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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
My Current Situation:
I had a solution in which I split a large MVC project into two smaller projects. Of course the two smaller projects reference the same JavaScript and content files that were in the old larger project.
What I wish to do:
Instead of duplicating the scripts and content in the 2 projects, I want to create a shared folder that the 2 project refer to using something like a link or a shortcut.
How I am trying to approach the problem:
I think that solution folders are the solution to my problem. So I want to create a solution folder to which I will move all my scripts and content files.
However, my problem is that I have to move file by file to this folder since we cannot simply add an existing folder (I moved the scripts and content folders to the solution directory itself instead of being inside a specific project). And this is so tedious.
Here is what I tried to do:
First I tried to locate where solution folders are created. However, I discovered that solution folders don't physically exist. I think they are just some kind of logical structuring to your solution. Whenever you add a file to a solution folder it is physically added to the solution directory.
I thought that the solution file (.sln) may contain the configuration of solution folders and their content in some kind of xml format. However, this doesn't seem to be the case.
I opened the SQL Server Compact Edition file (.sdf) of the solution thinking that may there is a DB table that describes the solution folders. However, this also doesn't seem to be the case.
So, finally, my question is:
Is there any easy way to add an existing folder as a solution folder in order to avoid adding files one by one (I have too many files).
Update:
Thanks for the answers and suggestions. I ended up taking a somewhat different approach. I used a pre-build command: XCOPY "$(SolutionDir)Files\*.*" "$(ProjectDir)" /E. I did this because the suggested solutions and my previous attempt was to add links/shortcuts to the external resource files. While this was fine and shortcuts were actually added to the project, when I tested the MVC project, IIS didn't manage to load the resource files since it looks for physical files (of course).
So my query now is: is there someway, whether a build event or and configuration in the csproj file, to "Include In Project" the newly "physically" copied files?
As drew advised: editing the project file is one way. Another way is to edit the Solution file in a mechanism similar to that of the csproj file.
In a solution file, a project with a specific GUID holds the details of a set of folders.
Write a small app that will read your folder and output a small text of the desired output. Generate new Guids until the file is created. Just paste this at the top of the .sln file. 2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8 seems to be the GUID used for Solution Items.
This sample has a few subfolders with content in a nested structure.
i.e.
Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "NewFolder1", "NewFolder1", "{4CDFCC66-45BD-4B6D-8758-FEF7E9F61C1C}"
EndProject
Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "SubFolder1", "SubFolder1", "{771BDBFB-5C01-4C51-A170-D88ECA8DE896}"
EndProject
Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "SubFolder2", "SubFolder2", "{5D23AB90-5EF6-4611-A575-34F7B50BB1B6}"
EndProject
Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "NewFolder2", "NewFolder2", "{135E9F67-2DF8-4458-AC6D-FF82FC1B3BC6}"
EndProject
Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "SubSubFolder1", "SubSubFolder1", "{B41C7BAA-7E3D-405B-96AB-005120D12D26}"
ProjectSection(SolutionItems) = preProject
NewFolder1\SubFolder1\SubSubFolder1\a.txt = NewFolder1\SubFolder1\SubSubFolder1\a.txt
EndProjectSection
EndProject
Solution folders (on the file system) are optional, and in Visual Studio they're typically used just to organise files within Visual Studio.
It's a manual approach to create a "physical" folder at the same level as the solution but this reduces complexity.
Below are the steps for moving a single script file:
On the File System
Create a solution folder (typically at top-level directory)
Copy script file from (one) project to solution folder
In Visual Studio
Create a solution folder
Right-click solution folder, select Add > Existing item...
Select script file from the new solution folder on file system, then click Add
Exclude/Remove script file from project1
Right-click project1, select Add > Existing item...
Select script file from solution folder on file system, select "Add as link" from the drop down on the Add button
Repeat steps 6-8 for all other projects
By using "Add as link" the main thing we've done is to add a reference to the script in the solution folder as opposed to the actual file being copied to the project folder.
