Visual Assist appeals to all levels of programmers, from students learning the ins and outs of C/C++ to experienced coders wanting tools that improve already impressive speed. The latest build of Visual Assist, build 2112, provides features at both ends.
Two dialogs in Visual Assist build 2112 remove some of the mystery of keyboard shortcuts available to new users of the software. The first dialog lists and explains assignments to the commands in Visual Assist commonly bound. By default, the dialog lists the assignments made during installation of Visual Assist. You can reach the dialog via VAssistX | Help | Keyboard Shortcuts.
The second dialog lists shortcuts that are recommend to users of Visual Assist. Most recommendations overwrite shortcuts usurped by Visual Studio over the years. For example, Shift+Alt+O once opened a file from any scope of the IDE; by default, the command now works only in the text editor. (Visual Studio usurped Shift+Alt+O to open a website!)
The dialog of recommended shortcuts opens automatically one week after installation of build 2112, primarily to give trial users a chance to learn the defaults. If you want to see the recommendations sooner, open the dialog via VAssistX | Help | Keyboard Shortcuts | Recommended.
At the other end, i.e., for experienced programmers, build 2112 provides two new tools that make debugging of native code more efficient. The first tool, Address Resolver, greatly simplifies the arduous process of mapping virtual addresses in a text-only call stack, i.e., one without a process dump, into names of symbols from a PDB.
The second debugging tool, PDB Explorer, lets the experienced coder efficiently browse symbols in a PDB or DLL, and if a running process is under the control of Visual Studio, instruct the debugger to open the disassembly window at locations of symbols.
Visual Assist build 2112 requires software maintenance through 2016.09.16.
Check out the complete list of what’s new in build 2112, learn about the Address Resolver or PDB Explorer, or download the installer.
