Easy way to add multiple existing .csproj to a Visual Studio Solution?

Question

I've checked out a branch of C# code from source control. It contains maybe 50 projects in various folders. There's no existing .sln file to be found.

I intended to create a blank solution to add existing solutions. The UI only lets me do this one project at a time.

Is there something I'm missing? I'd like to specify a list of *.csproj files and somehow come up with a .sln file that contains all the projects.

Spadiceous

Adding them by hand is no fun though - struggling with Visual Studio, trying to make it do something simple, now that is fun. – Atomic

Well, of course it could have been done by now. The point of the question was to avoid the frustration in the future. And a double check for me to see if I missed anything glaringly obvious. Thanks for everyone's attention to the question. – Spadiceous

A workaround to make this a bit easier for smaller numbers of projects is to map the File.AddExistingProject to a shortcut key you can use with your left hand, then you can popup the browser with that and select and add with your mouse hand. – Cristophercristy

Answer 1

A PowerShell implementation that recursively scans the script directory for .csproj files and adds them to a (generated) All.sln:

$scriptDirectory = (Get-Item $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path).Directory.FullName
$dteObj = [System.Activator]::CreateInstance([System.Type]::GetTypeFromProgId("VisualStudio.DTE.12.0"))

$slnDir = ".\"
$slnName = "All"

$dteObj.Solution.Create($scriptDirectory, $slnName)
(ls . -Recurse *.csproj) | % { $dteObj.Solution.AddFromFile($_.FullName, $false) }

$dteObj.Solution.SaveAs( (Join-Path $scriptDirectory 'All.sln') ) 

$dteObj.Quit()

Imminence

not working for me =( (Join-Path : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null. At line:1 char:36 + $dteObj.Solution.SaveAs( (Join-Path <<<< $scriptDirectory 'All.sln') ) + CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (:) [Join-Path], ParameterBindingValidationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.JoinPathCom mand) – Diella

I keep getting that the $dteObj.Solution is null. How did you get around that? – Watchmaker

I updated the answer to change the construction of the DTE object to use New-Object. It's being peer-reviewed right now, but if you want to change your script manually, change the 2nd line to: $dteObj = New-Object -ComObject "VisualStudio.DTE.10.0" (change the version number to whatever version of Studio you're using.) – Distended

Answer 2

A C# implementation that produces an executable, which creates a solution containing all unique *.csproj files from the directory and subdirectories it is executed in.

class Program
{
  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
    using (var writer = new StreamWriter("All.sln", false, Encoding.UTF8))
    {
      writer.WriteLine("Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 11.00");
      writer.WriteLine("# Visual Studio 2010");

      var seenElements = new HashSet<string>();
      foreach (var file in (new DirectoryInfo(System.IO.Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())).GetFiles("*.csproj", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
      {
        string fileName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(file.Name);
        
        if (seenElements.Add(fileName))
        {
          var guid = ReadGuid(file.FullName);
          writer.WriteLine(string.Format(@"Project(""0"") = ""{0}"", ""{1}"",""{2}""", fileName, file.FullName, guid));
          writer.WriteLine("EndProject");
        }
      }
    }
  }

  static Guid ReadGuid(string fileName)
  {
    using (var file = File.OpenRead(fileName))
    {
      var elements = XElement.Load(XmlReader.Create(file));
      return Guid.Parse(elements.Descendants().First(element => element.Name.LocalName == "ProjectGuid").Value);
    }
  }
}

Chaffee

If you wanna use (my favorite new scripting tool) scriptcs, you can move the functions out of the class, move the ReadGuid above to the top and the main content below outside of a function scope and save it as .csx. – Redbud

IMHO this should be the accepted answer. It's waaaay faster than the first option. – Izolaiztaccihuatl

Answer 3

Plenty of answers here already, but none quite as clear as this powershell oneliner

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Include *.csproj | ForEach-Object { dotnet sln add $_ }

Ideology

this is so awesome!! – Tableau

+1 I had a bunch of .csproj files scattered across different folders. This saved me a lot of work! – Arnst

This worked well for me, but only seemed to work for .NET Core projects. I used this together with @Chaffee answer (c# console app) to assemble a solution file with both .NET Framework and .NET Core projects in it. – Swacked

I hadn't used dotnet framework much lately to test, but it came up recently and this did work for me - even for dotnet framework projects. Maybe this functionality was added after you checked? – Ideology

