and C# (via Visual C# ). Support for other languages such as F#, Python , and Ruby among others has been made available via language services which are to be installed separately. It also supports XML/ XSLT, HTML/ XHTML, JavaScript and CSS. Visual Studio does not support any programming language, solution or tool intrinsically. Instead, it allows various functionality to be plugged in. Specific functionality is coded as a VSPackage. When installed, the functionality is available as a Service. The IDE provides three services: SVsSolution that provides the ability to enumerate projects and solutions, SVsUIShell that provides windowing and UI functionality (including tabs, toolbars and tool windows), and SVsShell that deals with registration of VSPackages. In addition, the IDE is also responsible for co-ordinating and enabling communication between services. [2] All editors, designers, project types and other tools are implemented as VSPackages. Visual Studio uses COM to access the VSPackages. The Visual Studio SDK also includes the Managed Package Framework (MPF), which is a set of managed wrappers around the COM-interfaces that allow the Packages to be written in .NET languages. [3] However, MPF does not provide all the functionality exposed by the Visual Studio COM interfaces. [4] The services can then be consumed for creation of other packages, which add functionality to the Visual Studio IDE. Support for programming languages is added by using a specific VSPackage called a Language Service. A language service defines various interfaces which the VSPackage implementation can implement to add support for various functionality. [5] Functionality that can be added this way includes syntax coloring, statement completion, brace matching, parameter information tooltips, member lists and error markers for background compilation. [5] If the interface is implemented, the functionality will be available for the language. Language services are to be implemented on a per-language basis. The implementations can reuse code from the parser or the compiler for the language. [5] Language services can be implemented either in native code or managed code . For native code, either the native COM interfaces can be used, or the Babel Framework (part of Visual Studio SDK) be used. [6] For managed code, the MPF includes wrappers for writing managed language services. [7] Visual Studio does not include any source control support built in but it defines the MSSCCI (Microsoft Source Code Control Interface) by implementing which source control systems can integrate with the IDE. [8] MSSCCI defines a set of functions that are used to implement various source control functionality. [9] MSSCCI was first used to integrate Visual SourceSafe with Visual Studio 6.0 but was later opened up via the Visual Studio SDK. Visual Studio .NET 2002 used MSSCCI 1.1 and MSSCCI 1.2 was used by Visual Studio .NET 2003. Version 1.3, which adds support for rename and delete propagation as well as asynchronous open, is used by both Visual Studio 2005 and 2008. [8] Visual Studio supports running multiple instances of the environment (each with its own set of VSPackages). The instances use different registry hives to store their configuration state are differentiated by their AppId (Application ID). The instances are launched by an AppId-specific .exe that selects the AppId, sets the root hive and launches the IDE. VSPackages registered for one AppId are integrated with other VSPackages for that AppId. The various product editions of Visual Studio are created using the different AppIds. The Visual Studio Express edition products are installed with their own AppIDs, but the Standard, Professional and Team Suite products share the same AppId. Consequently, the Express editions can be installed side-by-side with other editions, unlike the other editions which update the same installation. The professional edition includes a superset of the VSPackages in the standard edition and the team suite includes a superset of the VSPackages in both other editions. The AppId system is leveraged by the Visual Studio Shell in Visual Studio 2008. [10] Visual Studio, like any other IDE , includes a code editor that supports syntax highlighting and code completion using IntelliSense for not only variables, functions and methods but also language constructs like loops and queries. [11] IntelliSense is supported for the included languages, as well as for XML and for Cascading Style Sheets and JavaScript when developing web sites and web applications. [12] [13] Autocomplete suggestions are popped up in a modeless list box, overlayed on top of the code editor. Visual Studio 2008 onwards, it can be made temporarily semi-transparent to see the code obstructed by it. [11] The code editor is used for all supported languages. The Visual Studio code editor also supports setting bookmarks in code for quick navigation. Other navigational aids include collapsing code blocks and incremental search , in addition to normal text search and regex search. [14] The code editor also includes a multi-item clipboard and a task list. [14] The code editor supports code snippets, which are saved templates for repetitive code, that can be inserted into code and customized for the project being worked on. A management tool for code snippets is built in as well. These tools are surfaced as floating windows which can be set to automatically hide when unused or docked to the side of the screen. The Visual Studio code editor also supports code refactoring including parameter reordering, variable and method renaming, interface extraction and encapsulation of class members inside properties, among others. Visual Studio features background compilation (also called incremental compilation). [15] [16] As code it being written, Visual Studio compiles it in the background with a view to pointing out compilation errors and warnings on-the-fly. Errors are flagged with a red wavy underline and warnings with a green underline. Background compilation does not generate executable code, and needs a different compiler than the one used to generate executable code. [17] . Background compilation was initially introduced with Microsoft Visual Basic but has now been expanded for all included languages. [16]