How to Enable Full Syntax Features in a Custom Text Editor VS2022

Question

My goal is to create an editor that mirrors the functionality of the standard Visual Studio text editor, including Syntax error underlining, Syntax highlighting, and Contencutal right-click options (e.g. "Go to Definition") While I can successfully load file content into the editor, none of these standard features are present. I suspect this might be related to the ContentType of the ITextBuffer, but I am unsure of the precise role it plays in enabling these features. Currently, my implementation is hardcoded to work exclusively with C# content and files. In another project (not related to this one), I implemented some standard features by associating the editor with .cs file extensions, but this is not a viable solution for my current project. I cannot use this association because it would interfere with the normal IDE experience, preventing me from editing or interacting with .cs files as usual. I am looking for a solution or understanding of this issue, or how I can get lower level information of what is going on under the hood when I set a Content Type. I have also included a screenshot of what the result looks like on my end:

You can see where I try to inspect the tags on the buffer in the commented out code where I use the ITextBuffer. There might be a bug but I am probably just using this wrong or there are no tags being applied to the buffer. Additionally, I have used IVsTextBuffer with IVsTextView, where I set the language service using SetLanguageServiceID(Guid) on the IVsTextBuffer. While I am able to load the content, I still encounter the same problem: file content is loaded without any features. For setting the language service, I passed in the GUID of the C# language service, which I found in examples: 694DD9B6-B865-4C5B-AD85-86356E9C88DC.

what the editor looks like

What I did to set up the project: Create new project in VS2022, select C# VSIX project type, add a Tool Window to the project, press f5 which will load the experimental instance, tool window should be available in experimental instance under View->Other Windows MyAnnotateV2Package.cs:

using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Editor;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell;
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Threading;
using Task = System.Threading.Tasks.Task;

namespace MyAnnotateV2
{
    [PackageRegistration(UseManagedResourcesOnly = true, AllowsBackgroundLoading = true)]
    [Guid(MyAnnotateV2Package.PackageGuidString)]
    [ProvideMenuResource("Menus.ctmenu", 1)]
    [ProvideToolWindow(typeof(ToolWindow1))]
    public sealed class MyAnnotateV2Package : AsyncPackage
    {
        public const string PackageGuidString = "f56b58be-0719-4e37-8147-b824c8566701";

        #region Package Members

        protected override async Task InitializeAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken, IProgress<ServiceProgressData> progress)
        {
            await this.JoinableTaskFactory.SwitchToMainThreadAsync(cancellationToken);
            await ToolWindow1Command.InitializeAsync(this);
        }

        #endregion
    }
}

ToolWindow1.cs:

using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell;
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

namespace MyAnnotateV2
{
    [Guid("d13s0712-4527-4b27-8920-6b38dc41a26e")]
    public class ToolWindow1 : ToolWindowPane
    {
        public ToolWindow1() : base(null)
        {
            this.Caption = "ToolWindow1";

            // Pass the service provider to the control
            this.Content = new ToolWindow1Control(false);
        }
    }
}

ToolWindow1Command.cs:

using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Interop;
using System;
using System.ComponentModel.Design;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Task = System.Threading.Tasks.Task;

namespace MyAnnotateV2
{

    internal sealed class ToolWindow1Command
    {

        public const int CommandId = 0x0100;


        public static readonly Guid CommandSet = new Guid("10e1cf87-4456-493c-8cf6-92d8bceb4d21");

        private readonly AsyncPackage package;
        private ToolWindow1Command(AsyncPackage package, OleMenuCommandService commandService)
        {
            this.package = package ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(package));
            commandService = commandService ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(commandService));

            var menuCommandID = new CommandID(CommandSet, CommandId);
            var menuItem = new MenuCommand(this.Execute, menuCommandID);
            commandService.AddCommand(menuItem);
        }


        public static ToolWindow1Command Instance
        {
            get;
            private set;
        }

        private Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.IAsyncServiceProvider ServiceProvider
        {
            get
            {
                return this.package;
            }
        }

        public static async Task InitializeAsync(AsyncPackage package)
        {
            await ThreadHelper.JoinableTaskFactory.SwitchToMainThreadAsync(package.DisposalToken);

            OleMenuCommandService commandService = await package.GetServiceAsync(typeof(IMenuCommandService)) as OleMenuCommandService;
            Instance = new ToolWindow1Command(package, commandService);
        }

        private void Execute(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            ThreadHelper.ThrowIfNotOnUIThread();

