FormatProgramCs - A PowerShell Script for Reformatting Program.cs

FormatProgramCs is a PowerShell script that reformats Program.cs in .NET projects, organizing builder. and app. chained calls into a clean, readable format with proper indentation. It preserves semicolons, lambda blocks, and removes consecutive blank lines, but has a quirk where "app." may be stripped from some chained calls.

Features

• Indents builder. and app. calls 4 spaces under their respective var builder = and var app = declarations.
• Places each builder. and app. call on a new line.
• Preserves semicolons exactly as they are in the input.
• Keeps lambda blocks (e.g., options => { ... }) intact with their original spacing, adding a 4-space indent.
• Removes consecutive blank lines while preserving intentional ones.
• Logs processing steps to the VS2022 Output Window for debugging.

Known Quirk

• For chained calls like app.MapRazorPages() .WithStaticAssets();, the script may not preserve the app. prefix correctly, resulting in .MapRazorPages() instead of app.MapRazorPages(). This is a known limitation due to the regex-based parsing.

Prerequisites

• PowerShell: Ensure PowerShell is installed (it comes with Windows by default).
• Visual Studio 2022: The script is designed to be run as an external tool in VS2022.
• .NET Project: The script targets Program.cs in a .NET project (tested with .NET 8/9).

Installation and Setup

1. Download the Script

Clone this repository or download FormatProgramCs.ps1 to a local directory, e.g., C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Scripts\FormatProgramCs.ps1.

2. Add the Script to Visual Studio 2022 as an External Tool

Follow these steps to integrate the script into VS2022:

1. Open Visual Studio 2022.
2. Go to Tools > External Tools....
3. Click Add to create a new tool.
4. Fill in the details:
   • Title: Format Program.cs (this will appear in the Tools menu)
   • Command: powershell.exe
   • Arguments: -File "C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Scripts\FormatProgramCs.ps1" "$(ProjectDir)"
     • Replace C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Scripts\FormatProgramCs.ps1 with the full path to your script.
     • $(ProjectDir) passes the project directory to the script.
   • Initial directory: Leave blank or set to $(ProjectDir).
5. Check the box for Use Output Window to see the script's logs in VS2022.
6. Click OK to save the tool.

Usage

• Open a .NET project in VS2022.
• Open or select Program.cs in the Solution Explorer.
• Go to Tools > Format Program.cs to run the script.
• Check the Output Window in VS2022 for logs and confirm that Program.cs has been reformatted.

Example

Input (Program.cs Before)

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddRazorPages();
builder.Services.AddSingleton<SessionService>();
builder.Services.AddDistributedMemoryCache();
builder.Services.AddSession(options =>
{
    options.IdleTimeout = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(4);
    options.Cookie.HttpOnly = true;
    options.Cookie.IsEssential = true;
});
builder.Services.AddSignalR();

var app = builder.Build();
app.UseHttpsRedirection(); app.UseRouting();
app.UseAuthorization();
app.MapStaticAssets();
app.UseSession();
app.MapHub<SessionHub>("/SessionHub");
app.MapRazorPages()
  .WithStaticAssets();
app.Run();

Output (Program.cs After)

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
    builder.Services.AddRazorPages();
    builder.Services.AddSingleton<SessionService>();
    builder.Services.AddDistributedMemoryCache();
    builder.Services.AddSession(options =>
    {
	    options.IdleTimeout = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(4);
	    options.Cookie.HttpOnly = true;
	    options.Cookie.IsEssential = true;
    });
    builder.Services.AddSignalR();

var app = builder.Build();
    app.UseHttpsRedirection();
    app.UseRouting();
    app.UseAuthorization();
    app.MapStaticAssets();
    app.UseSession();
    app.MapHub<SessionHub>("/SessionHub");
    app.MapRazorPages();
        .WithStaticAssets();
app.Run();

-- as you can see all calls fall exactly below their respective declarations, this is more readable for me,well one man's food is another Man's Poison, try this out

Contributing

Feel free to fork this repository, make improvements, and submit pull requests. If you encounter issues or have suggestions, please open an issue on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.