My project has Help folder which is located within web project AND in which we kept some template excel files.
When we do "Web Publishing", these files does not get copied on the server. If we change the extension to xml from xslx then they get copied.
Can you please suggest something to change the publishing scheme/method?
Have a nice weekend!!!
Set the "Copy to Output Directory" flag in the File Properties
Select the file in Solution Explorer, and in the properties window change Build Action to Content.
For more background information on how files are selected for publishing, see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee942158.aspx#why_dont_all_files_get_deployed
I've added several directories, libraries such as matlab, opencv, etc to compile my current C file in Visual Studio project.
All my upcoming projects will require the same setup/properties. Do I need to setup my each project's properties individually or I can do something to apply it to all ?
Try using Property Sheets. These can create a single properties file that can be inherited by multiple projects.
Use "View > Other Windows > Property Manager" to bring up the Property Manager. It will show your projects and configurations.
Right click a configuration, and select "Add New Project Property Sheet...". You can name it, and select a location that works for all your projects.
Once created, you can edit its properties just as you would a build configuration.
To use that property sheet as the basis for other projects, just right click the configuration or project, and select "Add Existing Property Sheet...". Browse to where you saved the original sheet, and it will be inherited.
Any changes to the original sheet will be applied to any project that inherits it, unless they are overridden. If you go into properties higher up the chain, properties that override will have bold type for their values. To get them to always use the value in the base sheet, there will be a "inherit from parent or project defaults" option where applicable.
I am using AtmelStudio 6.1, which is built on Visual Studio 2010 (I believe), and yet doesn't have any Property Manager that I can find.
So, the hackish system I use is:
close (or at least unload via the contextual menu) the project whose configuration you want to modify
open its .cproj file (which is XML) in any text editor (VS works nicely),
MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF IT SOMEWHERE ELSE JUST IN CASE,
open the .cproj file of the project whose configuration data you want to copy,
look for the configuration data you want. Configurations are inside of PropertyGroup tags; for example, in my case it looks like
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == 'Preprocess only' ">
for the configuration named "Preprocess only". Copy from the beginning of that tag until the end of the corresponding
</PropertyGroup>
tag.
Paste the block into the destination .cproj, just after other
</PropertyGroup>
tag. Make sure that the name of the configuration is unique in this file. Save.
You're finished. Now open the project normally in VS and you'll be able to select the added configuration.
For Visual Studio 2010+ you can make a Project Template.
If you choose to automatically add the template to Visual Studio in the template creation wizard, when you create/add a new project, the template will appear (after restarting Visual Studio). Projects created with this template will have the same project properties!
To add source code files to the template, the easiest way is to rearrange the source code files in solution-explorer to be in the root (not under any folder). After doing that, THEN generate the template.
Why? Sometimes putting your files under the default Source Code solution-explorer folder (not in file explorer, the .project.filters label) will fail to copy the source file to the template, you'll see "the document cannot be opened. it has been renamed deleted or moved" when you try to use the template and the file you wanted in the template will NOT be in the file explorer.
If you do want solution-explorer folders, you will have to add them manually to the template by unzipping the template folder, making changes, then re-zipping it again.
For example, literally copy and paste the source files you want the template to have in the template folder and edit the .vstemplate file. M$ Doc on template editing.
<TemplateContent>
<!-- put new file references here and/or in your .vcxproj .vcxproj.filters -->
TargetFileName="HelloWorld.cl">HelloWorld.cl</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem ReplaceParameters="false"
</TemplateContent>
Related questions:
How do I use VS template I created?
How can i load a template I have created in Visual Studio?
How copy visual studio project?
Simply copying and pasting entire projects and solutions is not recommended for complex or shared projects since various GUID s and filenames may overlap - causing bugs.
For MSVS 2017, the process #AaronMK mentioned doesn't work. Instead do the following:
View -> Other Windows -> Property Manager
Add New Property Sheet.
Edit whatever options you want there.
Give it an appropriate name so that you remember it.