            ToolWindowPane window = this.package.FindToolWindow(typeof(ToolWindow1), 0, true);
            if ((null == window) || (null == window.Frame))
            {
                throw new NotSupportedException("Cannot create tool window");
            }

            IVsWindowFrame windowFrame = (IVsWindowFrame)window.Frame;
            Microsoft.VisualStudio.ErrorHandler.ThrowOnFailure(windowFrame.Show());
        }
    }
}

ToolWindow1Control.xaml:

<UserControl x:Class="MyAnnotateV2.ToolWindow1Control"
             xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
             xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
             xmlns:vsshell="clr-namespace:Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell;assembly=Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.15.0"
             Background="{DynamicResource {x:Static vsshell:VsBrushes.WindowKey}}"
             Foreground="{DynamicResource {x:Static vsshell:VsBrushes.WindowTextKey}}"
             mc:Ignorable="d"
             d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300"
             Name="MyToolWindow">
    <Grid>
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <!-- First column width set to 30% -->
            <ColumnDefinition Width="2*" />
            <!-- GridSplitter column -->
            <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
            <!-- Second column width set to 70% -->
            <ColumnDefinition Width="8*" />
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

        <!-- Left Panel Content -->
        <StackPanel Orientation="Vertical" Grid.Column="0" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
            <TextBlock Margin="10" HorizontalAlignment="Center">ToolWindow1</TextBlock>
            <Button Content="Click me!" Click="button1_Click" Width="120" Height="80" Name="button1"/>
        </StackPanel>

        <!-- GridSplitter -->
        <GridSplitter Grid.Column="1" Width="5" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Background="Gray" />

        <!-- Right Panel Content (Empty) -->
        <Grid Grid.Column="2" Name="RightPanel" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
        </Grid>
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

ToolWindow1Control.xaml.cs:

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
using System.IO;
using System.IO.Packaging;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using EnvDTE;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.ComponentModelHost;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Editor;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Interop;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Text;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Text.Classification;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Text.Editor;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Text.Tagging;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TextManager.Interop;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Utilities;
using System.ComponentModel.Composition;
using System.Diagnostics;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.Language.CodeLens.Remoting;

namespace MyAnnotateV2
{
    using IOleServiceProvider = Microsoft.VisualStudio.OLE.Interop.IServiceProvider;
    public partial class ToolWindow1Control : UserControl
    {
        private readonly object _provider;
        public ToolWindow1Control(bool comBased)
        {
            _provider = Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Package.GetGlobalService(typeof(IOleServiceProvider));
            this.InitializeComponent();

            InitializeEditor("C:Your\\Local\\Path\\To\\Program.cs");
        }

        [SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Globalization", "CA1300:SpecifyMessageBoxOptions", Justification = "Sample code")]
        [SuppressMessage("StyleCop.CSharp.NamingRules", "SA1300:ElementMustBeginWithUpperCaseLetter", Justification = "Default event handler naming pattern")]
        private void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(
                string.Format(System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture, "Invoked '{0}'", this.ToString()),
                "ToolWindow1!!!!");
        }

        // factory for creating methods: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/microsoft.visualstudio.text.editor.itexteditorfactoryservice?view=visualstudiosdk-2022
        //[Import] IBufferTagAggregatorFactoryService tagFactory = null;
        //[Import] IClassificationTypeRegistryService ClassificationRegistry = null;
        //[Import] ITextBufferFactoryService textBufferFactory = null;
        //[Import] ITextEditorFactoryService textEditorFactory = null;
        //[Import] IContentTypeRegistryService contentTypeRegistry = null;
        private void InitializeEditor(string filePath)
        {
            var componentModel = (IComponentModel)Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Package.GetGlobalService(typeof(SComponentModel));
            var editorAdapterFactory = componentModel.GetService<IVsEditorAdaptersFactoryService>();
            var textBufferFactory = componentModel.GetService<ITextBufferFactoryService>();
            var textEditorFactory = componentModel.GetService<ITextEditorFactoryService>();
            var contentTypeRegistry = componentModel.GetService<IContentTypeRegistryService>();
            var tagFactory = componentModel.GetService<IBufferTagAggregatorFactoryService>();
            var viewTagFactory = componentModel.GetService<IViewTagAggregatorFactoryService>();
            var fileExtensionRegistryFactory = componentModel.GetService<IFileExtensionRegistryService>();
            var classifier = componentModel.GetService<IClassifierAggregatorService>();

            var contentT = fileExtensionRegistryFactory.GetContentTypeForExtension(".cs");

