How to set a default configuration in a Visual Studio Solution File?

Question

In VS2005 and up, is it possible to specify which configuration should be selected by default?

I have several configurations in my solution but one of them should be used in most cases. Hence I'd like to make sure that devs who pull it out of Source Control use the right configuration(unless of course they specifically choose another one).

Ideally, this setting should be in the .sln file since that one is under Source Control.

Sisal

Answer 1

As far as I understand, if there is no .suo file, first platform in alphabetic order becomes the default configuration.

Latter

this is what I experience as well. Which suggests a workaround consisting in renaming the config to make sure it's first in the list. – Sisal

In VS 2008, I can confirm it is not alphabetical order. I have "All Debug,All,Boot Loader,Boot,Debug,Driver Debug,Driver x64 Debug,Driver x64,Driver x86 Debug,Driver x86,Driver,Format Debug,Format,Mount Debug,Mount,Release,Setup Debug,Setup" from the .sln file and "Debug" is the default when the .suo file is deleted. See: github.com/CipherShed/CipherShed/blob/v0.7.3.0-dev/src/… – Towbin

This looks to still be true for Visual Studio 2017 – Musty

Answer 2

This is pretty old, but this was helpful for me:

It by default picks its platform as Mixed Platform. If that doesn't exist, it picks the first listed in your .sln file.

The default configuration is something that starts with Debug. So if you have something called Debug Test, it will select that. If that doesn't exist, it goes by order in your .sln file. It will not pick Test Debug over Debug.

Abracadabra

This is beyond annoying, why wouldn't it pick "Any CPU".. thanks for clarifying this! – Birdiebirdlike

Yes. I agree. It's actually kinda baffling there's no setting to do this automatically. – Abracadabra

Answer 3

I don't know if I understand the complete situation behind your question, but there is a way to "externalize" some of VS.Net's project configuration values such as FxCop settings into a separate file. Then you could have all projects in a solution point to that file. However, I don't think it would allow for your devs to chose their own configuration after doing the "externalization"

If this seems like the right path for you, check out these posts from me in regards to coding standards on how to make similar changes for configuration.

• My Seattle Code Camp Presentation on Coding Standards and Code Review
• Automating Standards and Best Practices

Labyrinth