Reference code files from external folder

Question

I try to reference a collection of c# code to a console project in visual studio.

1. I want to keep the referenced code outside the console project folder.

2. I want the code to automatically update when it gets changed in the external position.

3. The referenced codes folder structure should stay intact. (~100 files)

Is there a way of referencing/linking the code without updating everytime? "Include in Project" only works if the code is inside a solution folder.

Answer 1

You can add a "link" to code files outside of your project. This doesn't make a copy of the files.

Right-click your project -> Add -> Existing Item..., and browse to the file(s). Then click the down-arrow on the "Add" button and select "Add As Link":

Linked files appear with a blue arrow in the Solution Explorer:

---

If you want to reference an entire folder structure of code, you'll need to edit your .csproj. Something like:

<ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="..\SomeDir\**\*.cs" Link="%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)"/>
</ItemGroup>

Adjust ..\SomeDir to be the path to your code. The **\*.cs is of course a pattern to recursively include all .cs files. %(RecursiveDir), %(Filename), and %(Extension) are MSBuild placeholders.