When dragging a file into the project explorer in xcode, you are asked if you want to copy the files into the project if needed. if you check that box the file is copied into the root folder of the project.
is there any way to explore where you want to copy the files into, i mean, is it possible to copy the file into subfolders of the root folder?
Dragging files in you will usually copy them to the project resources folder.
If you want to be able to access them from your app, you might be better adding the files to the mainbundle or documentation folders.
I've been using Xcode for a while now. One thing that always bugs me is the way it handles files. I like to have my files all in nested folders rather than one big physical folder, but when you create a group in Xcode by default it does not create a folder just a virtual folder within the project.
I can see that virtual folders are great for linking code in arbitrary places into your project but once you get beyond a few classes I find the one big folder approach really painful. And then if you try to fix it later it takes ages and is easy to break your build.
Is it possible to change this behaviour so that by default it creates a physical folder? Or am I doing it wrong and trying to cling to some other way of working? How do other people work with files in Xcode?
1) Remove all the files from the project. Select All and press Delete, and click the Delete File References button, not the Also Move to Trash one.
2) Go to the Finder or Terminal and rearrange your files in folders to your heart's content.
3) Select all the top-level files and folders and drag them back into your project. When given the choice, choose Create Groups for Added Folders.
You'll now have a group hierarchy that follows the directory hierarchy on disk.
You'll need to make sure all the proper files get back into their correct build phases and targets. It's best to do this one target at a time in a multi-target project.
I have a Visual Studio 2008 solution, and I would like to include a real folder in the solution, but not at the project level, instead at the solution level.
I noticed you can right click the solution and add a solution folder, but it comes up as some white folder, and I have my doubts as to exactly what it is supposed to be...
Basically on the file system I have c:\mySolution\myFolder...
I want that myFolder is added to the solution, so that items are also under source control...
I also would like to be able to add physical folders to a solution, but unfortunately you can't do so outside a project.
The best solution I have found is to add a solution folder with the same name as the physical folder (myFolder in your example), then add files from that physical folder to the solution folder.
However Visual Studio does not maintain a mapping between the solution folder and the physical folder which means that:
new files subsequently created in the solution folder using Visual Studio are not automatically placed in the physical subfolder (I think they are created in the solution root folder by default)
files added to the physical folder are not automatically visible in the solution folder, even with "Show All Files".
To add new files, I therefore always create the new file in the physical folder outside Visual Studio, then add it to the solution folder using "Add/Existing Item"
What I have done historically is to create a project for just holding files (DLLs, etc.)
You can do that as well. This project can be named as whatever folder you are trying to create.
Follow this...
Create the solution folder from Visual Studio.
Right click the solution folder to create a new project.
Change the default location path to add the new physical folder name right after it with the back slash. Something like...C:\Project\Test\New Physical Folder
Click the OK button to create the project
Then the new project will be put inside your new New Physical Folder.
You can also add standalone files in a solution folder, and they will be source-controlled. But be wary that VS tends to put these files in the same folder as the solution file - the "Solution Folders" are virtual and don't corresspond to real filesystem folders. To have a real filesystem folders I think you would have to create the structure yourself and then choose "Add Existing Item".
From MSDN:
"If you are working with a solution that contains numerous projects, you can use Solution Folders to organize related projects into groups and then perform actions on those groups of projects."
You don't want what the composer meant in Solution Folder. It made them to organize large solutions into groups.
For your problem, I think this is the job for your Installation Project to collect these files: Installation instructions, Global help, etc...
You can use a solution folder to group files in a solution, but a solution folder doesn't represent an on-disk folder, like its logo suggests. (It can contain file references and project references.)
My prefered solution is to add a Shared project, which is like a folder but with a special icon.
Create your Solution
dotnet new sln -n demoProjectName
e.g. Your solution folder path C:\Projects\demoProjectName>
Create a Project within the same solution Path
dotnet new classlib -n Persistence
From your solution folder path, do this
C:\Projects\demoProjectName> dotnet sln C:\Projects\demoProjectName\ add C:\Projects\demoProjectName\Persistence\Persistence.csproj
Please note: Persistence as used is just a placeholder for your project name. classlib for classLibrary projects and it could be a console project and so on.
I have a Visual Studio Solution. Currently, it is an empty solution (=no projects) and I have added a few solution folders.
Solution Folders only seem to be "virtual folders", because they are not really created in the Filesystem and files inside solution folders are just sitting in the same folder as the .sln file.
Is there a setting that i've overlooked that tells Visual Studio to treat Solution Folders as "real" folders, that is to create them in the file system and move files into it when I move them inside the solution into one of those folders?
Edit: Thanks. Going to make a suggestion for VS2010 then :)
There is a workaround, that actually behaves as expected.
