Syntax styles

One of the aspects of the code style is how to use interchangeable language syntax constructions. For example, two method definitions below are identical from the compiler point of view, but the choice of syntax constructions makes them look different:

[Conditional("DEBUG")]
[Test]
static public void Foo(String str)
{
  foreach (Char ch in str)
  {
    System.Console.WriteLine(value: ch);
  }
}
    

[Test, Conditional("DEBUG")]
public static void Foo(string str)
{
  foreach (var ch in str)
    Console.WriteLine(ch);
}
    

Configure code syntax styles

When you start using JetBrains Rider, it will refer to its default settings to make sure that interchangeable syntax constructions are used consistently throughout your codebase. However, you can configure each individual preference to your liking. There are two ways to configure code syntax styles:

Configure your preferences on the Editor | Code Style | [language] | Syntax Style page of JetBrains Rider settings Ctrl+Alt+S. These modifications will be saved using the mechanism of layered settings so that you can apply them either on local machine for all your projects, or share them with your teammates.
Use JetBrains Rider custom EditorConfig code style properties to specify your preferences in EditorConfig files, which will also allow you to have consistent code styles across your team.
Note that preferences specified in .editorconfig files will override preferences saved in JetBrains Rider settings.

Configure code syntax style rules for selected code

As an alternative to digging through setting pages, you can select a block of code and configure only those code syntax style rules that are applicable to that block. You will be able to observe how modified settings affect code in the selected block right in the editor.

In the editor, select a block of code where you want to code syntax style.
Press Alt+Enter and choose Reformat and cleanup | Configure code style.
In the dialog that opens, you will see all syntax style and formatting rules that affect the selected code block. The code block itself will be surrounded with a dotted frame:
As you change the code syntax style rules, you will see how they affect the code in the selected block.
Click Save in the dialog to apply the modifications and let JetBrains Rider choose where to save them, or save the modifications to a specific settings layer by choosing this layer from the Save selector. For more information, see layer-based settings.
Note that you can also choose to export the configured code syntax style rules to EditorConfig by choosing .editorconfig in the Save To selector.
Optionally, you can click Save As Comments. This way your modifications will be saved as comments before and after the selected block. This lets you override desired code syntax style rules locally without modifying any settings.
JetBrains Rider will close the dialog and apply modified code syntax style rues in the code block.

Learn code syntax style rules from existing code

Another alternative to tweaking individual code syntax style preferences is to learn code syntax style rules from an existing code sample, which can be a selected block or the entire solution. JetBrains Rider will analyze the selected sample and list code syntax style rules that differ from your current settings. You will then be able to review the detected rules, change them as required, and save them to the desired settings layer or to a configuration file in the .editorconfig or .clang-format format.

Learn code syntax style rules from selection

In the editor, select a block of code where you want to analyze code syntax style.
Press Alt+Enter and choose Reformat and cleanup | Detect code style settings.
Review the rules that differ from your current settings:
Click Save in the dialog to apply the modifications and let JetBrains Rider choose where to save them, or save the modifications to a specific settings layer by choosing this layer from the Save selector. For more information, see layer-based settings.
You can optionally click Save As Comments. This way your modifications will be saved as comments before and after the selected block. This lets you override desired code syntax style rules locally without modifying any settings.

Learn code syntax style rules from solution code

Press Ctrl+Alt+S or choose File | Settings (Windows and Linux) or JetBrains Rider | Preferences (macOS) from the menu , then choose Editor | Code Style | [C# or C++] on the left.
Click Auto-Detect Code Style Rules at the top of the settings page.
Review the rules that differ from your current settings and edit them if necessary.
Click Save in the dialog to apply the modifications and let JetBrains Rider choose where to save them, or save the modifications to a specific settings layer by choosing this layer from the Save selector. For more information, see layer-based settings.

Check and fix code syntax style with code inspections

JetBrains Rider provides a number of code inspections that check your code for compliance with your code syntax style and suggests quick-fixes where the style is violated — for example, if the order of modifiers differs from your preferences:

If you need to review all code syntax style problems in a desired scope, up to the whole solution, you can run code inspection in this scope. When the analysis is over, group the results by issue category, and check what problems there are and where:

Code syntax style issues found in a solution

All of the code syntax style inspections are configurable and you can disable the ones that you do not like.

You can also go through the list of code syntax style inspections and configure all of them in one go. There are two ways to do so:

On the Editor | Code Style | [language] | Syntax Style page of JetBrains Rider settings Ctrl+Alt+S, use selectors in the right column and choose Do not show for inspections that you want to disable.
On this options page, you can also change preferences for each code syntax style rule.
On the Editor | Inspection Severity page of JetBrains Rider settings Ctrl+Alt+S, find code syntax style inspections in the [language] | Code Style groups and clear checkboxes next to the ones you want to disable.

Apply code syntax style with code cleanup

To apply code syntax style in the desired scope, you can also use code cleanup. You can either run code cleanup with one of the built-in profiles Full Cleanup or Reformat & Apply Syntax Style, or create and run a custom profile with a desired subset of code syntax style rules.

Additional actions for code syntax style in C# and C++

Apply code syntax styles in the current selection

In the editor, select a block of code where you want to apply code syntax styles.
Press Alt+Enter and choose Reformat and cleanup | Reformat & apply syntax style.

Syntax style features

Last modified: 11 February 2024