Reputation: 4027

Which files in a Visual C# Studio project don't need to be versioned?

I'm new to Visual C# Studio (actually using the Express edition, but another developer is using the full version), and we are using version control (svn).

It's acceptable to me to add the project files to the repository, since this repo is just for the two of us using Visual C# Studio. But it feels like there are some irrelevant files in there. Can someone familiar with Visual C# Studio project files tell me which files can safely be svn:ignored?

Some suspect files:

project.csproj
project.csproj.Debug.cachefile
project.csproj.user
project.sln
project.suo
Content\Content.contentproj

I'm sure the .sln is required, but what's this .suo? and the .csproj? Can/should any of these be generated by Visual C# Studio on loading a project?

Upvotes: 45

Answers (11)

Carl Bergquist

Reputation: 3942

Don't include
bin
obj
*.suo
*.user
_Resharper* (if you have ReSharper)

Include
*.sln
*.csproj

You can also check the .gitignore file for visual studio projects on GitHub.

Upvotes: 43

Pac0

Reputation: 23149

As this as not been indicated in other answers yet :

In the case you are using Visual Studio with Unity 3D, you can safely add both *.csproj and *.sln to the .gitignore file, on the contrary of the usual case.

Indeed, the project structure is managed by Unity itself, not by Visual Studio. The only consequences of keeping them in source control are conflicts, even more so if for some reasons different Visual Studio versions are being used among commiters.

Example .gitignore for Unity 3D : https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/Unity.gitignore

Upvotes: 0

Nathan Smith

Reputation: 8347

Check this out - type visualstudio amd you will have a .gitignore file generated for you, also you can concatenate multiple languages/ide' ignore files together if you have a solution which contains multiple languages.

Upvotes: -1

Albireo

Reputation: 11095

I leave out the Visual Studio Solution User Options file (*.suo) and the binaries directories as they get recompiled everytime you build your solution (the bin and obj folders).

Upvotes: 0

leppie

Reputation: 117230

Just to add, anything that gets regenerated at build time, should be excluded. For example, files generated from the prebuild event or in some cases a custom tool.

Upvotes: 1

Agent_9191

Reputation: 7253

.csproj defines the project structure. It is vital.

This is what I add to my global ignore list in Tortoise SVN:

*.suo *.user bin obj *.pdb *.cache *_svn *.svn *.suo *.user *.build-res TestResults _ReSharper*

Upvotes: 15

Gabriel Magana

Reputation: 4536

You definitely need csproj files... You might want to try AnkhSVN or VisualSVN, those VS addins add only the required files to SVN.

Or you could remove files from your directory structure until it does not load anymore.

I suggest experimenting this way because it is a great way to learn how a solution is structures by VS.

Upvotes: 0

Jon Skeet

Reputation: 1500515

Shouldn't be versioned:

.csproj.user is the user's project file settings (e.g. startup project)
.suo is the user's solution file settings

Should be versioned:

.sln is the solution file itself (what projects it contains etc)
.csproj is the project file

I'm not sure about "contentproj" but it sounds like it's a project file which should be under svn.

Upvotes: 13

Restore The Data Dumps Again

Reputation: 39325

Needed...

*.sln - The solution file contains references to all the projects and dependencies between the projects.
*.csproj - The project files themselves. These tell what files are included in the project, references, and the build steps for the project.

Not...

*.suo - This is a user settings file...

Upvotes: 0