Automatically Add Regions to Code in Visual Studio

Use the following snippet

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<CodeSnippets  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
  <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
    <Header>
      <Title>#Classregion</Title>
      <Shortcut>#Classregion</Shortcut>
      <Description>Code snippet for #Classregion</Description>
      <Author>Author Name</Author>
      <SnippetTypes>
        <SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
        <SnippetType>SurroundsWith</SnippetType>
      </SnippetTypes>
    </Header>
    <Snippet>
      <Declarations>
        <Literal>
          <ID>name</ID>
          <ToolTip>Region name</ToolTip>
          <Default>MyRegion</Default>
        </Literal>
      </Declarations>
      <Code Language="csharp">
        <![CDATA[
        #region ------------- Members ---------------
        $selected$ $end$
    #endregion

  #region --------------- Properties ---------------
        $selected$ $end$
    #endregion

  #region --------------- Methods ---------------
        $selected$ $end$
    #endregion
    ]]>
      </Code>
    </Snippet>
  </CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

Save it under C:\Users\\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Code Snippets\Visual C#\My Code Snippets

Later it will be accessible in C# code, by Right-Click > Insert Snippet > My Code Snippets > #Classregion


Two ways I know:

Create a snippet as per this MSDN guide.

Downloading the Visual Studio Extension Productivity Power Tools which has a "Surround" feature. This surrounds the user made selection with the selected snippet, for example #region #endregion or if statement.


Don't know why so many people speak out against regions; they help me categorize my code very easily. What I use is a macro placed on one of my keyboard buttons that automatically inserts the regions for me. One tip I can give you is to put a small delay between each keypress if this is possible because VS sometimes misses characters otherwise.

Hope this helps!


You could create a simple code snippet like the following one:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CodeSnippets
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2005/CodeSnippet">
  <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
    <Header>
      <Title>Simple</Title>
      <Shortcut>simple</Shortcut>
      <SnippetTypes>
        <SnippetType>Expansion</SnippetType>
      </SnippetTypes>
    </Header>
    <Snippet>
      <Declarations>
        <Literal>
          <ID>name</ID>
          <ToolTip>Replace with the name of the action</ToolTip>
          <Default>Action</Default>
        </Literal>
      </Declarations>
      <Code Language="csharp">
        <![CDATA[
        public void $name$()
        {
            #region ------------- set up -------------
            #endregion 

            #region ------------- run test -------------
            #endregion 
        }
        ]]>
      </Code>
    </Snippet>
  </CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

Save that file into C:\Users\<your_user>\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Code Snippets\Visual C#\My Code Snippets.

Now you just need to reopen Visual Studio, type 'simple' into a class and press Tab key twice.