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Intellisense-like features in Visual Studio - Function and parameter short description

Tim_R_
Beginner
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Hello,

I just discovered some of the features of the Intel Fortran Compiler in combination with Visual Studio (2015), like "Go To Definition" and "Find All References", who are really cool!

For intrinsic functions like SQRT, there is a function and parameter description/summary available, which tells you what does what (see attached pictures). However, for custom functions, only the type of the parameters is shown, and no function summary. Is there a way to add comments to functions / subroutines which are then shown just like for intrinsic functions?

Thank you,

Tim

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Kevin_D_Intel
Employee
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I do not know how this is accomplished for the intrinsics and could not find a method to do this for user functions so I inquired with our Development team. I'll let you know what I hear back.

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Nikitopoulos__Theodo
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I agree with Tim, that would be a nice feature. 

As a  side question, why are these features off by default?  Is it because they are on an experimental phase or because some users don't want them?  I understand that some users are using the compiler just to re-compile or maintain old legacy code, but there are also many new users coming in the Fortran world and they expect to have a modern programming environment.

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Tim_R_
Beginner
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Thank you, Kevin, for taking the suggestion!

And I would agree with Nikitopoulos that it might be a good idea to turn these features on by default, I myself took a long time to find them.

What I also noticed is the following: If you call an intrinsic function, while typing the parameters, it always shows you the current parameter (see picture). It doesn't do that for user functions, although it would be nice if at least the type of the parameter could be shown. Of course, a user-written comment like suggested in the initial post would be even better, but the type would also be helpful.

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Kevin_D_Intel
Employee
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For the intrinsics there is a special database with descriptions which permits showing those details in the editor. The functionality does not exist to add this for user-defined routines. I submitted a feature request for consideration of whether something is possible for user-defined routines in a future release.

Regarding default settings, I understand those is in part are left to users to configure to their preference and also as noted in the Fortran UG that some may impact responsiveness on slower machines. Refer to the UG for more, Using Source Editor Enhancements in Visual Studio* (https://software.intel.com/en-us/node/677922)

(Internal tracking id: DPD200417356)

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