Project and Solution Files
The following files are created when you create a project in Visual Studio. They are used to manage project files in the solution.
| Filename | Directory location | Solution Explorer location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solname.sln | Projname | Not displayed in Solution Explorer | The solution file. It organizes all elements of a project or multiple projects into one solution. |
| Projname.suo | Projname | Not displayed in Solution Explorer | The solution options file. It stores your customizations for the solution so that every time you open a project or file in the solution, it has the appearance and behavior you want. |
| Projname.vcxproj | Projname | Not displayed in Solution Explorer | The project file. It stores information specific to each project. (In earlier versions, this file was named Projname.vcproj or Projname.dsp.) For an example of a C++ project file (.vcxproj), see Project Files. |
| Projname.vcxitems | Projname | Not displayed in Solution Explorer | The Shared Items project file. This project isn't built. Instead, the project can be referenced by another C++ project, and its files will become part of the referencing project's build process. This can be used to share common code with cross-platform C++ projects. |
| Projname.sdf | Projname | Not displayed in Solution Explorer | The browsing database file. It supports browsing and navigation features such as Goto Definition, Find All References, and Class View. It is generated by parsing the header files. |
| Projname.vcxproj.filters | Projname | Not displayed in Solution Explorer | The filters file. It specifies where to put a file that is added to the solution. For example, a .h file is put in the Header Files node. |
| Projname.vcxproj.user | Projname | Not displayed in Solution Explorer | The migration user file. After a project is migrated from Visual Studio 2008, this file contains information that was converted from any .vsprops file. |
| Projname.idl | Projname | Source | (Project-specific) Contains the Interface Description Language (IDL) source code for a control type library. This file is used by Visual C++ to generate a type library. The generated library exposes the interface of the control to other Automation clients. For more information, see Interface Definition (IDL) File in the Windows SDK. |
| Readme.txt | Projname | Project | The read me file. It is generated by the application wizard and describes the files in a project. |