How to copy file to output directory on every change during debugging

Question

In item's properties there is Copy to Output Directory option which copies a file after build. However the files I want to copy to output are very often data that can be reloaded by the program dynamically at runtime so I would like to be able to replace them on every save during debugging, while still keeping them in solution explorer.

What is the easiest way to do this?

I imagine few option

• Some existing VS extension can do this, ideal
• Write new extension, which will probably need some extensive research for me. Can't estimate time needed to do this
• Write some simple external program, which will be annoying to setup in long run

Answer 1

I have a sample extension for Visual Commander demonstrating how to hook the save event in Visual Studio: Run Cppcheck on the saved file.

So, you just need to add a filter condition to the OnDocumentSaved method and copy the saved file to the output directory.