Answer 4

There is extension for VS available, capable of adding all projects in selected directory (and more):

http://www.cyotek.com/blog/visual-studio-extension-for-adding-multiple-projects-to-a-solution

Taynatayra

Nice. Works fine in VS2015. :) – Katlin

does not work in VS2012 though...github.com/cyotek/Cyotek.AddProjects/issues/4 – Lilas

Thats sad :( as a workaround you might use 2015 just for it, but it would be great to have better solution. – Taynatayra

I used this in VS 22 and it worked for my needs. Wish this was a built in feature. – Sarraceniaceous

Answer 5

Use Visual Studio Extension "Add Existing Projects". It works with Visual Studio 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017.

To use the extension, open the Tools menu and choose Add Projects.

Kennykeno

This also works with 2019, despite the warnings of potential instability. – Rogers

Working in 2023 community ed, despite the errors dialogs. This one's a soldier. – Cantus

Answer 6

You might be able to write a little PowerShell script or .NET app that parses all the projects' .csproj XML and extracts their details (ProjectGuid etc.) then adds them into the .sln file. It'd be quicker and less risky to add them all by hand, but an interesting challenge nonetheless.

Jural

Answer 7

Note: This is only for Visual Studio 2010

Found here is a cool add in for Visual Studio 2010 that gives you a PowerShell console in VS to let you interact with the IDE. Among many other things you can do using the built in VS extensibility as mentioned by @Avram, it would be pretty easy to add files or projects to a solution.

Cloudscape

Link in answer appears outdated. – Encourage

Answer 8

Here is a PowerShell version of Bertrand's script which assumes a Src and Test directory next to the solution file.

function GetGuidFromProject([string]$fileName) {
    $content = Get-Content $fileName

    $xml = [xml]$content
    $obj = $xml.Project.PropertyGroup.ProjectGuid

    return [Guid]$obj[0]
}

$slnPath = "C:\Project\Foo.sln"

$solutionDirectory = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($slnPath)

$srcPath = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($slnPath)
$writer = new-object System.IO.StreamWriter ($slnPath, $false, [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8)

$writer.WriteLine("Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00")
$writer.WriteLine("# Visual Studio 2013")

$projects = gci $srcPath -Filter *.csproj -Recurse

foreach ($project in $projects) {
   $fileName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($project)

   $guid = GetGuidFromProject $project.FullName

   $slnRelativePath = $project.FullName.Replace($solutionDirectory, "").TrimStart("\")

   # Assume the project is a C# project {FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}
   $writer.WriteLine("Project(""{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}"") = ""$fileName"", ""$slnRelativePath"",""{$($guid.ToString().ToUpper())}""")
   $writer.WriteLine("EndProject")
}

$writer.Flush()
$writer.Close()
$writer.Dispose()

Pyrrhonism

Answer 9

if you open the sln file with notepad you can see the format of the file which is easy to understand but for more info take a look @ Hack the Project and Solution Files .understanding the structure of the solution files you can write an application which will open all project files and write the application name ,address and GUID to the sln file .

of course I think if it's just once you better do it manually

Twister

Answer 10

Every answer seems to flatten the directory structure (all the projects are added to the solution root, without respecting the folder hierarchy). So, I coded my own console app that generates the solution and uses solution folders to group them.

Check out the project in GitHub

Usage

  SolutionGenerator.exe --folder C:\git\SomeSolutionRoot --output MySolutionFile.sln

Stereoisomerism

Answer 11

when you have dotnet core installed, you can execute this from git bash:

donet new sln; find . -name "*.csproj" -exec dotnet sln add {} \;

the generated solution works with csproj created for old .NET Framework.

Autry

Answer 12

Here is Bertrand's solution updated for Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;

namespace AllSolutionGenerator
{
    internal static class Program
    {
        private static void Main()
        {
            var dir = new DirectoryInfo(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());

            var projects = new Dictionary<string, string>();
            var guid1 = Guid.NewGuid().ToString().ToUpperInvariant();

            using (var writer = new StreamWriter("all.sln", false, Encoding.UTF8))
            {
                writer.WriteLine("Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00");

                foreach (var file in dir.GetFiles("*.csproj", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
                {
                    var fileName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(file.Name);

                    if (!projects.ContainsKey(fileName))
                    {
                        var guid = Guid.NewGuid().ToString().ToUpperInvariant();