            //var oleServiceProvider = Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Package.GetGlobalService(typeof(SVsServiceProvider)) as Microsoft.VisualStudio.OLE.Interop.IServiceProvider;

            // Create the text buffer and initialize it with content from the file
            // https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/microsoft.visualstudio.text.itextbufferfactoryservice?view=visualstudiosdk-2022
            string fileContent = File.ReadAllText(filePath);
            IContentType contentType = contentTypeRegistry.GetContentType("CSharp");

            ITextBuffer textBuffer = textBufferFactory.CreateTextBuffer(fileContent, contentType);

            IWpfTextView textView = textEditorFactory.CreateTextView(textBuffer);

            setAllTextViewOptions(textView);

            IWpfTextViewHost textViewHost = textEditorFactory.CreateTextViewHost(textView, false);

            var textViewElement = textViewHost.HostControl;
            textViewElement.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Stretch;
            textViewElement.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Stretch;

            // My attempt at getting tags from text buffer
            //ITagAggregator<IClassificationTag> tagAggregator = viewTagFactory.CreateTagAggregator<IClassificationTag>(textView);
            //ITextSnapshot currSnapshot = textView.TextSnapshot;
            //SnapshotSpan fullTextSnapshotSpan = new SnapshotSpan(currSnapshot, 0, 330); // Length of snapshot is 340
            //Span fullSpan = fullTextSnapshotSpan.Span;
            //IEnumerable enumerableTags = tagAggregator.GetTags(fullTextSnapshotSpan);
            //IEnumerator enumeratedTags = enumerableTags.GetEnumerator();
            //var nextOperationResult = enumeratedTags.MoveNext();
            //var currElement = enumeratedTags.Current;

            // Add the HostControl of the text view host to the RightPanel
            RightPanel.Children.Add(textViewHost.HostControl);
        }
private void setAllTextViewOptions(ITextView textView)
{
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.VerticalScrollBarName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.HorizontalScrollBarName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.GlyphMarginName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.SuggestionMarginName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.SelectionMarginName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.LineNumberMarginName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ChangeTrackingName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.OutliningMarginName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ZoomControlName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.IsInContrastModeName, false); // Set true if needed
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.IsInHighContrastThemeName, false); // Set true if needed
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ShowScrollBarAnnotationsOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ShowEnhancedScrollBarOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ShowChangeTrackingMarginOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ChangeTrackingMarginWidthOptionName, 5.0); // Adjust width as needed
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ShowPreviewOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.PreviewSizeOptionName, 5); // Adjust preview size as needed
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ShowCaretPositionOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.SourceImageMarginEnabledOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.SourceImageMarginWidthOptionName, 20.0); // Adjust width as needed
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ShowMarksOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ShowErrorsOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.MarkMarginWidthOptionName, 5.0); // Adjust width as needed
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.ErrorMarginWidthOptionName, 5.0); // Adjust width as needed
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.EnableFileHealthIndicatorOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.RowColMarginOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.SelectionStateMarginOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.InsertModeMarginOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.IndentationCharacterMarginOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.UpdateIndentationCharacterOnEditOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.LineEndingMarginOptionName, true);
    textView.Options.SetOptionValue(DefaultTextViewHostOptions.EditingStateMarginOptionName, true);
}

Program.cs:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace TestSVN
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // hello world
            // error below is intentional to test buffer functionality
            int hello
        }
    }
}

This post is tagged as spam if I include this link: developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/…. But here is an issue someone else encountered that seem not to be solved. I tried the cast to IAccurateTagAggregator but got the same result. — Woogie22
– Woogie22, Commented Jul 17, 2024 at 21:15
I copied your code in my VSIX project and can reproduce the same issue at my side. I am searching docs to see whether it is possible to enable full syntax functionality for tool window as like as vs editor. — Dou Xu-MSFT
– Dou Xu-MSFT, Commented Jul 18, 2024 at 6:21
I also found this post (stackoverflow.com/questions/70091440/…) that has an editor hosted inside of a control. When reproduced it will provide syntax coloring and some other features. I actually commented out the line that sets the buffer content type to CSharp and created a text buffer using the constructor that does not accept the ContentType, and the result looks identical to my result above ie) no syntax coloring or recognition. So I think setting of the content type is actually working here. @DouXu-MSFT — Woogie22
– Woogie22, Commented Jul 18, 2024 at 17:42
Hi @Woogie22, I'm investigating the issue and will sync it to you as there is progress. — Dou Xu-MSFT
– Dou Xu-MSFT, Commented Jul 23, 2024 at 8:33

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