Question

Is there any way to instruct Visual Studio 2010 to keep my .h files and .cpp files separate from the project files and databases that VS generates to manage the project? Specifically, I would like to have a set up where the project files are in the VS install folder and the source files are in a completely separate folder in my Dropbox, and monitored by git.

Answer 1

You can put the .cpp and .h files wherever you want. A project file just lists the locations of the source files. Create the .cpp and .h files where you want them, perhaps with Notepad, and then use "Add Existing File" to add them to the project. (Right-click on the project name in Solution Explorer and choose "Add Existing File".)

Source files are represented in the project file using relative paths, so if both the sources and the projects are on the same disk drive, the sources will be represented something like "..\..\..\..\MyFiles\work\SuperCalc\Input\parser.cpp". If they’re on a different drive, then they’ll use absolute paths like "D:\MyFiles\work\SuperCalc\Input\parser.cpp".

A detailed example of a source file and build file layout which uses this technique is presented in this StackOverflow response about organizing Visual C++ source files. You may find it helpful.

As an aside, if you really want to store your project files in the VS install folder, which is under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0", then you’ll need to run VS in Administrator mode, because C:\Program Files is a protected directory.