A revised UI for code actions is intended to lay the foundation for further UX innovations, and temporary profiles are available as a preview feature.
Microsoft has published the monthly release of its source code editor Visual Studio Code. The August update with the version number 1.71 changes the handling of merge conflicts and code actions as well as the renaming of files. In addition, it comes with the new programming language version TypeScript 4.8. There are additional functions for creating setting profiles, which are still available as a preview.
Code Actions as a custom control
Instead of displaying a list of code actions as before, version 1.71 introduces a custom control intended to provide a better overview. Additional information is also available in the new code action UI, for example hovering over deactivated code actions shows the reason for their deactivation. A customization of the keyboard shortcuts is also possible. According to the development team, this new user interface lays the foundation for further innovations in the field of user experience (UX).
Code Actions offer both refactorings and quick fixes for found problems, which Visual Studio Code highlights with a green squiggle. An available code action can be identified by a light bulb next to such source code when the cursor is on a highlighted area or corresponding text selection.
Faster access to Merge Editor and file renaming
In the August release, files with a conflict get a Open in Merge Editor-Button to switch between text and merge editor. Also, the old inline conflict decorators are no longer disabled, so the merge editor and inline feature can be used at the same time.
File renaming also has a new behavior: After initiating a rename action on a file, pressing the F2button to change the file name, the entire selection or the file extension. This should make it easier to use the keyboard.
Creation of temporary profiles
After Visual Studio Code 1.70 allowed the creation of setting profiles as a preview feature, temporary profiles now follow. Developers can create such profiles and temporarily link them to a folder or workspace. If this connection no longer exists, they are automatically deleted. A temporary profile can also be created from the CLI and --profile-temp link to a folder or workspace. This line opens the try-out-sample folder with a temporary profile that is automatically deleted after the folder is closed:
code ~/projects/try-out-sample --profile-temp
Included as a preview feature in VS Code last month, the final version of the TypeScript 4.8 programming language, also developed by Microsoft, is also on board. Among other things, the new language version brings innovations for zero checks and automatic file imports.
All further information about Visual Studio Code 1.71 can be found in the announcement.
