The "vMicro" Menu

The following section describes the menu items you can find under the vMicro menu. Many of the functions of these menu items can also be found in the Arduino Boards or Arduino Serial Monitor toolbars.

Main Menu

Ide and Board	Selects the board you want to work with. See Setting up your Board Model and Connection, where board selection is described using the Arduino Boards toolbar.
Visual Micro Explorer	Opens the Visual Micro Explorer
General	See below (1)
Compiler	See below (2)
Uploader	See below (3)
Debugger	See below (4)
New Arduino Project	Creates an new project (Read more)
Open Existing Arduino Project	Opens an existing project (Read more)
Publish Server Data Files	If set to "true", data files will be uploaded to the board, which the board uses for certain purposes, e.g. HTML and CSS for an Arduino Yun working as a web server. This option works for all board that support data file upload, e.g. Arduino Yun or ESP8266.
Toggle Hidden Files	In the Arduino world, libraries and core code exists as source code and, therefore, can be viewed in the editor. As a default, Visual Micro does not show library and core files in the project tree. To make them visible, highlight the project in Solution Explorer and activate "Toggle Hidden Files". To hide hidden files again, choose this menu item again.
Project Properties	Opens the Project Properties window
Add Library	Lets you add a library to your project (Read more)
Add Code	Lets you add new source files to your project (Read more))
Build	Builds (compiles) your project, but does not upload it to your board (Read more)
Build & Upload	Builds your project and uploads it to your board (Read more)

"General" Submenu 1

Tutorial Mode

If this option is checked, then Visual Micro shows additional message windows that help new users. It also sets and automatic "demo breakpoint" at the start of the "loop() function" as described here.

"Compiler" Submenu 2

Deep Search Include	If enabled, Visual Micro searches for #includes that are necessary for using the libraries you have added to your project. This makes using libraries easier and works the same way as the Arduino IDE. Switching off "Deep Search Include" decreases the compile time, but then it's your responsibility to include all headers that are needed for the libraries you are using in your project.
Warnings	"True" shows compiler warnings in the Output Window when compiling. Compiler warnings are very useful and should be taken seriously to avoid coding errors. Same settings as described under Tools > Options. Note: Compiler Warnings often help you in finding hidden bugs in your code. Example: if( counter = 4 ) { counter == 4; } Both these code lines are legal, but probably it is not what you intended: The first line should possibly be a comparison (==), but it is an assignment (=), and the second line should be an assignment, but it is a comparison without any effect. Both lines are valid C++ but make no sense and indicate a programming mistake. Compiler warnings can show you such spots.
Verbose	"True" shows detailed compiler output in the Output Window when compiling. Same settings as described under Tools > Options.
Stop on Error	"True" stops the compilation immediately if core or library compilation return an error, does not continue with compilation of your sketch's source files. This can be useful as source compilations make no much sense until core and library compilations work correctly.
Show Build Folder	If this option is checked, Visual Micro displays the path to the build folder in the Output Window when building the project
Show Build Properties	If this option is checked, Visual Micro displays the build properties in the Output Window when building the project. The build properties are all parameters that governd the build process and that are passed to the build tools by Visual Micro. This setting can be helpful when searching for problems in the build process.
Advanced...	Opens the Project Properties window, where you can change advanced settings. Note: If you have selected the solution in Solution Explorer, then the solution properties will open, not the project properties. In this case, simply click on the project in the solution explorer.

"Uploader" Submenu 3

Port or IP

Selects the Serial Port or IP address to which your board is connected. See Setting up your Board Model and Connection, where port selection is described using the Micro Serial Communications toolbar.

View Port Monitor

Opens the Serial Monitor Window for the serial port you have selected.

Verbose

Shows verbose upload messages, if this option is checked.

Verify

Verifies the correctness of the data in the board after an upload, if this option is checked. Unchecking it will make the upload process faster, because no verification takes place.

Programmer

Programmers are hardware devices that you can use for uploading sketches to your Arduino board (as an alternative to a serial connection) or -more important- to burn a bootloader into the CPU of your board. They are mainly important for users who like to create their own boards with "blank" processors they have bought at a retailer.
The Programmers menu item lets you select the programmer type you have connected to your PC. After selecting a programmer, you can use it to upload sketches or to burn a bootloader.

Always Use Programmer For Upload
(Instead of Port/IP)

This menu item can be checked/unchecked to switch on or off the upload method using your programmer. If you have checked this menu item, then your uploads will be done via the programmer instead of a serial connection.
This method requires that you select the programmer model you are using with the "Programmer" menu item above.

Note:

For Atmel Studio users:

If you have a programmer that is compatible with Atmel Studio, then you can instruct Visual Micro to use it for uploads, so that you don't have to upload manually with Atmel Studio's "Device Programming" menu item.

For this purpose, select the appropriate programmer (whose name begins with "Atmel ...") in the "Programmer" menu item.

Burn Bootloader

After you have selected the programmer model you are using with the "Programmers" menu item above, you can use this menu item to burn a bootloader onto your board's CPU.

WARNING: You can permanently damage your board's CPU if you make mistakes here!
Burning bootloaders is only recommended for experienced users!

"Debugger" Submenu 4

Automatic Debugging (Release/Debug)	Enables debugging regardless of project properties for all configurations that carry the word "Debug" in their name. Leave this setting switched on at any time, unless you have special requirements for your configurations. For a complete overview of debugging setting read this article.
Trace Only - No Break	Only relevant if debugging is on. If this option is checked, breakpoints do not halt the sketch execution and become "tracepoints". If such a tracepoint is passed, you will see a message in the Debug Trace Window, but your sketch will continue execution.
Local Port	The serial port or IP address the local computer uses to debug. (Read more) Note: Network debug currently requires SSH. Boards like the ESP8266 do not yet support IP terminal mode that works like a serial Monitor. This means that when using ESP8266 network upload users MUST at least set the local debug port to COMn.
Local Speed	The serial port speed that the local computer uses to debug. This value can be any valid baud rate. Leave blank for default 115200 baud. (Read more) This value will be ignored when debugging via an IP port.
View Port Monitor	Opens the Serial Monitor Window for the serial port you have selected.
Remote Port	The serial port that the board uses to debug. (Read more)
Remote Speed	The serial port speed that the remote device uses to debug. This value can be any valid baud rate. Leave blank for default 115200 baud. (Read more)
Use Default Settings	Clears the settings on this menu so that the local port speed, remote port speed become empty again. Thus the debugger, when active, will use the same port that is used for upload. The default speed is 115000 if empty, unless the code contains a literal value for Serial.begin(), i.e. Serial.begin(9600)
Advanced...	Opens the Project Properties window, where you can change advanced settings. Note: If you have selected the solution in Solution Explorer, then the solution properties will open, not the project properties. In this case, simply click on the project in the solution explorer.

"Add Library" Submenu 5

Add Library

Lets you add a library to your project (Read more)

"Add Code" Submenu 6

Add Code

Lets you add new source files to your project (Read more)