FastFind is a Visual Studio plugin that allows you to instantly open solution files and find text in files. The FastFind window will auto-update as you type, showing you anything relevant and allowing you to jump instantly to the code. FastFind lets you see the find results update as you type, and jump to the code, all without touching the mouse.

Easily jump to a different solution
Advanced pattern matching
Easily jump to any file in the solution
Fast jump to/from C++ header file
Instant find-in-files - auto-complete as you type!
Fast wildcard matching
Modal and dockable windows
Fully customisable colours

Visual Studio Plugin
Supports:
Visual Studio 2010 (up to version 4.3)
Visual Studio 2012
Visual Studio 2013
Visual Studio 2015
Visual Studio 2017

Why FastFind?
FastFind is a Visual Studio plugin that allows you to instantly open solution files or find text in files. The FastFind window will auto-update as you type, showing you anything relevant and allowing you to jump instantly to the code.

"When I'm working in large unfamiliar codebases I'm always having to search for code. Having to open a find-in-files window, enter what I want to find, wait while it searches through thousands of files on the hard drive, use the mouse to navigate to a new results window, click on the result I want - it's just too slow."

"With FastFind I can see the results as I type, and jump to the code, all without touching the mouse. Those few seconds saved really do matter when I'm doing this hundreds of times a day."

Dev machines these days typically have a lot of memory, and a lot of cores. FastFind utilises all of your machine's resources to find what you are looking for. No need to wait, the answer is there instantly.

KeyBindings
Alt+F Open FastFind
Alt+Shift+F Open FastFind (docked)
Alt+O Toggle C++ Source/Header

You can change the key binding by going into the Visual Studio Tools Menu -> Options. Select Environment -> General -> Keyboard. Type 'FastFind' into the 'Show Commands Containing..." box.". You can then assign FastFind to whatever key that you wish.

Features

Find in Solution
Start typing in the FastFind text box to find all files, solution and text in files that matches the string.
example: MyVariable
example: MyClass
example: MyComponent*
example: ::FunctionName(*,*)
example: MyFile.cpp
example: MySolution.sln
example: pretty much anything...instantly
Open Files From Disk
Start typing a file system path and auto-complete with tab example: d:\MyProject\somefile...
Opening a solution file:
Open a solution file: start typing the name of the solution, use the up/down cursor keys to select the solution, hit enter to open file solution.
example: MySolution.sln
example: .sln to list all solutions
Wildcards:
All searches support the wildcard character *
example: My*Variable will match all variables that start with My and end with Variable
Space wildcard:
For file searches, space acts as a wildcard.
example: My File.cpp will match all files that start with My and end with File.cpp
Logical expressions:
You can use the logical operators AND and OR and AND NOT
example: apples AND oranges will match lines that have the words apples and oranges in (in any order).
example: apples OR oranges
example: apples OR oranges AND NOT bananas
WORD operator End your search with WORD to match only full words.
example: my_variable WORD will match my_variable but not my_variable_1
CASE operator End your search with CASE perform a case sensitive match.
example: MyVariable CASE will match all lines that contain MyVariable (casesensitive)
IN operator Find text in files that match the path pattern
example: SomeText IN CoreLib Finds 'SomeText' in all files whose path contains CoreLib, eg Solution\Libs\CoreLib\MyFile.cpp "
example: SomeText IN My*Lib Finds 'SomeText' in all files whose path matches the regular expression *My*Lib* eg Solution\Libs\MySplendidLib\MyFile.cpp "
NOT IN operator Find text in files that do not match the path pattern
example: SomeText NOT IN CoreLib Finds 'SomeText' in all files whose path doesn't contains CoreLib
example: SomeText NOT IN My*Lib Finds 'SomeText' in all files whose path does not match the regular expression *My*Lib*
DEF operator Attempt to find a class definition
example: MyClass DEF expands "MyClass DEF" to "class MyClass AND NOT ; CASE WORD"

Keyboard Shortcuts

These can be changed in the Visual Studio Key bindings

Alt-Shift-O Open or Activate FastFind (modal)
Alt-Shift-P Open or Activate FastFind (docked)
Alt-O Toggle C++ source/header

FastFind control keys

Alt-Down - Show history dropdown
Down - Show history dropdown (if text box empty)
Alt-C - Toggle match case
Alt-W - Toggle match word
Ctrl-Backspace - Delete to start of current word
Ctrl-Home/End - Select first/last match
Tab - auto-complete when entering path
Escape - close modal FastFind window

Only for V.I.P