A Python utility to sort Visual Studio settings files (.vssettings) for diffing purposes

• Visual Studio -> View -> Other Windows -> Command Window
• % Tools.ImportandExportSettings /export:<path_export_file>
• Verify that your backup was taken

• WARNING - Be sure you exported and backed up your settings first!
• % Tools.ImportandExportSettings /reset
• % Tools.ImportandExportSettings /export:<path_export_vanilla_file>

• % Tools.ImportandExportSettings /import:<path_export_file>

VSSettings_Sort is a command-line tool that parses Visual Studio settings files and sorts specific XML elements alphabetically by their name attributes. This makes settings files more organized, easier to read, and produces cleaner diffs when committing to version control.

• Sorts four key element types:
  • PropertyValue tags by their name attribute
  • ToolsOptionsCategory tags by their name attribute
  • ToolsOptionsSubCategory tags by their name attribute
  • Category tags by their name attribute (or GUID if no name exists)

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/VSSettings_Sort.git
cd VSSettings_Sort

• Python 3.6 or higher
• No external dependencies (uses Python standard library only)

Sort a settings file and save to a new file:

python3 sort_vs_settings.py settings.vssettings -o settings_sorted.vssettings

usage: sort_vs_settings.py [-h] -o OUTPUT input_file
Sort Visual Studio settings file by PropertyValue, ToolsOptionsCategory, ToolsOptionsSubCategory, and
Category name attributes
positional arguments:
 input_file Path to the input .vssettings file
options:
 -h, --help show this help message and exit
 -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
 Path to the output file (required)

Use with Git pre-commit hooks:

python3 sort_vs_settings.py settings.vssettings -o settings_sorted.xml

The script performs the following operations:

1. Parses the XML using Python's built-in xml.etree.ElementTree
2. Recursively traverses the XML tree structure
3. Identifies sortable elements (PropertyValue, ToolsOptionsCategory, ToolsOptionsSubCategory, Category)
4. Sorts elements alphabetically by their name or GUID attributes
5. Preserves all other elements in their original order and structure
6. Formats the output with proper indentation using tabs

<ToolsOptionsSubCategory name="Documents">
 <PropertyValue name="ShowMiscFilesProject">false</PropertyValue>
 <PropertyValue name="AutoloadExternalChanges">true</PropertyValue>
 <PropertyValue name="DetectFileChangesOutsideIDE">true</PropertyValue>
 <PropertyValue name="AllowEditingReadOnlyFiles">true</PropertyValue>
</ToolsOptionsSubCategory>

<ToolsOptionsSubCategory name="Documents">
 <PropertyValue name="AllowEditingReadOnlyFiles">true</PropertyValue>
 <PropertyValue name="AutoloadExternalChanges">true</PropertyValue>
 <PropertyValue name="DetectFileChangesOutsideIDE">true</PropertyValue>
 <PropertyValue name="ShowMiscFilesProject">false</PropertyValue>
</ToolsOptionsSubCategory>

• Version Control Friendly: Sorted settings produce cleaner, more predictable diffs
• Easier Navigation: Alphabetically ordered settings are easier to find and review
• Team Consistency: Standardized ordering across team members' settings files
• Visual Studio Compatible: Output files work seamlessly with Visual Studio

The script specifically sorts these XML elements when they have a name or GUID attribute:

All other elements maintain their original order and structure.

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests.

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Note: Always backup your original settings files before running any sorting operations. While this tool is designed to preserve all data, it's good practice to maintain backups of important configuration files.