Link Source Comments to FogBugz, Source Control and Documentation

SourceLinks is a free Visual Studio® extension that turns source file comments into dynamic links to FogBugz, source control systems, documentation, and more.
  • Jump into FogBugz by double-clicking the words "Bug: 1234" in a source comment
  • See a tooltip describing a Fogbugz case by hovering over the words "bug 12"
  • Review a submission in your source control system by double-clicking the words "Change: 5678"
  • Read product documentation on your company's Intranet by double-clicking "DocID 1237"
SourceLinks: Jump from Source Comments to FogBugz
FREE Visual Studio extension from Fog Creek and Whole Tomato
SourceLinks: jump from source comments to bug tracker

free download: sourcelinks

How SourceLinks Works

SourceLinks scans source files for comments that match user-defined patterns, and the results are highlighted in the text editor.  Double-clicking a result launches a browser or other external application with arguments based on the matched text.  If an appropriate API extension is present, SourceLinks can also display a tooltip when hovering showing additional information.

Search patterns are flexible and easy to configure using the SourceLinks options page.  You don't need to adopt a strict or arcane syntax in your comments; SourceLinks will work with existing codebases that may contain inconsistent naming conventions.

SourceLinks + FogBugz Bundle

This special SourceLinks distribution tightly integrates with FogBugz from Fog Creek Software.
  • Double-clicking marked text opens FogBugz to the corresponding case in the configured browser.
  • Hovering over marked text displays a tooltip showing information about the corresponding case.
  • The FogBugz for Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 add-in from Fog Creek Software is included in this bundle. It adds a Visual Studio tool window that enables you to manipulate FogBugz cases without leaving the IDE. View information and prerequisites for this add-in.
  • Download SourceLinks + FogBugz Bundle
 Whole Tomato Software is the maker of Visual Assist X, a powerful development add-in for Visual Studio.
» Learn more


This SourceLinks + FogBugz Bundle requires
Administrator privileges are required to install SourceLinks, but the software may run under a standard user account. To install:
  1. Download and run the SourceLinks + FogBugz Bundle.
  2. Launch Visual Studio. You are presented with a FogBugz login dialog:
    FogBugz login dialog
    Your FogBugz server URL may have already been set during installation; if not, click the link to set the server URL.
  3. To change the server or login credentials, click View | Other Windows | FogBugz and choose Log Off from the menu.
The default SourceLinks + FogBugz Bundle configuration looks for keywords "case" and "bug" optionally followed by ":" or "=", and then a case number. Double-clicking marked text launches the default external browser. To change these options, click Tools | Options | SourceLinks.

options dialog
Click screenshot to view larger options dialog image
If adding new keywords, separate them with semicolons. Click the Behavior dropdown to switch to Visual Studio's internal browser. The URL field is grayed out; to change the server URL or login credentials, exit the SourceLinks options dialog, click View | Other Windows | FogBugz and choose Log Off from the menu.
To configure SourceLinks to mark other kinds of text, follow this example in which SourceLinks is trained to recognize topics from the Whole Tomato Discussions Forum:
  1. Select the SourceLinks page in the Tools | Options Dialog.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Enter "Whole Tomato Forum" in the Name field.
  4. Enter "topic" in the Keywords field.
  5. Optionally enter ":=" in the Suffixes field.
  6. Enter "http://www.wholetomato.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=%s" in the URL field.
  7. Press OK to save changes and dismiss the dialog, or click another row in the Profiles grid to keep working in the options dialog.
To test your changes, type "topic 7621" in a source file comment. It should be boxed, and double-clicking the marked text should launch your default browser showing the original SourceLinks product announcement in our forum. Adapt this example for use with your own knowledge base, forum, or documentation repository.
SourceLinks API Extensions are used to populate IDE tooltips with information extracted from third party systems. For instance, a checkin comment can be displayed in a tooltip when hovering over marked text associated with a source control profile. An API Extension provides the plumbing between SourceLinks and the source control system in this example.

Contact us to receive API documentation and sample project to write your own SourceLinks API Extensions.

FogBugz and the Kiwi logo are trademarks of Fog Creek Software, Inc.
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