Note that you're not limited to working with one file at a time, it's just easier to track.
The fastest way I know of to find where you solution folder is located:
Within Visual Studio, open the "Solution explorer if it's not already open View -> Other Windows -> Solution Explorer (CTRL + ALT + L)
Within the solution exploerer, Right-click your project or solution
Select Add -> New Item.
The window that pops up will allow you to select a new file template, but what you're looking for is the "Location" field at the bottom. It should have the path to your solution folder. It's a safe bet that your solution folder is at this location or up a couple levels.
Once you get the path to your solution folder you can click Cancel to exit the wizard.
As far as I can tell, visual studio doesn't provide this feature through their interface. The intention probably is that project files exist within the project folder rather than being separate. It generally makes working with projects easier (moving, sharing, etc).
That said, you don't have to have every real folder in a project location actually included in that project. So you could do something like the following folder structure:
+ /Projects (contains ProjectA.csproj and ProjectB.csproj)
|
+-- /ProjectA (folder with files that are just for "ProjectA"
|
+-- /ProjectB (folder with files just for "ProjectB")
|
+-- /Shared (Folder with your shared scripts/files)
With this structure you should be able to use the "Show All Files" button and include the shared folder in both projects. You will probably need to manually edit the csproj files to map to this new structure but it shouldn't be too difficult.
The only other option I can think of is to try to manually edit the csproj files such as this question shows.
Hope that all helps. Best of luck!
My final solution to the problem is a combination of the solutions suggested answers and the approach I decided to take so that local IIS can see the files.
I added the following section to the csproj file:
<Content Include="..\Files\**">
<Link>%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
</Content>
I also added the following command as a pre-build event in my project:XCOPY /y "$(SolutionDir)Files\*.*" "$(ProjectDir)" /E
Is there a way to add existing Folders to a Visual Studio Project so that I do not have to do this file by file?
Edit
To make it clear: I want to add references not copies.
If the folder and its contents have already been created and it physically exists under the Project, you can click the Show All Files icon (at the top of the Solution Explorer windows) and then when the folder shows as a dotted icon, right-click it and choose Include In Project and the folder and all its contents are added.
VS 2019
Click on the 'Show All Files' icon at the top of Solution Explorer window.
Then the folders/files of the selected project will be displayed as dotted icons. You can right click any of them and select include in project to include them in the project.
For solution folders, click the 'Show All Files' icon then first exclude the desired folders/files and then include them.
You could open Add Existing Item dialog, select a bunch of files, click on Add's button drop-down menu and choose Add as a link. It will add files as references and won't copy them.
You can drag and drop the entire folder. If all files don't show you can repeat the drag'n'drop procedure for subfolders.
#Mark s answer is good, but if there are hundreds or thousands of files it will be quite cumbersome to add all of them. Plus, it does not provision for new files.
There is another method using the .csproj file. I have used this to add content that is part of a submodule that does not have a .csproj file of its own.
Note that I have used the <Content /> tag, as I did not need any of the linked content during compilation.
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="..\my\submodule\directory\**" Link="Directory\In\Main\Project\%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)" />
</ItemGroup>
This answer applies to visual-studio-2012 and visual-studio-2013, the most up to date versions at the time the question was asked and this answer was given. More recent versions have improved their handling and have other answers here. For someone using the old versions, this answer still applies.
Answer:
I don't think there is, but if you have all the files in one folder, you can add multiple files in one go. Just mark them all in the add file dialog.
right click the project, and choose "New Solution Explorer view", a window pops up.
and then form the toolbar of the new window ("solution explore window"), you click the "Show All Files" icon.
then include the folders of interest into your project...