                        projects.Add(fileName, guid);

                        writer.WriteLine(@$"Project(""{{{guid1}}}"") = ""{fileName}"", ""{file.FullName}"",""{guid}""");
                        writer.WriteLine("EndProject");
                    }
                }

                writer.WriteLine("Global");
                writer.WriteLine("  GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution");
                writer.WriteLine("      Debug|Any CPU = Debug|Any CPU");
                writer.WriteLine("      Release|Any CPU = Release|Any CPU");
                writer.WriteLine("  EndGlobalSection");
                writer.WriteLine("  GlobalSection(ProjectConfigurationPlatforms) = postSolution");

                foreach (var (_, guid) in projects)
                {
                    writer.WriteLine(@$"        {{{guid}}}.Debug|Any CPU.ActiveCfg = Debug|Any CPU");
                    writer.WriteLine(@$"        {{{guid}}}.Debug|Any CPU.Build.0 = Debug|Any CPU");
                }

                writer.WriteLine("  EndGlobalSection");
                writer.WriteLine("EndGlobal");
            }
        }
    }
}

Andesite

Answer 13

Depends on visual studio version.
But the name of this process is "Automation and Extensibility for Visual Studio"
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t51cz75w.aspx

Compound

Answer 14

Check this out: http://nprove.codeplex.com/

It is a free addin for vs2010 that does that and more if the projects are under the tfs

Yalu

Answer 15

Building on Bertrand's answer at https://mcmap.net/q/379646/-easy-way-to-add-multiple-existing-csproj-to-a-visual-studio-solution - make a console app out of this and run it in the root folder where you want the VS 2015 Solution to appear. It works for C# & VB (hey! be nice).

It overwrites anything existing but you source control, right?

Check a recently used .SLN file to see what the first few writer.WriteLine() header lines should actually be by the time you read this.

Don't worry about the project type GUID Ptoject("0") - Visual Studio will work that out and write it in when you save the .sln file.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;

namespace AddAllProjectsToNewSolution
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("starting");
            using (var writer = new StreamWriter("AllProjects.sln", false, Encoding.UTF8))
            {
                writer.WriteLine("Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 14.00");
                writer.WriteLine("# Visual Studio 14");
                writer.WriteLine("VisualStudioVersion = 14.0.25420.1");
                var seenElements = new HashSet<string>();

                foreach (var file in (new DirectoryInfo(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())).GetFiles("*.*proj", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
                {
                    string extension = file.Extension;
                    if (extension != ".csproj" && extension != ".vbproj")
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine($"ignored {file.Name}");
                        continue;
                    }

                    Console.WriteLine($"adding {file.Name}");

                    string fileName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(file.Name);

                    if (seenElements.Add(fileName))
                    {
                        var guid = ReadGuid(file.FullName);
                        writer.WriteLine($"Project(\"0\") = \"{fileName}\", \"{GetRelativePath(file.FullName)} \", \"{{{guid}}}\"" );
                        writer.WriteLine("EndProject");
                    }

                } 
            }
             Console.WriteLine("Created AllProjects.sln. Any key to close");
             Console.ReadLine();
        }

        static Guid ReadGuid(string fileName)
        {
            using (var file = File.OpenRead(fileName))
            {
                var elements = XElement.Load(XmlReader.Create(file));
                return Guid.Parse(elements.Descendants().First(element => element.Name.LocalName == "ProjectGuid").Value);
            }
        }
        // https://mcmap.net/q/241016/-getting-path-relative-to-the-current-working-directory-duplicate
        static string GetRelativePath(string filespec, string folder = null)
        {
            if (folder == null)
                folder = Environment.CurrentDirectory;

            Uri pathUri = new Uri(filespec);
            // Folders must end in a slash
            if (!folder.EndsWith(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString()))
                folder += Path.DirectorySeparatorChar;

            Uri folderUri = new Uri(folder);
            return Uri.UnescapeDataString(folderUri.MakeRelativeUri(pathUri).ToString().Replace('/', Path.DirectorySeparatorChar));
        }
    }
}

Neighbors

Answer 16

If you select 'Show all Files' in the Solution Explorer, you can than view all the files and folers and select them and right click to add them using 'Include in Project'.

Olecranon

This would add files to a project, and not projects to a solution as the OP asks. – Budde