Visual Studio Hacks

Organize Projects and Solutions #3

Chapter 1, Master Projects and Solutions

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15

HACK

A good solution to the file reference issue is to create a single folder that

contains all of the assemblies that are referenced through file references.

This way, all the developers on a project can retrieve the latest versions of

these assemblies from the same location, whether through a common shared

directory or source control.

Project References

A project reference refers to another project in your solution; for instance,

you might have a Windows Forms project that references a class library

project. When the Windows Forms project is built, it will create a copy of

the class library assembly and move it to your output directory.

What makes a project reference superior to an assembly reference is that

Visual Studio will watch for any changes to the other project. When there

are changes, you will automatically get a new copy of the assembly in your

build directory. Visual Studio will also use project references to infer project

dependencies. In the case of a Windows Forms project referencing a class

library project, Visual Studio will determine that the class library project

needs to be built before the Windows Forms project since the Windows

Forms project depends on the output of the class library.

Project references also avoid problems when sharing the project between

systems or when working with projects under ...