Add a New or Existing Web Site to the Solution. (I usually create a new one.)
Just make sure it's created inside your solution folder. (I sometimes even create a "link" to an external folder, e.g. 'Docs' or 'Marketing' on a network share. In that case it's ignored by Git of course.)
Make sure to go to the "Project" settings or Configuration Manager to exclude this "Web Site" from Build and Deploy!
Done. Now Solution Explorer will reflect any change in the file system and vice versa (including subfolders).
I (miss)use it for specs, docs, PM and some DevOps scripts that are shared within the team. It's easy to choose, what to include in source control or not, and (if set up correctly) it doesn't conflict with build.
I know the feature is not intended for that use case, but except for the maybe misleading "Project" icon I didn't find any shortages to that hack yet. And there still are use cases where the classical (virtual) Solution Folders that VS provides, fit in the picture. What do you think?
No special setting. I don't think it's supported.
You can create real folders in a "project" within the solution, but not in the solution itself.
In Visual Studio 2017, click on the "Solutions and Folders" icon in the Solution Explorer window. This button toggles from the virtual "solution" view into a "source view" that matches the layout of folders and files on the file system. When you add a new folder, the folder is physically created in the expected location.
.
The chosen answer suggests it would be possible to use actual projects instead of solution folders, but does not really explain how. I guess what I'm describing here is possibly the least awkward way of achieving that... :-P
The problem with regular project files is that they eventually will be compiled by MSBUILD. And if you want have a project which only contains non-compilable files, that will be an issue.
But some time ago Visual Studio introduced a new project type: Shared Project (.shproj extension). This project type does not get compiled by default, but only when (and only if) it is referenced by another project.
So one part of the trick here is to use shared projects instead of solution folders. It's obviously possible to add a shared project that is never referenced by any other project, meaning we can avoid the issue presented above.
Then, by using <None Include="**/*" /> clause in the .shproj file, we can make it automatically reflect any new files and/or subfolders.
So basically do this:
Create a new folder in your solution.
Add a new .shproj file at the root of this new folder.
Reference the new .shproj in your solution.
For instance, in my case, I've created a DockerDev.shproj, so I can group some docker-related scripts that we run only in our development machines:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- DockerDev/DockerDev.shproj -->
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<None Include="**/*" />
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
This .shproj file will keep track of any file, in any subfolder of this new DockerDev folder in my solution.
As far as I could see, this solution works pretty much like what the OP requested: it will work as a non-compilable reference to a folder, and it will automatically reflect any changes made to it.
Sara Ford contributed a Macro to add do this. In Visual Studio 2010, if you open your Macro Explorer, you will see a macro called "GenerateSlnFolderOnDirStructure." This will automate the creation of the Solution Folders and add the files.
Folder To Solution Folder By Cecilia Wirén - CeciliaSHARP
Remove the hassle of adding several files to solution folder. Just use the context menu for the solution and just below the option of creating a new solution folder you now find 'Add Folder as Solution Folder'. This will create a solution folder with the same name as you selected and add the items inside of that folder to the solution folder. This will not move the files on disk.
You can just sync your new solution folder nesting level and also name with the actual filesystem folder and it works like a charm!
Existing project :
Create the actual folder
Create the solution folder with the exact same name
Copy your project folder into the new folder (Actual file system)
(in solution explorer) - Righ-click on same folder
Add => Existing project
Add new project :
Create your solution folders
(Right-click on solution) => Add new project
Change the Location address under the project name you want to add, to the exact same address in your solution folders
No, it's not supported. As you suspected, solution folders are simply virtual subentries in the .sln file, nothing to do with the file system.
For C# in Visual Studio 2019 I used this way (Seems to be similar to this answer, but that didn't work at least in C# solutions)
In solution explorer click on switch views
Choose folder view
You can add individual folders to the solution
To get back to the regular view of solution explorer just click switch views again and choose the solution.
There seems to be a limitation using this way (comment from #montonero):
... just open a solution with multiple projects and try to move the projects to some other real folders through the folder view. The issue is VS doesn't update paths to projects in a solution file
Visual studio has no support for this. I made an extension that does something similar for VS2013 though. It maps solution folders to physical folders on your hard drive, though the mapping is one way (from hard drive to solution). That means a solution folder's contents will reflect the hard drive folder's contents, and not the other way.
With that out of the way, the extension may still be useful.
It has support for mapping solution folders to physical folders, filtering files and directories based on regex, and remembering mappings in your .sln file. Properties are non-intrusive so developers without the extension can still open the sln and not be affected.
