I am trying to open a existing project in visual studio 2010 using
new->project from existing code
and selecting visual c# as the language. When I run it, I get errors. Later I heard from the person who created the project that I have to add few references, which are present in the references folder in the project itself. It comes in the side window - solution explorer.
However, when I right click on that folder to add as references, that option is 'greyed', or disabled. How Can I correct this?
The DLLs named freeglut.dll and glut32.dll are not COM or NET components. You cannot add them as references to your project (You have 4 solutions in your archive, I have choosen the one named fwa_annimate but I think the problem is the same).
The DLL named Tao.FreeGlut.dll needs these files in the same directory where you application run to work. So the easiest way to resolve your problem is to select the two DLLs inside Visual Studio and change the property Copy to Output Directory from Copy Never to Copy Always.
In this way, when you start to debug your app, the VS IDE will copy the two files to the BIN\DEBUG or BIN\RELEASE directory where you app runs when launched inside the VS IDE.
Of course, you need to deploy all these file when you distribute your application.
(By the way, I have no idea what is supposed to do)
Related
I have a finished project with a bunch of different winform files. They are linked between eachother through a menu file. How do I go from having this project as a visual studio application file to an actual application, with customized icon and that can be opened by a user from another PC (which doesn't have Visual studio). I don't want to just zip them.
I didn't try anything and this might be a newbie question but what I expect is basically to have an actual app instead of a bunch of files.
When you compile the winforms project you get a bin folder and a Debug/Release folders inside.
A simple way to deliver the app is just copy the Debug folder that have the .exe and dll files to the dest PC.
The best way is to follow this guide:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/deployment/quickstart-deploy-using-clickonce-folder?view=vs-2022
Or make an autoinstaller
I have a standalone project that contains some code I'd like to re-used. I created a library project in order to contain that code. There does not appear to be a way to move files from the one project to the other. (cut/paste in solution explorer did not work)
I then manually copied the files in Windows explorer (outside of VS) into the library's main "folder" but they didn't show up in solution explorer either.
Anyone know of a way to do this without having to manually create each file in the library and then copying/pasting the code into the files?
You need to copy the files and paste them into your solution/project folder(s). Once the files physically exist within your solution/project folder structure (Windows FileSystem / Explorer), then you right-click on your project within Visual Studio, select Add then Existing Item. Browse to the location of that file and open it. It will now exist within your project as a code file.
If you have two projects within the same solution, you can simply drag the file from one project to the other within Visual Studio Solution Explorer. That will create a copy of the class in the new project. You can then remove the old one and clean up any code references in the first project.
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:
--
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!
In Visual Studio 2010 through 2013, by default (eg. When I create a new Console Application) new solutions output their compiled executable into Solution name/Project name/bin/Debug/. I want them to be output into Solution name/Debug/, and likewise for all other build configurations like "Release".
I can do this by manually going into properties of each project, going to the Build tab, changing Output path from bin\Debug to ..\Debug. I must repeat this for every project and every build configuration.
After dozens of solutions, I'm a bit sick of doing this tedious task by hand every time. Is there a way to change the default output path?
A solution that works for Visual Studio 2013 is sufficient.
This property is defined in each Visual Studio Project Template
So, for example, the C# Console Application template is located in
\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\Windows\1033\ConsoleApplication\consoleapplication.csproj
The csproj is an XML file that you can edit at your will. The build output directory is define like this (for each configuration):
...
<OutputPath>bin\Debug\</OutputPath>
...
<OutputPath>bin\Release\</OutputPath>
...
If you change this file, it will change all your future new C# Console Application projects. You could also write a utility program that list all csproj in \Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates and update them accordingly.
This is not necessary.
One of the projects in your solution is marked as the Startup project, shown in bold in the Solution Explorer window. An EXE project, like your console mode app. You used Project + Add Reference to add references to other projects in the solution so you can use the class libraries that those projects generate in your console mode app.
Those references will have the Copy Local property set to True.
When you build your project, MSBuild will automatically copy the assemblies from their respective bin\Debug directory into the bin\Debug directory of your console mode app, thanks to that Copy Local setting. And it is smart enough to also look at the dependencies of those class libraries and copy them as well.
So after the build is complete, the bin\Debug directory won't just have your console mode project's EXE file but also all the DLLs it needs to execute properly.
There are a few ways that this can go wrong and MSBuild cannot figure out that such a dependency actually exists. Pretty uncommon, you'd for example have to use Reflection in your code to load assemblies (Assembly.Load() and friends). The workaround for that is to explicitly copy the dependency in a post-build event. You didn't leave enough bread-crumbs in your question to judge whether that's the real problem.
What you ask for is certainly possible, the IDE just doesn't make it easy because it wasn't designed to assume this was necessary at all. You'd have to replace the Build + Output Path setting to, say, ..\Debug instead. You can create your own project template with that setting already preset. Create a new class library project, change the setting and use File + Export Template to create the template. You'll have it available the next time you create a project.
But, really, find out first why the default Copy Local machinery isn't working for you.
Rather than changing a global, protected file, you can create your own .targets file that changes the <OutputPath> however you want and import that into your projects. This could also set other defaults you might want to change and don't want to do for every project. All you'd have to do then in your project files is add something like toward the top (after the root element, of course):
<Import Project="$(SolutionDir)\Common.targets"/>
In Visual Studio, if I try to copy a file from one project to another (by using Copy and Paste or by dragging the file to the new project while holding the Ctrl key) it creates a reference to the source file in the original location. Is there a way to create a physical copy of the source file and place that in the target project source direction without having to resort to using Windows Explorer to copy the file manually?
It's not pretty, but when I want to do what you're suggesting, I double-click on the file in Visual Studio, which opens it. Then I do a File->Save As, choose the right directory and save it. All from within Visual Studio. This is usually followed by adding the new file to the other project.
Was just doing this and realized I should mention a side-effect. Depending on your source control (in my case, TFS 2010), doing this from within Visual Studio may modify the location of the file in the project. For me, this means making sure that neither the file nor its project have any pending changes, doing the save as, then doing an undo of the change this causes in TFS 2010 (project change, file add and delete).
From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0fb6xxhb.aspx:
If you are working with solution items, Visual C++ projects, or other similar projects, you are always working with links in Solution Explorer. If you are working with Visual Basic projects, Visual C# projects, and other projects, you might be working with links or files.
Essentially, the answer to my question is 'No'. In most cases, I must use Windows Explorer.