Quickly Navigate Your Code with Visual Studio Metadata Search

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Introduction

When working on big projects, it can be hard to quickly find classes, methods, or properties spread across different libraries. Searching through files one by one takes too much time.

This is where metadata search in Visual Studio helps. It lets you explore and navigate types from external libraries (like .NET assemblies or NuGet packages) even if you don’t have the source code. Visual Studio creates a readable view of the compiled metadata, so you can instantly see definitions and details, almost like built-in documentation.

References

Metadata search - Visual Studio

Usage

In Visual Studio, go to Dynamics 365 > Metadata Search OR Ctrl + R, Ctrl + S.
Start typing the name of the element you are looking for.
Results appear as you type.
Double-click a result to go directly to that metadata or code.
You can also right-click to add items to your project.



You can filter via the follow criteria:
  1. Name: Search by element name (default). 


  2. Type: Limit by type, like class, table, method.


  3. Model: Find elements in a specific model.


  4. Property: Search by metadata property.


  5. Code: Find exact code snippets (use quotes). It returns the exact line number as well.

Conclusion

Metadata search in Visual Studio is a fast and easy way to find code and metadata in Dynamics 365 F&O projects.
Using it saves time, reduces frustration, and helps you understand and work with large projects more efficiently.

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