Is there a setting in VS 2010 that will allow it to recover open files after a project file changes?

Question

If I have 10 files open and I amend my csproj file (for example: add a space) visual studio complains:

 The project "XYZ" has been modified outside the environment.   Press Reload to load the updated project from disk. Press Ignore to ignore the external changes. The change will be used the next time you open the project.  

Now, I really want to reload cause there are important changes, but I do not want Visual Studio to close all my open files, instead I would like it to refresh the ones that still exist and close the missing ones.

Is there any way to get that kind of functionality?

Answer 1

Yes, I wrote an extension to fix this problem in VS10 and VS11: http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/6705affd-ca37-4445-9693-f3d680c92f38

Enjoy.

Answer 2

As this functionality is not built it, I wrote the following macro:

Public Sub ReloadProject()     Dim oldFiles As List(Of String)     oldFiles = New List(Of String)      Dim projName = DTE.ActiveDocument.ProjectItem.ContainingProject.Name      For iDoc = DTE.Documents.Count To 1 Step -1         Dim name = (DTE.Documents.Item(iDoc).FullName)         oldFiles.Add(name)         DTE.Documents.Item(iDoc).Close(vsSaveChanges.vsSaveChangesPrompt)     Next      Dim projPath As String = DTE.Solution.Properties.Item("Name").Value.ToString() & "\" & projName      Dim solutionExplorer As Window = DTE.Windows.Item(Constants.vsWindowKindSolutionExplorer)     solutionExplorer.Activate()      Dim solutionHierarchy As UIHierarchy = solutionExplorer.Object     Dim obj As Object = solutionHierarchy.GetItem(projPath)     obj.Select(vsUISelectionType.vsUISelectionTypeSelect)      DTE.ExecuteCommand("Project.UnloadProject")     DTE.ExecuteCommand("Project.ReloadProject")      oldFiles.Reverse()     For Each file In oldFiles         Dim item = DTE.Solution.FindProjectItem(file)         If Not item Is Nothing Then             item.Open()             item.Document.Activate()         End If     Next  End Sub 

When I get the annoying window telling me to reload, I ignore it. And then run this macro after to reload.