If you're working in VS 2019 Community Edition, I find that you can:
Open the parent folder of whatever folder you're trying to add in windows explorer
Right-click and copy that folder
Go to the solution explorer in visual studio
Right-click then paste the folder wherever you want to in the solution tree
In Visual Studio 2019 I could not drag and drop from file explorer or 'Show All Files' and then add them. Instead, while in File Explorer, right click and choose copy, then click on the location within Visual Studio 2019 and right click and choose paste. All of the files in the folder and subfolders will be added.
kburnik's answer worked well for my use-case, but for anyone who needs a scriptable way to bring a lot of folder hierarchy back, you can modify the .*proj file to re-include the folders and files:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ...>
...
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="Path\To\File1.ext" />
<Compile Include="Path\To\File2.ext" />
...
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Folder Include="Only\Empty\Folders\Need\To\Be\Listed\Here" />
...
</ItemGroup>
Just make sure that before you do this, you save the .*proj file if it's still open in Visual Studio.
You can drag and drop the entire folder or missing folders in the project.
If the folder and its contents have already been created and it physically exists under the Project then click on view over the project then you can see all folders and files and you just need to copy files and click on solution in the same folder view and paste all in there
It has been a while since this was originally posted, but here is an alternative answer for a solution folder that is NOT inside of a project. If you only care to be able to look at the physical files from inside visual studio and do not necessarily require to see them in the solution explorer default view, then click on the switch view button and choose the folder view and any physical directory/directories that are under your solution root folder will appear here even if they do not appear in the solution explorer default view.
If however, you want to add a folder tree that isn't too large as a virtual solution directory/directories to match your existing tree structure, do that and and then "add the existing" physical files to the virtual directory/directories. If the physical directory exists in your solution directory it will not copy the files - it will link directly to the physical files but they will appear as part of the solution virtual directories.
Possibly some of you weren't born when this question was first asked!
If you have external directories, you can add them to a solution as a "website". This gives you all the benefits of being able to search through the solution and easily add new files to the website. It doesn't have to contain html, it can be a set of word documents, for example.
So for example, I've got a single solution that contains every sql and oracle query I've ever worked on or harvested from a co-worker. Why? Because it's difficult to keep up with similar sounding field and table names across different databases when you're trying to write a new query.
This also works with TFS.
Check whether that folder is inside project folder or not, if yes:
click Show All files in solution explorer.
now you can see folder name in solution explorer. right click the folder -> Include In Project.
If the folder out of project please copy it into the project directory in the place where we want it.
If your folder exist in another project but you want to add the folder and its content to another project just
-- go to the folder location
-- Copy your desired folder
-- go back to your current project
-- right click on the project and then just paste it.
folder will be added in your current project.
you may need to fix the namspace of the copying file.
You can use the following extension to add a solution folder, which is going to have the same name and the same content as the existing one without it being moved in the file system at all.
Folder To Solution Folder
And here's the link for more information:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=CeciliaWiren-CeciliaSHARP.FolderToSolutionFolder
Just drag and drop the folder in solution explorer.
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
Is there a way to create a blank solution, or some type of file-based project solution within Visual Studio so that I can point to a root folder, and have all of the sub-folders and files in that root, show up in my solution explorer? I realize I can create a blank solution and then add the individual items manually by add > existing item, however, this does not keep the folder structure intact, and, well, it would take forever if I have a lot of folders/files.
You can also create the blank solution and then click the second-from-the-right icon at the top of the solution explorer (it looks like three files with one "cut out"). Once you click that button to show the files in the solution directory that are not in a project, you can select all the files (with shift-click) and then right-click on your selection and select "Include In Project."
Also note you can select multiple files in the "Add Existing..." file window with shift- or control-click.
You have to create a Visual Studio Project inside your solution to be able to add files with keeping their folder structure. The files to be added must reside below the project's main folder.
I suggest adding a "C# Empty Project" (Solution Explorer: Solution > Add > New Project ... > Visual C# > Windows > Empty Project). After that you can proceed as described by SoloBold to show the files in the project folder. Right click on the topmost folder of your source files an select "Include In Project" and the whole folder structure including all files will be added. This may take some time depending on the number of files / subfolders.
See also: Answer to similar question, with screenshot