Hosted on visual studio gallery:
https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/69e19ea6-4442-4cb6-b300-044dd21f02bd
Edit: Uploaded to bitbucket. Now open source. MIT license. https://bitbucket.org/LSS_NorthWind/physical-solution-folders
Create "Solution folder". This will create logical folder, but not physical one.
Right click to the solution folder and open a new project dialog. But before you click OK, you have to change a project location to your desired physical folder and VS will create it and place the project inside.
Create an empty solution then
open .sln file in an editor
and put these lines of code after MinimumVisualStudioVersion
Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "src", "src", "{9D8C3BB1-AEDB-4757-8559-995D12A4E6D0}"
open the solution in vs and you should add the same folder to it
now you can see the folder and add a project to it
you have a real folder in windows and a virtual one in vs
be sure that you
created the projects with that path
You can add real folders by choosing "Add new filter" for a Visual Studio project file. You can also do "Add new filter" under an existing folder. Once the folder is created, rename it and add source or header file or whichever suits your project. This is one way I know which lets us create real folders through the Visual Studio IDE.
I've wanted this feature a few times myself, but at the end of the day, you really do NOT want the ability to do this. Think of your Solution (file) as as the root of a web application and think of Solution folders as Virtual Directories (literally and functionally). The contents of a web virtual directory could be physically on a different server altogether. Where Visual Studio muddled up the solution folders concept is by allowing you to create new files inside the folder. You should always "Add Existing" when adding content. When you add existing, it creates a link to the source location of the file.
But as for the reason you do not want solution folders to behave like "physical" folders is because your solution layout may not necessarily use the same convention as your source control layout. Solution folders allow you to customize the hierarchy of your projects so that you can group projects and items together any way you like, and then decide you don't like it and change it again without having to go through the nightmare of moving source control items around and irritating the rest of your team.
Note: Yes this is possible you can create a folder on root but its lil bit tricky....
By giving some extra efforts you can do it How?
Lets follow the step--
1-Create Folder eg: "newfolder" on root (where your .sln file reside).
2.Copy and paste your projects inside the folder.
3.go to your sln file and find moved projects and append newfolder\ in moved project's address.
4.Save sln file.
5.Open your project and Commit the repository in git or so...
6.Take the repository on fresh location.
YOU are done...
if still you are not able to see your folder -----
1.Add a solution folder xyz.
2.Open sln file and change that folder name with your folder name.
Congrats you are done..
If you face any problem just write me for help..
The folder created underneath the solution will be virtual as said. Maybe this might be called a workaround but you can physically create the folder on disk either before or when you add new item/project and Robert should be a sibling of your dad.
ps- on closer look maybe i should explain "bob's your uncle" means your fine/sorted.
I have a bit of a workaround for this (it's not great, but it works).
Create a folder in your solution (i.e. "Contoso")
Right click on the solution and then click "Open Folder in Solution Explorer"
Create the physical folder (i.e. "Contoso") in the solution directory
Copy/Create files in the physical folder.
Drag the files into the virtual folder in the solution explorer.
It's not great because you will need to manually maintain the file references, but it works for me.
Yes, it is possible in Visual Studio 2019 for the project
Though this is an old topic, I will add my answer, because I had the same issue and searched for a solution but it seemed that everyone is 100% sure that there is no way to do it. So I started to experiment with VS 2019, tried a lot of settings, and eventually figured the way out.
1 Button :D
You only need to click 1 button - Show All Files, and you will see the physical structure of your Visual Studio Solution:
Now you can add files and folders to the project and they will be added to the file system (physically)
Right-click on your project → Add → New Folder
Note that the option changed from New Filter to New Folder
My recommendation for C++
Create a root folder inside your project's directory which will contain all the application related stuff (code, headers, data, libs... ). I name it Project
Add subfolders as you'd like to structure your code. I prefer the following layout: include, src, data, libs, etc
Now setup Visual Studio to recognize these folders as headers and sources directories.
Click on your project in the Solution Explorer. Note, in my case, it is CrazyDemo, not the Solution 'CreazyDemo' (1 of 1 project)
Go to the project properties menu: Project→Properties
Open Configuration Properties→VC++ Directories tab
Edit Include Directories and set to $(ProjectDir)/Project/include;$(IncludePath)
Edit Library Directories and set to $(ProjectDir)/Project/libs;$(LibraryPath)
Edit Source Directories and set to $(ProjectDir)/Project/src;$(SourcePath)
You may use the Scope to This option if you want to focus on 1 project. Just right-click on the Project folder and press Scope to This
Note that after this action, in order to open Project Properties you need to click on any of your project files (like main.cpp in the example) and then click on the editable client area (like when you want to change the code) and only after that you'll be able to see the Project→CrazyDemo Properties option. [Visual Studio is Insane 🤦♂️]
Finally, you may have a project like this