rename class with file name in one step in Visual Studio

Question

I am a long year Java programmer, but currently I code in C#. I am accustomed, that when I change filename, also the class name changes and vice versa. This doesn't work in my Visual Studio. I must rename the class name and file name separately, and it's sometimes annoying for me, because I always forget on it, so it results to that I have different class and file names. Is there option in Visual Studio to put the renaming in one step?

Vonnievonny

If you rename the file first, you should get a question wether you want to change the class name too. – Renovate

the filename and the class name are independent - they dont need to match – Quan

@mehow: it is a good practice to match the files with the class names – Kosak

but its not necessary. there are languages that require you to keep the name of the file the same name as class but c# is flexible – Quan

Come on M$ -- By VS 2017, this should work as expected. If you rename a file and are prompted to rename the associated class, it should work in reverse. VS 2017 has brand new and very cool symbol renaming functionality that lets you rename in situ. It's easy to get carried away and forget that if you do that for classes it won't rename the file too. Drives me nuts. – Hothead

@Hothead That exists in VS2015, unless it's improved in 2017. But yes, quite annoying to miss such a small detail. – Saccharate

What you are describing here is an invariant that must be enforced by humans, rather than the software system itself. This is a smell / red flag for bad programming language design. Why is the "same" information being stored in two separate places? Either the class should get its name from the filename, or the filename should describe something other than just the name of a single class. – Thickening

Answer 1

Renaming a file works fine - it'll offer to change the code to match:

If you rename the class, then - indeed, this doesn't happen by default. There is no actual need for the two to match, note. But ultimately, rename is only an f2 away.

Alps

Came across this question because after downloading a sample project created in VS 2015 but opening it in VS 2013, the dialog box you refer to was not coming up when I would rename files. (It comes up as expected when for projects created from scratch in VS 2013) I also got a security warning when opening the downloaded project (which was from a reputable source). Perhaps the symptoms I am describing will help someone else who has the same issue and finds this answer. – Parsley

@LeoNguyen it seems odd that they would remove it in some versions, but it definitely works in VS2017. I'm 80%+ sure that it also worked fine in VS2015, but: I'm not going to reinstall it just to check. Are you sure you don't have an extension installed that is crippling it? (I use vanilla VS) – Alps

I pretty sure it don't prompt anything. I use VS Enterprise 2015 (included Unity Extension) – Intranuclear

@MarcGravell - this is no longer working consistently in vs2017 for some reason. Some files this works, others not and based on my observations, the size of the file does not seem to matter. – Illstarred

@Illstarred it seems to not work when the copied file is in the same folder and the class name is the same (which it will be if you just copied the file). I think the reasoning may be that rename doesn't descriminate between a class in a newly copied file and the original. – Jodijodie

@MohammedNoureldin - see previous comment. (Sorry; I can only notify one user per comment). – Jodijodie

If it works one way (rename file prompts to rename class) why in heck doesn't it work the other way (rename class prompts to rename file). I love the new in situ renaming functionality of VS 2017, and it makes it all that much easier to get carried away and forget that renaming a class doesn't rename the file. I am OCD so it drive's me bananas. – Hothead

Does not happen in VS 2017. – Slaw

This does not happen in VS 2019, its so frustrating I'm 100% sure i had this working in older versions. – Ednaedny

Note for VS 2019, as of today, it still works but not on .NET Standard nor .NET Core projects, documented here: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/reference/… "This refactoring is not yet available for .NET Standard and .NET Core projects." – Metamerism

Unfortunately, this does work in VS2019! )= I checked the "Do not ask again" and pressed "No". Now it always renames everything without asking! And I can't find where to undo the "Do not ask again"-setting! )= – Calpac

To undo this setting: Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> General -> Enable/Prompt for symbolic renaming. – Calpac

Works for me consistently in VS2019 Enterprise edition. @Calpac Thanks for the info! – Celebrity

@Calpac Thanks, I was exactly looking for this info (how to undo this setting)... probably warrants a question on its own ;-) – Spann

Answer 2

As of Visual Studio 2015 Preview 5, the "Quick Actions and Refactorings" context menu contains a "Rename file to [class].cs" command.

Armalla

Answer 3

It seems to not work when the copied file is in the same folder and the class name is the same (which it will be if you just copied the file). I think the reasoning may be that rename doesn't descriminate between a class in a newly copied file and the original (See comment below by @xMichal).

The quick solution is to copy the file (I use ctrl+drag) into a nearby folder, rename, then move it back.

Another option (which may be Resharper specific), is to rename the class (and constructors) in the copied file, then use the tooltip to electively rename the file to match.

Jodijodie

Answer 4

ReSharper has the MoveTypesIntoMatchingFiles menu option on the Refactor context menu, and it seems to do the trick. Just that if you have more than one class in the same file, they will be moved also into separate files, but that should be a good thing in most cases anyway.

Hairbrush

Answer 5

I had this happen today in VS2022. In my case, there was an issue with some MSBuild targets.

After fixing the MSBuild bug, I restarted the IDE and renaming files/classes was working again.

Note: Currently, the rename class dialog only shows when renaming the file. This does not happen when renaming only the class.

Piggery

Answer 6

If you 'refactor' something, the name will be changed everywhere where that text or name has been used so you don't have to follow up changing the name every time its been used. However, you cannot do that with objects beyond the project eg: file name.

Latchstring

now I found, that this works, when you rename the file. But when you rename the class inside of the file, all the references change instead of the file name. And this is my problem. – Vonnievonny

Answer 7

Install the awesome visual studio plugin called Reshaper. It does that and loads of other nice stuff. Free for 30 days then its costs but is definitely worth it.

Female

Close, it's Resharper though. – Brainchild