<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<CodeSnippets>
    <CodeSnippet Format="1.0.0">
        <Header>
            <Title>MyCustomSnippet</Title>
            <ID>{13A00833-759E-4470-A473-6891E0039494}</ID>
            <Version>1.0.0.0</Version>
            <Locale>en-us</Locale>
            <Author>hp</Author>
            <SnippetTypes>VB</SnippetTypes>
        </Header>
        <Snippet>
            <Platform>
                <Runtime>v2.0.40607</Runtime>
            </Platform>
            <References>
                <Reference>
                    <Assembly>System</Assembly>
                </Reference>
                <Reference>
                    <Assembly>System.Web</Assembly>
                </Reference>
            </References>
            <Imports>
                <Import>
                    <Namespace>System</Namespace>
                </Import>
             </Imports>
            <Declarations>
                <Literal>
                    <ID>DGName</ID>
                    <Type/>
                    <ToolTip>Enter DataGrid Name</ToolTip>
                    <Default>DataGrid1</Default>
                    <Function/>
                </Literal>
                <Literal>
                    <ID>DSName</ID>
                    <Type/>
                    <ToolTip>Enter DataSet Name</ToolTip>
                    <Default>oDS</Default>
                    <Function/>
                </Literal>
            </Declarations>
            <Code Language="VB" Kind="method body">
                <Literal ID="DGName">DataGrid1</Literal>.DataSource = 
                                     <Literal ID="DSName">oDS</Literal>
                <Literal ID="DGName">DataGrid1</Literal>.DataBind()
             </Code>
        </Snippet>
    </CodeSnippet>
</CodeSnippets>

After you have created the .vbsnippet file, you can place it in any folder in your machine. But if you place it in a folder other than the default code snippet folder (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Vb\Snippets\1033 ) you will need to register that folder with VS.NET, so that VS.NET will pick up that snippet file along with other pre-defined snippet files.

For registering or removing a snippet folder with VS.NET, you can use snippet manager. You can invoke Snippet managers from Tools Menu (Toolà Code Snippet Manager). Once invoked, you are shown a dialog box, which allows you to register the snippet folder with the VS.NET. Best approach is to create a snippet folder and place your custom snippet files there. Then register that folder with the snippet manager.  Code Snippet manager dialog box is shown below;

Inserted code of this code snippet in code editor will look like this,

The other option to create custom folder is by using Snippet Editor. In this method, you need not worry about the snippet XML structure. This tool will create the .vbsnippet file for you. You only need to mention which code you want to put in the code snippet file and what are the replacements point in that code. Here are the steps for creating code snippet using snippet editor,   

1. In the VS.NET, Open Code Editor window.
2. In the Code Editor, select the code that you want to add to the snippet.
3. Right-click and select Create Snippet. The code will be copied to the Snippet Editor. Snippet Editor is shown in the following figure,
   
   
4. Modify the code as desired in the Snippet Editor.
5. The Snippet Editor will detect and add the project references and Imports from the project that the code was copied from. Use the Review References pane to modify the selections.
6. To create replacement points in your snippet, select the replacement text that you want highlighted when the snippet is inserted. Right-click and select Create Replacement. In the Replacement panel, enter the ID, Type, Object Type, and Tooltip. The Object Type is only relevant if you have selected Object as the Type.
7. Use the Properties pane to specify the Title, Author, Version, Help Page, Keyboard Expansion Shortcut, Description, and Keywords.
8. From the File menu, choose Save Snippet or Save Snippet As to save the snippet file.

Sharing Snippets among team members

Custom snippets can be shared among team member by placing that code snippet (*.vbsnippet) file in a shared network location and then registering that folder with code snippet manager in each member machine. In future, third party will also publish snippet files in the internet. In that case, you can download these files into one common location and the entire team members can have access to this.  

Things to consider when using this feature

Code snippet is one of the important features introduced in VS.NET 2005 for rapid programming. This feature shouldn’t be used in place of copy paste programming which has lots of problems. If you place similar code again and again in your application, then maintaining that code will become a major problem. Hence you need to look for refactoring options. Similarly you shouldn’t use code snippets simply in all the places, check whether you can refactor your code instead of using code snippet. So that code replication can be avoided.

Conclusion

Visual Studio .NET 2005 is coming up with many predefined code snippets. These snippets increase your productivity by reducing the amount of coding you need to perform. In addition to leveraging the supplied code snippets, developers are free to create their custom code snippets, which they can share among others. This Knowledge brief explores only code snippet feature of VB.NET, a similar feature is also available in C#.