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Chapter 5: Creating and Building Projects 117
change this by selecting Tools | Options | Projects And Solutions and checking the box for
Always Show Solution.
You can add multiple projects to a solution, as well as folders for organizing the
projects. Right-click the solution name in the Solution Explorer and select Add | New
Project, and you can add more projects. Add | Existing Project allows you to add a project
that already exists to your opened solution. The reason this option exists is that while VS
solutions associate one or more projects together as a solution unit, any single project
could optionally be associated with other solutions. In other words, a single project could
be shared with other solutions.
Select Add | New Solution Folder to add a folder to a solution. You can add a hierarchy
of folders to a solution for organizing projects. One thing to remember about solution folders
is that unlike creating folders inside a project that become physical file system folders,
solution folders are logical and don’t create a physical folder in your file system. If you want
your file system layout to match the Solution Explorer layout with solution folders, you
must create the file system folders yourself. To avoid confusion, remember that it is possible
for the physical location of projects to differ from the Solution Explorer layout.
Besides organizing projects, solution folders are also useful for associating specific
artifacts with your project. While solution folders are not tied to physical file system
folders, they are included with source control providers, such as V
isual Source Safe and
Team System. One potential use of a solution folder is to include a copy of an external class
library that you’ve built your project with. This way, whenever other members of the team
check the solution out of source control, they all are working with the same files and versions.
Solution folders can also be used for any type of file, including project documentation or
anything else that you want to keep organized in a single place.
Depending on project type, VS hides various files associated with a project. The Solution
Explorer toolbar has a Show All Files button that will show these hidden files. If you have the
Figure 5-2 The Solution Explorer window