30 Sep 09 Generating GUIDs from Visual Studio 2008

I find I have to generate GUIDs often (mostly due to using WiX) and the in-built Tools > Create GUID tool is too cumbersome for this.

I found a blog post that has a simple macro you can customize to bind a keyboard shortcut to paste in a new GUID

Here are some full instructions, using their simple macro code:

1. Tools > Macros > Macro Explorer (or hit ALT+F8)
2. Right click Macros, choose New Macro Project…
3. Choose a location for the Macro project and give it a meaningful name then click Add
4. Rename Module1 to something more meaningful, then double-click to edit the module
5. Insert the code to paste a new GUID into the current cursor position / selection:
   
Public Sub PasteNewGuid()
DTE.ActiveDocument.Selection.Text = "{" & System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString("D").ToUpper() & "}"
End Sub
6. Save the macro project and close the Macro IDE
7. In Visual Studio: Tools > Options, select Environment > Keyboard
8. Find the macro command you created (you can use the Show commands containing: to search on guid)
9. Select the command in the list
10. Ensure Use new shortcut in: has Global selected
11. Place the cursor in Press shortcut keys: and hit the shortcut (ALT+G for me)
12. Hit OK
13. Test it out

Tags: 2008, guid, macro, new, paste, visual studio, vs, vs.net