How to link all files under a folder in a C# project

Preface

Introducing files through linkage in a C# project allows us to use the code in these files in our project. Common ones are like link files, so that we can use the version number and other information in the project. But what if we want to link all the files in a folder? Today we will take a look at how to link all files under a folder in a C# project.

Edit project files to introduce a single file

In the project file, we can introduce a single file through the Compile tag. For example, if we want to introduce a file, we can do this:

<Project>
    <ItemGroup>
        <Compile Include="../Shared/">
            <Link>Properties/</Link>
        </Compile>
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

This way we can use the code in the file in the project.

Edit all files under the project file import folder

If you want to introduce multiple files, we can use wildcards to import all files in the folder. For example, if we want to introduce all the files in the Shared folder, we can do this:

<Project>
    <ItemGroup>
        <Compile Include="..\Shared\**\*.cs">
            <Link>Properties/%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
        </Compile>
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

This way we can use the code in all files in the Shared folder in the project.

However, this will cause all files to be displayed in the Properties folder in the project, which will make the project files look messy. We can modify the location where the file is displayed in the project by modifying the Link tag. For example, if we want to display all files in the Shared folder in the root directory of the project, we can do this:

<Project>
    <ItemGroup>
        <Compile Include="..\Shared\**\*.cs">
            <Link>%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
        </Compile>
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Don't forget to use the file

The above methods all introduce files into the project file, but if we have many projects, we need to introduce these files into each project file. This will make our project files very messy. We can solve this problem by using files. We can create a file under the solution folder, and then introduce all files under the folder into this file. For example, if we want to introduce all the files in the Shared folder, we can do this:

<Project>
    <ItemGroup>
        <Compile Include="..\Shared\**\*.cs">
            <Link>%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
        </Compile>
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Summarize

Through the above method, we can introduce all files under the folder in the C# project. This way we can use the code in these files in the project.

This is the article about how to link all files under a folder in a C# project. For more related C# links, please search for my previous articles or continue browsing the related articles below. I hope you will support me in the future!

References

Linking files in a project