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project-and-solution-files.md

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title Project and Solution Files | Microsoft Docs
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ms.date 11/04/2016
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cpp-ide
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project files [C++]
file types [C++], makefiles
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Makefile projects
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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 Visual C++ project file, 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.

See Also

File Types Created for Visual C++ Projects