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Opening and Saving Project Items

Applies to: yesVisual Studio noVisual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

When you add a new project type, you must manage the opening and saving of your projects files in the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE). The following topics discuss the different approaches to opening and saving files.

In This Section

Provides a step-by-step explanation of how the IDE handles the Open File command and the role of projects in responding to this command.

Provides a detailed, step-by-step explanation of how the IDE handles the Open With command, prompting the opening of a file that has some choice of standard editors.

Provides step-by-step instructions for specifying that files of a particular type in your project should be opened by using a project-specific editor.

Provides step-by-step instructions for specifying how to enable the IDE to open a standard editor for files in your project type.

Provides step-by-step instructions to open a project-specific editor for an open file.

Provides a detailed explanation of how the IDE handles the Save, Save As, and Save All commands for a document opened in a standard editor.

Provides a diagram and detailed explanation of how the IDE handles the Save, Save As, and Save All commands for documents opened in a custom editor.

Discusses the process that the IDE follows to select the appropriate editor or designer for a file.

Lists the four types of editors that the IDE can host and gives descriptions of each editor.

Discusses how projects control the way that code is compiled and built, how editors are opened, and how project items are formatted.