Start menu in Windows 7 has a feature: a programs, pinned to the top, can show a context menu with recently used files:
alt text http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/5149/contextmenustartmenuwin.png
Will Visual Studio 2010 be able to display also recently used Projects and Solutions?
It is possible to pin solution files to the recently used file list.
First make sure you already have Visual Studio pinned to the Start Menu.
Next, drag the Solution file on to the Start Menu so that it is pinned in the main list.
Now select the the Recently Used Files button for Visual Studio so that the list is showing.
Drag the solution file from the main list into the recently used file list.
You can now remove the solution file from the main list.
Beta 1 doesn't seem to support this yet. Its easily possible by using the new Taskbar APIs and specifically the custom categories feature. I think their main problem might be that the solution files are associated with an app called VSLauncher.exe (this small app determines what version of VS to load when you launch a SLN file).
If you want to "pin" your fav solution files to any version of VS, one option this is (I currently used this with VS 2008 and 2010 Beta 1:
Open Explorer and browse to any SLN file you want to pin.
Drag it and pin on the taskbar (it will pin to VSLauncher.exe; this is okay)
Now just repeat the steps for other SLN files.
When you click on a SLN file from the above pinned program's jumplist, another instance of VS2010/VS2008 will launch. It won't show your recent projects or solutions, but atleast it allows you to pin your fav/recent solutions manually. I think you can use this for CSProj or other project files as well.
Related
The other day I created a MS visual studio 2010 C# project and started coding. I saved the source frequently, but I did not select a destination to save to (just pressed ctrl+s and assumed the source was being saved). However I had to run and threw my laptop in my backpack on sleep. Unfortunately this laptop (acer aspire 5252 fyi) battery drains extremely quickly when on sleep, and eventually my computer shut off. Now I can't find my source files anywhere and I'm going crazy because I know I saved it and it's several days worth of work.
I tried doing a windows search but couldn't find the project files. I also did a little experiment - I created a new project and without saving the entire solution, I pressed ctrl+s on the source files. Save was successful, but I cannot even find the file that's open in the IDE. Even the "open containing folder option" is grayed out (see screen shot).
I really need these source files back. Obviously it's because I didn't save the solution that the source got wiped out, but where do the source files get saved temporarily before the solution is saved?
Thanks.
You are using Visual Studio's support for temporary projects. Nice feature for quicky test projects (and SO answers) but not a great way to ensure that your projects are still there after VS quits. Programming without source control is similarly inadvisable.
Tools + Options, Projects and Solutions, General. Ensure that the "Save new projects when created" option is ticked to minimize the odds that you'll forget to pick a solution folder. Triple-check that creating a new project now gives you a "Location" property in the dialog.
There is a default location for projects to be saved. That is probably where your files went.
In Visual Studio, on the menu, click Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > General. There is a "Visual Studio projects location".
On my Windows 7 machine, the folder for Visual Studio 2010 is
C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects
Your unnamed project is probably saved with a default name like WebSite1.
If you would like to change that default location, here is some information on how to do that.
Visual Studio temporary projects are normally found in *C:\Users\"User Name"\AppData\Local\Temporary Projects* . It is a temporary folder that is deleted as soon as Visual Studio starts up.
How to save a Temporay Project from above link:
To save a temporary project
In Solution Explorer, choose the solution or project that you want to save.
On the menu bar, choose File, Save or Save As.
The Save Project dialog box opens.
In the , Name box, specify a name for the project.
In the Location box, specify where you want to save the project.
Select the Create directory for Solution check box.
Note: This check box is not available for Visual Basic web projects, Visual C# web projects, or other directory-based projects.
In the New Solution Name box, specify a name that differs from the project name.
Select the Add to Source Control check box if you want to add the solution to a version-control database or repository.
Choose the OK button.
I've made a lot of changes (a.k.a refactoring) to my (big) visual studio solution and it appears now that vs solution structure is very different in visual studio from what it is on the disk and TFS.
Is there a way to make file system (and TFS) have the same folder names and file names as in visual studio solution with some tool or script/program/helper add-in?
This is the list of main issues:
- when I rename project visual studio does not rename folder where this project is located
- if I move project, file to different vs folder, it just happens in visual studio, but not on the disk
You can switch between logical or physical folders in the solution by clicking the "Show all files" icon (2nd top left icon in the solution pane). When not activated, you are viewing logical folders in the solution, drag and drop simply re arrange files virtually. When activated, you are viewing physical folders, drag and drop moves files on disk, using the source controller.
No there are no tools that can help you do this automatically.
There is a two step approach to solve it, made easier by installing two add-ons. I prefer to use the Team Foundation Power Tools and the Source Control Explorer Extensions.
From the Source Control Window inside Visual Studio:
Close the open solution in Visual Studio
open the Source Control window in TFS
Move the folders around to match the structure you prefer, with the mentioned add-ons you should be able to drag/drop and rename them more easily
Alternatively, do the changes on file system with the Team Foundation Power Tools explorer extensions installed:
Close the solution in Visual Studio
navigate to your workspace folder using Windows Explorer
use the TFS context menu on the folders to check-out/rename/move the items ans folders
Then re-load the solution in Visual Studio and:
Open the solution and see that a lot of projects don't load.
Highlight a project that couldn't be found
On the project properties window (ctrl-w, p) find the file path item and click the little [...] button to navigate to the new project file location for each project.
