I have a straightorward console application that I build using code::blocks. A client has requested a microsoft visual studio project to build it. So I downloaded and installed visual studio and created a project. Now I am trying to add my source files to the project.
Various online help pages say "Select project; select menu item "Add Existing Item" ( e.g. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/visualstudio/visual-studio-2010/9f4t9t92(v=vs.100). I cannot find "add existing item"! Add new item simply adds an empty file.
I tried dragging files from windows explorer onto the project, but this REMOVES the file from where it belongs - NOT what I want to happen.
Surely there must be a way to do this! Even without using alternative IDEs, different projects frequently must share common source code, so source files from one project need to be added to another.
The answer is to use File | New | Project from Existing code rather than simple 'New Project' when creating the project
Related
I have a Visual Studio Solution containing multiple projects. (One Main Project and rest are used for testing the Main project)
Here, i have a shared folder within the solution which is used by all the projects within the solution.
I need to include the entire shared folder in my Main project instead of adding existed items.
I am using Visual Studio Professional 2015 and i could not find "Add Existing folder" option in Visual Studio.
Adding Existing items to a project will eliminate the folder structure in solution explorer which makes the usage more complex when included file count is huge.
I need to maintain a folder structure within the project.
Moving the shared folder within the project directory and using "Show All Files" option will avoid the issue(tried based on the answers in some links) but it is not accurate in my case as the folder is being used by different projects.
Do i have any way to add existing folder (Outside the Project within the solution) to a project and maintain a folder structure so that the solution explorer looks more readable?
I just found the solution to this issue.
We are suppose to create a Filter (Virtual Solution Folder) within the Project. Option for creating Filter is available on following below steps,
Select Visual Studio Project.
In Solution Explorer, Disable "Show All Files" option.
Note: When "Show All Files" option is enabled, your project will have an option to create a Folder instead of Filter.
Create a Filter/Virtual Solution folder. (Name could be same as the existing folder name outside the VS project in order to maintain readability)
Now, add required existing files to the Virtual Folder Solution from any location.
(Inside/Outside project location)
By following the above steps, one can add set of existing files to a virtual folder structure in Visual Studio Solution. This is equivalent to adding an Existing folder to a Project Solution without copying it.
I ran into some troubles when creating an installer for my Visual Studio 2010 solution (which has multiple projects) so I thought I'd make a quick guide to how I got it working...
Here is how I did it:
Create a new Visual Studio Installer project which is located under
Installed Templates/Other Project Types/Setup and Deployment/Visual Studio Installer.
Make sure you add it to you current solution, you can do this by right clicking on the solution name in the solution explorer and clicking Add>New Project
From there select Setup Wizard, give it a name and click OK
A wizard will open, click Next
then select Create a setup for a Windows application
then click Next again. Select all of the groups you want to include, namely: Content Files, Source Files, Primary Output
Then click Finish
In the solution explorer you will see a bunch of buttons find the one that's tool tip says File System Editor and click it. You will see three folders in the file system editor, the only one we really care about is the Application Folder. That folder is where your projects build output should be.
To add files to it if they are not already there right click > Add > File...
Note: You cannot add entire folders (which sucks) and the folder structure in the Application Folder should be identical to that in your projects build.
You should create each folder and then add the files to it.
If you have multiple projects you should set the build directory to the same folder under the release build settings. To do this, open your solution, and for each project, right click/Properties go to the Compile tab, set it's configuration to Releaseand its Build output path to some folder (same for each project) (If you have an XNA project make sure its Content Build/Configuration is also set to Release).
Now select Release from the drop down menu on the tool bar (it most likely says Debug now)
Right click on your solution on the solution explorer and click Build Solution
Now all of your solutions built files will appear in the folder you chose in the compile tab. All of these files are what needs to be added to the Setup Projects Application Folder (in the same structure)
Customise the installer: click on the project name in the solution explorer and look through it's properties, change what you want (i.e Author, Manufacturer, Title - these make a difference to the installers output directory and text)
Build the installer project (same way as mentioned above) and you are done.
