How to: Control Solution Explorer

Visual Studio add-ins are deprecated in Visual Studio 2013. You should upgrade your add-ins to VSPackage extensions. For more information about upgrading, see FAQ: Converting Add-ins to VSPackage Extensions.

Solution Explorer is a tool window in the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE) that displays the contents of a solution, which includes the solution's projects and each project's items. Like other tool windows in Visual Studio, you can control its physical parameters, such as size, location, and whether it is docked or free-floating. For information about how to manipulate this tool window as well as other Visual Studio tool windows, see How to: Change Window Characteristics.

Solution Explorer does not have its own automation objects as such, but you can control the contents of its hierarchy to a certain extent by using UIHierarchy. To control projects and project items in the solution, use the project automation model. For more information, see Controlling Projects and Solutions.

Note Note

The dialog boxes and menu commands you see might differ from those described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. These procedures were developed with the General Development Settings active. To change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio.

To control Solution Explorer by using UIHierarchy

  1. If Solution Explorer is not already visible, click Solution Explorer on the View menu.

  2. Open a project that has a large number of elements, such as an Add-in project.

  3. In Solution Explorer, click a node that has at least two sub-nodes.

  4. Run the following code.

This example demonstrates how to manipulate Solution Explorer by using UIHierarchy.

No code example is currently available or this language may not be supported.
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