Adding a terminal in Visual Studio

Visual Studio is a popular integrated development environment (IDE) widely used by developers for coding, debugging, and testing software applications. While it offers a wide range of features, many developers miss a built-in terminal. However, you can easily add a terminal in Visual Studio with a few simple steps:

Step 1: Install the Cmder software

To add a terminal in Visual Studio, you first need to install the “Cmder” software. This is a popular console emulator for Windows that offers a collection of useful tools and utilities to streamline your coding workflow. You can download Cmder from the official website or from a source like Chocolatey.

Step 2: Open the Visual Studio Options

Once you have installed Cmder on your computer, you can proceed to open the Visual Studio Options menu. To do this, select “Tools” from the menu bar, then click on “Options” from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Select the External Tools option

In the Options menu, select the “External Tools” option from the left-hand side menu. Next, click on the “Add” button to add a new external tool.

Step 4: Enter the name and location of the Cmder executable

In the Add External Tool dialog box, enter the name and location of the Cmder executable file. You can name it anything you want, but you should choose a descriptive name, such as “Cmder Terminal.”

In the “Command” field, enter the location of the Cmder executable file, which is usually in the C:\cmder folder. After entering the location, add “\cmder.exe” at the end of the path.

Step 5: Add command arguments

Under the “Arguments” field, add the following string: “/K %comspec% /k “”C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat”””

This command will launch the Cmder terminal inside Visual Studio, with the developer command prompt environment, which is important for executing commands and scripts for a Visual Studio project.

Step 6: Configure the working directory

Lastly, you’ll need to set a working directory for the terminal. This is where the terminal will launch when you run it from Visual Studio. Usually, this is set to the root directory of your project or the project directory itself.

In the “Initial directory” field, enter the location of your project. You can either browse to the directory by clicking the “…” button or enter it manually.

Step 7: Save and test the terminal

Once you have completed all the steps, click on the “OK” button to save the new tool. You can now test the terminal by clicking “Tools” from the main menu, and then clicking on the “Cmder Terminal” option. This will launch the terminal inside Visual Studio, allowing you to run commands and execute scripts.

In conclusion, adding a terminal in Visual Studio is relatively simple, and the process outlined above should help you get started. With a built-in terminal, you can streamline your coding workflow by running commands and scripts without having to leave the IDE. This can help save time and improve your overall productivity.