Why doesn't Visual Studio refresh the folders when I click the Solution Explorer refresh button?

Question

In Visual Studio 2008, I can see all my project files in my Solution Explorer, and these files exist in an actual diectory.

However, if I add a file to that directory (let's say, an test.sqlite file in the App_Data folder, or say, images created by some other program), then these files do NOT appear in my Solution explorer, even if I click the refresh button.

How can I make files created by other applications appear in my Solution Explorer?

(so far, I have to create them somewhere else, then copy and paste them into the solution explorer itself, but there must be an easier way).

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Edit:

Is there an advantage to this "fake solution view", i.e. I could have a file "test.sqlite" in my App_Data directory but in my solution, it could be appearing in my root directory. Coming from an Eclipse WYSIWYG Solution Explorer mindset, I don't see the advantage of having this extra virtual meta-information about the actual files in your directory. Is there a way you get an advantage out of this metaphor?

Answer 1

At the top of the solution explorer is a toggle button "Show All Files" this makes it include all files in the display even if they aren't included in the project. The icons for these will be grayed out a bit. Then just use the context menu to add these to the project.

Answer 2

On the solution, click the right mouse button and select 'Add existing item' and pick the file from the solution root directory. The Solution will now get a 'Solution Items' directory which contains your file. This directory is virtual, so it does not exist on disk.

However there is no feature like 'Show All Files' for a solution, this only works on projects.