software development – Visual Studio Plugin for multi-replacement and un-replacement

I find AI helpful when it comes to source code refactoring. My company allows such tools only if I anonymize the code, i.e. I rename classes, function names, member variables and local variables if they are specific for our area of business. This restriction makes the use of AI almost impossible, if I need to do those changes manually. However, with the help of a replacement tool, that could become feasible.

Therefore, I am looking for

• a Visual Studio (not Code) plugin
• which lets me do a series of searches and replacements
• and can later undo the replacements in opposite order
• checks for overlaps in the searches and warns me about it or fixes the order
• ideally: can generate replacements based on identifier rules

For sure the tool should

• let me choose to ignore case or not (actually, that won’t work, if you think about it)
• let me choose to match whole words or not

Let me give an example…

The original C# code may look like this:

class SuperSecret
{
    BusinessStuff _b;
    int n;
    static string launchCode = "0000"; // TODO: ask the president
    
    SuperSecret(BusinessStuff b)
    {
         _b = b;
    }
    
    void NobodyMayKnow()
    {
        for (int i=0; i<100; i++)
        {
            _b.HarmlessStuff();
        }
        _b.LaunchRocket(launchCode[0], launchCode[1], launchCode[2], launchCode[3]);
    }
}

Before I put this code into an AI, I need to replace the secret parts, e.g. I want to replace

• SuperSecret
• Stuff
• launch
• BusinessStuff
• Rocket

Now, I should not replace Stuff by something else before I replaced BusinessStuff. Otherwise it won’t find BusinessStuff any more and the word Business might remain in the code. So the order should be sorted by length:

• BusinessStuff (I want to replace this by i)
• SuperSecret (I will replace this by XX02)
• launch (I will replace this by ll03)
• Rocket (I will replace this by R004)
• Stuff (I will replace this by S555)

The tool now notices that i is not a safe replacement, because it can’t be undone without replacing other parts of the software. It suggests or let’s me enter BS001 instead.

Once everything is setup correctly, I press the “Do it now” button.

After the replacement, the code looks like

class XX02
{
    BS001 _b;
    int n;
    static string ll03Code = "0000"; // TODO: ask the president
    
    XX02(BS001 b)
    {
         _b = b;
    }
    
    void NobodyMayKnow()
    {
        for (int i=0; i<100; i++)
        {
            _b.HarmlessS555();
        }
        _b.LaunchR004(ll03Code[0], ll03Code[1], ll03Code[2], ll03Code[3]);
    }
}

With the help of AI, I refactor the last line to pass the launchCode string directly, instead of using individual characters

_b.LaunchR004(ll03Code);

In order to get my code back, the replacements are now reversed.

• S555 becomes Stuff again
• R004 becomes Rocket
• ll03 is launch
• XX02 returns to SuperSecret
• BS001 is reversed to BusinessStuff

And this reversal should be as simple as clicking an “Undo it now” button.

_{I’m not working on rockets or missiles, this is just an example, because such things are obviously secret.}