Feel free to comment with questions
Visual Studio seems to consist of a single solution file (*.sln) along with one or more project files (a C# project would have the *.csproj extension).
I have been playing around with a console application that parses existing directory entries to create solution files with the associated project files.
It works, but every time I run into a new project here at work I find myself spending a week or more debugging my console project so that it can churn out a solution for that particular work project.
Is there something out there already that can create a VS solution out of an existing file structure?
As you can tell from my screen capture below, these projects are nested very deep, so it would take a very long time to do this with the apps folder below with the "by mouse" technique in the Visual Studio IDE.
I created the custom console application that is posted in this post:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/22153536/153923
I invite others to contribute how they approached this solution, though.
So, I found out today that this feature already exists in Visual Studio.
Link 1: How to: Create a Project from Existing Code Files
Link 2: How to: Create a Project from Existing Code Files
Basically, though, it says this (just in case the MSDN links get changed or deleted):
You can create a Visual Studio project from an existing app—for example, an app that you obtained from an online source. Project and solution files are created on your computer and the other relevant files are added. A project can be created from Visual C++, Visual Basic, or Visual C# code files.
Security note Security Note
We recommend that you determine the trustworthiness of existing code files before you import them into Visual Studio, because Visual Studio will execute some of the code in a fully trusted process when you open the newly created project.
To create a project from existing code files
On the menu bar, choose File, New, Project From Existing Code.
The Create New Project from Existing Code Files wizard opens.
Use the wizard to specify the details of the existing code files that will be added to the project and the application that will be created when you build the project.
Another good answer was given by cbp in Visual Studio: Create a web application from existing code:
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OK I figured it out. It's weird, but the following steps will work:
Open fresh copy of Visual Studio
File->New Project, select Web Application
Use the following settings:
Name: Website (this is the name of the existing folder with the website files in it)
Location: C:\Temp\ (anywhere will do for now)
Solution Name: TheProject (name of the existing project's root folder)
Check "Create directory for solution"
Delete the auto-created Default, Global and Web.config files
Save All and close Visual Studio
In Windows Explorer, copy the new folder on top of the existing folder so that the files are merged.
Double click on the sln file to open Visual Studio again.
Select "Show all files" (at the top of Solution Explorer)
Right click on any files or folders you want to add and select Include in Project.
Great idea!
I have Visual Studio 2012 solution with multiple BI projects. One of the SSIS projects do not show all the ssis packages in the Solution Explorer (checked in by another teammember). But the missing files are in the TFS (Source Control Explorer) and are visible in the physical folder.
I tried "Show all files" did not work.
I tried adding the file again but the project does not allow that saying "file with same name exists".
Any idea what is going on here
The authoritative source of what's in a project is going to be the ProjectName.dtproj file.
Inside of that will be entries for the packages that comprise the project. For a non-package deployment model, it's trivial to edit the file by hand and make your stuff show up.
It's way too much effort to do that by hand for a 2012+ project deployment model. Open the Project in Visual Studio (ssdt/bids) and right click on the project. Click Add Existing Item (not add package) and then click the "missing" package. Check your .dtproj file in and all is right with the world.
I had the same issue in 2020, I managed to solve it by building the solution.
On the menu select Build-> Build Solution OR Ctrl+Shift+B
I have serious problem with Visual Studio, I'm trying to create Windows Installer package, so i have created new setup project, but the "Add Project Output Group" function doesn't work. The drop-down lists are empty, so i can't do absolutely nothing. Does anyone know why?
Did you add the setup project to an existing solution that already contained a WinForms project, or did you just create a new setup project? The difference here is between clicking "FILE | NEW | PROJECT" or clicking "FILE | ADD | NEW PROJECT" (you want the latter).
But now i can't add the folders and data files needed for the application. I create the appropriate folders in the 'application folder', then add files into the appropriate folders, and when i install the application and go to the installation folder there are no folders...there is only the application exe file, hm...