When you open a new C# Windows Forms Application project in Visual Studio 2008, you get a lot of autogenerated code (AssemblyInfo.cs, Resources.Designer.cs, Settings.Designer.cs, Form1.Designer.cs, Form1.resx, Program.cs).
Beside adding components from the Toolbox to Form1.cs[Design] and code to Form1.cs, what files can you change? And how? And what files should be left as they are?
PS: This is a vast subject, as far as I can tell. I don’t expect an exhaustive answer. Any information you care to share will do. I also want to mention that I’m a C# beginner and only want the most basic information.
PPS: In case you’re thinking about answering “Search the internet” or something like that, don’t. I have searched the internet and will do so again and again until I find the answers I’m looking for. I have found some useful information, but I feel I need more. I think it’s likely I will get that at stackoverflow.com.
Update 1: This question has been answered. I’ve marked the answer from sh_kamalh as accepted. I would like to mark the answers from David and Hans Passant as accepted as well, but I don’t think you can mark more than one answer as the accepted one. Or can you?
From what I can dedcue from the answers, you should never change the autogenerated code in a C# Windows Forms Application project in Visual Studio 2008. I don’t understand everything in the answers, though, and may have overlooked something.
If you don’t agree with the summary right above or the answers below, feel free to add a contradictory answer. Or if you have an answer that supplement the answers below, feel free to add that answer. I’m sure there’s more to be said on this subject.
Update 2: It seems you can also write your own version of a C# Windows Forms Application project (see Davids answer below, which I forgot about when I wrote “Update 1”). It also seems you should start from scratch if you do.
Why do you want to change the auto-generated files?
In case of forms you should not change .Designer.cs or the .resx files because they will be generated everytime you change the form so whatever changes you do will be overwritten next time the code is regenerated.
If you want to change something in Designer.cs, you can do that change in the original cs file because the class is marked as partial which means that the code from the files Form1.cs and Form1.Designer.cs is combined to generate the final code.
If you want to add your resources add a resource file and leave the generated .resx file intact.
For AssemblyInfo.cs you can change the general information of the assembly.
Long story short just leave the generated files intact.