Q:

Visual Studio editor - extend selection to the next larger code block?

In Visual Studio 2010, is there any way to quickly extend the selected text to the next logical code block?   For example, if my cursor was here:

And I hit some magical keyboard shortcut, it would select the entire string:

Hit it again, and it would select the next larger logical block of code:

And so on.   Does this exist?  My google-fu seems to be failing me..

A:

Visual Studio 2017 15.5.2 appears to have this feature built-in after it was first hinted at in a Visual Studio 2017 Preview blog post (see section "Smart Code Editor").
Invoking it can be done by going to Edit > Advanced > Expand Selection or by binding the Edit.ExpandSelection command to Ctrl+W (actually the new default if you start without any previous keybindings).
Shrinking / contracting the selection is possible as well, look for Edit > Advanced > Contract Selection or the Edit.ContractSelection command (default Ctrl+Shift+W).

A:

In ReSharper, this is extend selection and the shortcut is CTRL-W. Not sure of a non-ReSharper solution.

A:

In Visual Studio 2015 it's possible using a free "Hot Commands" extension:
https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/f073b573-c9a3-4104-a682-bd7a6c1023a6
Use "Expand selection" command.

