Visual Assist considers symbols that do not change, or that rarely change, to be system symbols. These symbols are typically declared in shared system headers found via directory paths in project settings. Symbols declared in \Program Files, even if the files are part of solution, are also considered system symbols. Symbols declared or overridden in your projects are not system symbols.
Visual Assist can display system symbols in italics within the text editor. The italics differentiate references to system symbols from those that have been overridden.
Enable italics in the options dialog for Visual Assist.
System Symbols in C/C++
System symbols are those declared in system include files per the C/C++ Directories settings of Visual Assist or declared in the "\Program Files" directory. System symbols are typically those in:
- MFC
- Third-party libraries
- NuGet packages
- Vcpkg libraries
- \Program Files
- Imported objects
- System namespace
System Symbols in C#
System symbols are those in:
- System namespace
- Third-party namespaces
- NuGet packages
- \Program Files
Shared Access
Visual Assist stores declarations of system symbols in a fast-access, read-only database that is shared among all solutions that include the system headers. Only the first solution that includes the shared headers parses the files.
Registry Setting
Visual Assist build 2223 and older
System symbols were referred to as stable symbols.
Visual Studio 2008 and older
Italics appear better in select fonts. If your italicized symbols are clipped, try a different font. Consolas, Courier New, Lucida Console and Bitstream Vera Sans Mono work well.
Wiki keywords: italic