CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netnamespaces
Joan Venge
Joan Venge

Reputation: 331590

Referencing namespaces globally?

Is there a way to reference a namespace globally across the whole solution?

So instead of having these lines in every code file:

using System;
using MyNamespace;

having to declare them only once, and every code file would use them.

Btw I am using Visual Studio.

Upvotes: 5

Views: 4812

Answers (7)

Rohit Jadhav
Rohit Jadhav

Reputation: 1292

No, you can not reference a namespace globally across the whole solution in .NET or .NET CORE.

But you can use project wise namespace globally in solution. this feature will be available from c#10/.NET 6. currently it's in preview but it will be released in NOV 2021

=========Project level .NET 6 global using namespace=========

Create a class file at root of the project e.g GlobalNamespace.cs

global using System;
global using System.Linq;
global using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
global using System.Threading.Tasks;

Then you don't need to declare using namespace in other .cs files of the project which are already declared globally.

Upvotes: 2

Misha Zaslavsky
Misha Zaslavsky

Reputation: 9712

In C# 10.0 you can use Global Usings.

global using System;
global using MyNamespace;

Upvotes: 3

adamskijl
adamskijl

Reputation: 1

One trick I miss as a newb to CSharp is to look at the "refences" (in VS), to right click and "Add New Reference". This is especially handy when combining mulitple projects where I have made some generic class for reuse elsewhere.

Upvotes: -3

Randy Levy
Randy Levy

Reputation: 22655

As others have mentioned Visual Studio Templates are the way to go.

Note that simply adding a using statement to your template will not ensure that the compiler can resolve your types. So, if you are adding a using statement for MyNamespace in every class you may need to add an assembly reference to your project as well. See the C# FAQ for more information.

Upvotes: 0

Jon Skeet
Jon Skeet

Reputation: 1504162

No, C# doesn't have this concept. Each source file is independent in this respect. (And if the using directives are in a namespace declaration, those are independent from other using directives in peer namespace declarations, too. That's a pretty rare case though in my experience.)

You don't need ReSharper to change what gets included in a new class though. You can use the Visual Studio templates.

EDIT: Just to clarify the point about using directives within namespaces, suppose we had (all in one file):

using Foo;

namespace X
{
    using Bar;
    // Foo and Bar are searched for code in here, but not Baz
}

namespace Y
{
    using Baz;
    // Foo and Baz are searched for code in here, but not Bar
}

Usually I only have one namespace declaration in a file, and put all the using directives before it.

Upvotes: 6

Timothy Carter
Timothy Carter

Reputation: 15795

From this SO question and follow-up blog post. You can edit the Visual Studio default templates.

To do this, look at the file in this zip : [Program Files][Visual Studio]\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplates\CSharp\Code\1033\Class.zip

and modify the Class.cs file as needed. Additionally, Visual Studio may have cached this file here : [Program Files][Visual Studio]\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplatesCache\CSharp\Code\1033\Class.zip

Upvotes: 2

Philippe Leybaert
Philippe Leybaert

Reputation: 171924

No, this is not possible.

If you're using ReSharper, you can set an option to include specific using directives in every new file you create though.

Upvotes: 5

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