Right button on it and hit "Save {myPropertySheet}"
It would be wise to place it alongside the default property sheets and that you can add it whenever you want (by Property Manager -> Add Existing Property Sheet -> Browse to its location). This directory is: C:\Users\{myUsername}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\MSBuild\v4.0
Alternatively you can edit the default property sheets and use these by default. I wouldn't advice it though as they provide a fallback option in case you mess up. So make backups first if editing default files.
Hi
In order to be able to work with e.g. picture, I need to click on Resources.resx and Add Existing Item.
Then it will appear under Resources folder. However I could use Context menu on that Resource folder and add existing item as well but then I cannot work with it and it is not displayed when I use the Resources.resx file.
So I always need to click on Resources.rext when I want to add anything? Also in this "view" I cannot use folders so its pretty messy.
Also what is New Folder in Resources dir good for - when I drag files there, there are not accessible anymore..
Correct; to add something to a ResX file, you need to add it to the ResX file.
Instead of folders, you can use multiple ResX files.
You can also embed images in your assembly (set Build Action to Embedded Resource) instead of using ResX files; you can then create arbitrary directory trees.
To read embedded resources, call typeof(MyType).Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(name) and remember to close the stream in a using statement.
I'm building an addon ASP.net set of pages ontop of an old classic ASP system.
The new pages are in the folder newversion/ this is the only folder I need rebuilding when I make changes, at the moment it attempts to build the entire site which results in a lot of errors.
Can you exclude all other folders from the build configuration?
Edit Please note, the other pages are still going to be edited (all the classic ASP ones) so exlcuding them from project etc really doesn't help
Edit 2 Here's a screen shot from VS
Select the files you like to exclude in the solution explorer
Press F4\Alt+Enter to open properties window.
Change Build Action property to Nnoe.
I would like to make a copy of my project. I would rather not start doing it from scratch by adding files and references, etc. Please note that I don't mean copy for deployment. Just plain copy.
Is there a tool in VS to do this? I am using VS 2008
Just create a template;
From your project choose: Project - Export Template
The wizard will let you define
Template name
Template Description
Icon
Preview image
Then it zips up your project into 'My Exported Templates' directory.
You also have the option to make your template available when you create a new project.
When you use your template to create a new project, the namespace will be correct for 'your_new_project_name' throughout every file, all references correct, everything perfecto :)
You can send the .zip file to anybody, and they must copy (not unzip) the .zip file into Templates\ProjectTemplates directory for them to use too.
I made an ASP.NET MVC template with folders, layout page, viewmodels etc arranged just how I like them.
NOTE:
If you have an empty folder in your project, it WON'T be added to the template, so I just added an empty class appropriate to each folder, and a sample picture for images folder.
If you want a copy, the fastest way of doing this would be to save the project. Then make a copy of the entire thing on the File System. Go back into Visual Studio and open the copy (by right clicking on solution => add existing project => open the copied project). From there, I would most likely recommend re-naming the project/solution (Steps of Safely Renaming Project are in the following link) so that you don't have two of the same name, but that is the fastest way to make a copy.
It is highly NOT ADVISABLE to copy projects at all because the some config files formed internally like .csproj, .vspscc etc. may (and most probably will) point to references which belong to previous solutions' location and other paths/locations in system or TFS. Unless you are an expert at reading these files and fixing references, do not try to copy projects.
You can create a skeletal project of the same type you intend to copy, this creates a proper .csproj, .vspscc files. Now you are free to copy the class files,scripts and other content from the previous project as they will not impact. This will ensure a smooth build and version control (should you choose to be interested in that)
Having said all this, let me give you the method to copy project anyhow in a step-wise manner:
Go to the project you want to copy in solution explorer and right-click.
Now select 'Open Folder in File Explorer' (Assuming you have the solution mapped to a local path on your disk).
Select the Projects you want to replicate as whole folders(along with all dependencies,bin .vspscc file, .csproj file)
Paste them in your desired location (it could be your same solution folder or even another solution folder. If it is within the same solution folder, then you would be required to rename it, also the .csproj and other internal files to the new name).
No go back to Visual Studio, Right-Click on Solution > Add > Existing Project...
Browse and select the Project file (.csproj file) now from the location you placed it in and select 'open'
This file now appears in the solution explorer for you to work.