Rightclick the projects you've updated this way in the solution explorer and reload them
Rebuild your solution to verify all changes went as expected
Check-in your changes
I am trying to create an setup project in visual studio 2010 that clears an existing applications program menu. After running the installer that I am creating, the installer duplicated already existing short cuts in the programs menu. I would like to be able to remove all the existing short cuts from a specific programs menu folder and just have the new short cuts appear.
Right click on Deployment project, select properties and set the "RemovePreviousVersion" property to true..
I am new to visual studio and I am experimenting around with some Windows Services. I have created two solutions and I would like to view both of them at once. Without having to click file->recent projects to switch back and forth.
Ideally this could take place in the solution explorer and just nest the projects, but I am only able to view one solution/project at a time there.
Is there anyway to view multiple solutions/projects in Visual Studio?
This is the way Visual Studio is designed: One solution, one Visual Studio (VS) instance.
Besides switching between solutions in one VS instance, you can also open another VS instance and open your other solution with that one. Next to solutions there are as you said "projects". You can have multiple projects within one solution and therefore view many projects at the same time.
There's a much easier (but not so obvious) way; right click on the Visual Studio icon in the taskbar, then right click on the application name in the popup menu, then click "Open". Windows will then open another instance where you can open another solution in.
If you have two separate solutions, then you cannot view them simultaneously in the same VS instance. However, you can open multiple instances of VS and tab between them.
An alternative would be to import the projects from one solution into the other, thus putting all of your projects into one solution. You can do this by following these steps:
In the Solution Explorer, select the Solution into which you want to import a project. Right-click, and select Add->Existing Project from the context menu.
In the file chooser, find the project file that you want to import (it will end in .XXproj where XX is the language you're using).
Click Open and voila! Your project is imported.
There is a way to store multiple solutions in one instance of VS.
Attempt the following steps:
File > Open > Project/Solution
This will bring up the open project window, notice at the bottom where it says options, select add to solution
Then select the file you want to add and click open
This will then add the solution to your project. You still won't be able to run the same project in a single instance of VS, but you can have all your code organized in one place.
NOTE:
This worked for Visual Studio 2013 Professional
Just right click on the Visual Studio icon and then select "New Window" from the contextual toolbar that appears on the bottom in Windows 8. A new instance of Visual Studio will launch and then you can open your second project.
You can create a new blank solution and add your different projects to it.
You can have multiple projects in one instance of Visual Studio. The point of a VS solution is to bring together all the projects you want to work with in one place, so you can't have multiple solutions in one instance. You'd have to open each solution separately.
Don't know whether this is useful but if you want to work with multiple projects without navigating through projects tree {like multi window} you can try opening VS in another virtual desktop (at least it's possible for Windows 10) by holding Ctrl+win+D. Then open another VS studio and open your other project there. You can switch between projects by Ctrl+win+arrow key {left/right}.
Two ways come to mind...
Open another visual studio window and open the second solution in it.
It would be preferable to add your existing projects to one solution, just right click and add existing project and navigate to the project file(csproj). .... e.g. C:\Users\User\Documents\Visual Studio 2012\Projects\MySqlWindowsFormsApplication1\MySql Windows Forms Project1\MySql Windows Forms Project1.csproj ....In this second way you might want to setup multiple start up projects i.e. for people with client-server apps or apps with dependencies. ....To do this Select the solution then GoTo: Project>>Properties>>Startup Project>> Select Multiple Startup projects and set actions to Start. When you debug, the selected as start will run.
For interest sake you could open another multiple solution windows to view different projects at the same time. http://www.schwammysays.net/visual-studio-2012-tip-multiple-solution-explorers/
After a long research and different experiments the easiest way "FOR MAC USERS" is to create a script:
open -a "Visual Studio" \
"path to first sln" \
"path to second sln" \
...
:D
File -> New Window. Select the other project in that window. Each project lives in a separate window. You can tab between them.
MAC users - this issue was winding me up, as its not possible to open two different Visual Studio instances at the same time. Ive found a solution that works fine, though its a little unorthodox : get the latest beta testing version, which will install alongside your normal VS install in a separate sandbox (it does this automatically). You can then run both versions side by side, which is enough for what I needed - to be able to examine one project for structure, code etc., while doing the actual coding I need to do in the 'current' VS install instance.
In the top left corned of the Visual Studio Start Page there is a Recent Projects section that lists as standard 10 last opened Project. I am aware that this number can be changed using Tools->Options->Environment->General and then modifying number in Recent Files section
But my question is how could I remove some projects from that recent list?
This blog post answers your question quite nicely. I won't duplicate the author's work here.
Steps to Remove Recent Projects
Close Visual Studio if it is running.
Start the Registry Editor (Start...Run... type regedit).
Navigate to this registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\8.0\ProjectMRUList
Then delete the key that has the project you do not want to keep in the list.
Right click on the Solution icon in Solution Explorer window, change the name of the Solution to a different one. Then double click the project in Recent Projects window. Visual Studio will ask you if you need to delete the project. Click OK to get rid of it.
I'll add an answer for people who are using Visual Studio for Mac:
In the menu bar, choose Files ➞ Recent Solutions ➞ Clear.
Source: https://forums.xamarin.com/discussion/67203/how-do-remove-projects-from-welcome-page-xamrian-studio-for-mac