adding items to Visual C# (Express 2010) project without copying them to project folder

Question

Is that possible? I noticed that every time I add an item (code or XAML file) it gets copied to project folder. This way I cannot keep reusable files separately. I could build a dll out of them but that would be an overkill and in the general case it's very inconvenient, as for each project I'm only interested in a subset of all my reusable classes.

Answer 1

When you add an 'Existing Item' you can choose to 'Add As Link' by clicking the triangle next to the Add button in the Add Existing Item screen. Maybe that answers your question?

Answer 2

Answer 3

You can add "links" in Visual Studio:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9f4t9t92(v=vs.80).aspx

Select it from the drop down beside the "Add" button when you add an item.

Answer 4

You can - when you go to add the file please notice the small down arrow on the Add button. If you select this arrow you have the option for adding the file as a link - and that is exactly what you get, so only a kind of shortcut is added to your project but with the same effect.