You may now have to resolve a few build errors probably with duplicated/missing references and stuff but otherwise it's as pristine in logic and structure as you expected it to be.
I guess if this is something you do often, there's a little (non-free) utility that promises to do it for you: I haven't used it, so not sure how good it is:
http://www.kinook.com/CopyWiz/
There is also this project on CodePlex:
http://clone.codeplex.com/
I will probably give the codeplex project a try, and if it doesn't work I'll manually rename everything and edit the sln file.
I follow these steps and I use the development tool called Resharper ,which is awesome by the way:
So,
Copy the existing project folder to the destination you want
Go to source control and with right click just to the root folder you want and pick "Add items to folder...".Then, a wizard will come up to choose the files to copy (there is no need for some files and the wizard guides you for that reason by default).
Change the name of the solution file (*.sln)
Change the names of the sub-projects if exist.
Use Resharper to change the binding namespaces name (I will automatic do the dirty job with safety).The alternative way is to manually change all namespaces with the new name.
The same action with method names.
Check solution's properties if you want to change.
That's it. You are ready!!!
Following Shane's answer above (which works great BTW)…
You might encounter a slew of yellow triangles in the reference list.
Most of these can be eliminated by a Build->Clean Solution and Build->Rebuild Solution.
I did happen to have some Google API references that were a little more stubborn...as well as NewtonSoft JSon.
Trying to reinstall the NuGet package of the same version didn't work.
Visual Studio thinks you already have it installed.
To get around this:
1: Write down the original version.
2: Install the next higher/lower version...then uninstall it.
3: Install the original version from step #1.
The best way is actually to create a new Project from scratch, then go into the folder with the project files you want to copy over (project, form1, everything except folders).
Rename the files (Except for form1 files) for example: I copied Ch4Ex1 files into my Ch4Ex2 project but first renamed the files to Ch4Ex2.
Copy and paste those files into the Solution Explorer for the new project in Visual Studio.
Then just overwrite the files and you should be good to go!
Old thread but I hope it helps anyone looking for this answer!
The easiest way to do this would be to export the project as a template and save it to the default template location. Then, copy the template into the exact same directory on the location you want to move it to. After that, open up visual studio on the new location, create a new project, and you will get a prompt to search for a template. Search for whatever you named the template, select it and you're done!
I have a project where the source files are in in a folder below the project folder. When I copied the project folder without the source folder and opened the copied project, the source files are not missing but found at the old location. I closed the project, copied also the source folder, and re-opened the project. Now, the project magically references the copied source files (both the new path showed up on "save as" and a change in a file has been saved in the copied version).
There is a caveat: If not both old and new project folders are below a used library folder, the above-mentioned magic discards also the absolute reference to the library and expects it under the same relative path.
I tried this with VS Express 2012.
My solution is a little bit different - the computer that the package resided on died and so I was forced to recreate it on another computer.
What I did (in VS 2008) was to open the following files in my directory:
- <package name>.djproj
- <package name>.dtproj.user
- <package name>.dtxs
- <package name>.sln
- Package.dtsx
When I did this a popup window asked me if the sln file was going to be a new solution and when I clicked 'yes' everything worked perfectly.
After trying above solutions & creating copy for MVC projects
For MVC projects please update the port numbers in .csproj file, you can take help of iis applicationhost.config to check the port numbers. Same port numbers will cause assembly loading issue in IIS.
I use Visual Studio 2013 where Project > Export Template is not an option. Here is what I use to clone a project.
From your solution:
File > Export Template > select project to make template from, note save path
Download and install VS 2013 SDK Here
Create new VSIX project under Extensibility
From the VSIXManifest Dialog select the Assets tab
Fill in the Author textbox
Choose "Project Template" for Type and Browse to add the exported template (saved at path you noted in step 1)
Save and build the VSIX project. Go to the VSIX project's .../bin/Debug folder and double click to run the .vsix file
Start new instance of Visual Studio and you should see your template under whatever project type your template is. Create a new project from your template
You will have to re-add any dll references
Trick the Clone from repository tool
Open the project location in file explorer.
Copy the path to any browser (aka open the project location in the browser).
Use the address from the browser as the source repository for cloning.
Relax and enjoy the no error clone.