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Add Existing Items to a Project

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Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics Analytics Platform System (PDW)

Add new items to a project to extend application functionality. An existing item can be a query or a miscellaneous file. SQL Server Management Studio has two project types: SQL Server Script Project, and Analysis Services Script Project. The project type determines the query files that you can add to the project. For example, you can add a Transact-SQL query (a file with a .sql extension) to a SQL Server Script project, but you cannot add it to an Analysis Services Script Project. To associate additional file extensions to a project type, see How to: Associate File Extensions to a Code Editor.

To add an existing query or a miscellaneous file to a project

  1. In Solution Explorer, select a target project.

  2. On the Project menu, click Add Existing Item.

    Look in
    Locate the files or folders to add to your project from this list. For XML Web services and ASP.NET Web applications, the files are located on the Web server.

    Desktop
    Displays the files and folders located on the desktop.

    My Projects
    Displays the files and folders at the default My Projects location.

    My Computer
    Displays the contents of your My Computer folder.

    File name
    Use this option to filter the files and folders that are displayed. Enter the full or partial file name on which to filter; use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard.

    Note

    Navigate to Web and network locations by entering the URL or network path in the File name box. For example, https://mywebsite displays the files available at the mywebsite Web location, and \\myserver\myshare displays the files available at the myshare location on myserver.

    Files of type
    Use this option to filter files based on file extension. Each product lists default filters of the most common file types.

    Add
    Use this drop-down button to add the item to the project and open the item in its default editor.

    • Add

      Copies the existing item to your project folder on disk and adds the item under the selected project in Solution Explorer. Any changes made to the item are not reflected in the item at the original location. This is the default editor for the file type.

    • Add As Link

      Adds the selected file to the project and opens it with the default editor for the file type. This option opens the originally selected file and does not copy the file to the project folder.

  3. If you are adding query files, the connection dialog will prompt you to specify a connection for the query. You can click Cancel on the connection dialog if you do not want to associate a connection to the query.

  4. The file will be added to the Queries or Miscellaneous Files folder of the project.

See Also

Solution Explorer
Add New Items to a Project
Remove or Delete an Item or Project