使逐字字符串文字自动缩进以保持与附近代码保持一致

Question

In C#, I often use verbatim string literals (eg, @"Arrr!" ) to break long strings across multiple lines while preserving the layout. For example, I use it to break up inline SQL like this:

var sqlString = @" 
    SELECT 
        Column1
        , ...
    FROM
        Table1 INNER JOIN ...
    WHERE 
        Column2 = @Value2
        , ...
    ";

...or to break down a regex pattern like this:

var regexPattern = @"
    (?<state>\w+)[.]?                       (?#*** Matches state {optionally having a period at the end} ***)
    (\s+|,|,\s+|\s*\u2022\s*)               (?#*** Matches space between state and zip {can include a comma or bullet point} ***)
    (?<zip>(\d{5}-\d{4}\b|\d{5}(?![\w-])))  (?#*** Matches zip code ***)
    ";

If this code gets auto-indented later on, however, the verbatim string literal does not auto-indent. It gets left behind while the lines of code above and below it move to the right. The result is that it falls out of alignment with everything else. For example:

BEFORE:

verbatim = @"               ___
    I likes my                 |
    strings purty              | indented the way I like!
    ";                      ___|
fooBar = "nomnom";

AFTER SURROUNDING WITH 'IF' STATEMENTS:

if (true)
{
    if (maybe)
    {
        verbatim = @"       ___
    I likes my                 |
    strings purty              | no longer indented the way I like =(
    ";                      ___|
        fooBar = "nomnom";
    }
}

How can I make Visual Studio auto-indent the lines of my verbatim string literal the same way it does with the other lines of code around it?

NOTES

• I don't want to use normal strings on each line and concatenate them all together like this (this is how I used to do it but I find the free-form verbatim string literals so much easier to read and modify):

   notverbatim = "Alas! " + "This doth " + "make me sad =( " ; 

• Because indenting a multi-line verbatim string literal "grows the string" by adding new whitespace to the left of each line, I realize there are some verbatim string literals where this would not be desirable . If setting this behavior globally in Visual Studio would lead to unintended consequences by indenting other verbatim string literals that shouldn't be, is there a way to mark individual verbatim string literals in the code such that they get auto-indented while all others do not?

Answer 1

I was able to get VS2017 to behave this way by making a change to the "Indenting" settings. The one I changed was at Tools -> Options -> Text Editor -> C# -> Tabs . At the top of that screen is a section titled Indenting. Changing it from "Smart" to "Block" resulted in behavior that was similar to how VS2010 worked out of the box (at least for me).

I just made this change so I'm not sure of the full implications to other kinds of indenting, but for the verbatim strings it seems to work.