How do I make TODO comments show up in the task list for C++ projects in Visual Studio 2010?

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Chris Simmons picture Chris Simmons · Dec 26, 2010 · Viewed 18.8k times · Source

I'm trying to get my TODO comments to show up in the task list in Visual Studio 2010 for a C++ project, but they don't. I looked at this, but see no caveats other than the TODO comments need to be in the currently-open file. For example, creating a new Win32 console app places this:

// TODO: reference additional headers your program requires here

in a new file, stdafx.h. However, there's nothing in the task list.

I have "Comments" chosen from the drop-down in the task list, but it's always empty. And it's not this problem; I can open the file and be looking at the TODO comment in the code editor and no task is shown. This is not a problem for C# projects as TODO comments show up as designed in those projects; this appears to be an issue specific to C++ projects.

What else can I check?

Answer

Hans Passant picture Hans Passant · Dec 26, 2010

This is off by default 'for performance reasons'. Tools + Options, Text Editor, C/C++, Formatting, Miscellaneous, Enumerate Comment Tasks = True. Feedback article is here.

Also note the comment in the MSDN article about task list comments:

With Visual C++ projects, the Task List displays only the comments that are found in the file that is currently active in the editor.

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