Yes, I would expect a similar 'limited support' by Visual Studio proper (may-be by simple regexp matching). I think Notepad++'s implementation is not very smart

Yes, I would expect a similar 'limited support' by Visual Studio proper (may-be by simple regexp matching). I think Notepad++'s implementation is not very smart, but it does the basic job of syntax highlighting, function name auto-completion, arguments hinting etc. You should need to write a detailed extension using Visual Studio's Format Specifiers and Classifiers etc. only when you need a deeper integration IMO.