Add Existing Item Dialog Box

Use this dialog box to select individual or multiple files to add to your project. You can select files from local directories, network directories, and Web sites. You can also use this dialog box to add links to shared files in workgroup scenarios.

Access this dialog box by selecting the solution or a project node in Solution Explorer and choosing Add Existing Item from the Project menu.

• Look in
  Locate the files or folders to add to your project from this list.

My Places Bar

• Desktop
  Displays the files and folders located on the desktop.

• My Projects
  Displays the files and folders at the location specified in the General, Projects and Solutions, Options Dialog Box.

• My Computer
  Displays the contents of your floppy disk, hard disk, and CD-ROM drive.

• <Source Control Plug-in>
  Displays the contents of a source control database or repository. For more information, see How to: Open a Project or Solution from Source Control .

Folder List

• File name
  Use this option to filter the files and folders that are displayed. Enter the full or partial file name on which to filter; use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard.

  Tip

  Navigate to Web and network locations by entering the URL or network path in the File name box. For example, "http://mywebsite" displays the files available at the "mywebsite" Web location and "\\myserver\myshare" displays the files available at the "myshare" location on "myserver."

• Files of type
  Use this option to filter files based on file extension. Each product lists default filters of the most common file types.

• Add
  Use this button to copy the item to your project directory or link to the original file.

  • Add   Copies the existing item to your project folder on disk and adds the item under the selected project in Solution Explorer. Any changes made to the item are not reflected in the item at the original location.

  • Add As Link   Adds the existing item as a link from the project to its original location. Linking to files is useful when working in teams on shared resources; many projects can link to a file in one location.

Toolbar

• Navigate Back
  Returns the most recently viewed folder or drive.

• Up One Level
  Navigates the tree to the next highest folder in the hierarchy.

• Search the Web
  This option is not available from this dialog box.

• Delete
  Deletes the selected files or folders from storage.

• New Folder
  Displays the New Folder dialog box. Use this option to create a new child folder under the folder selected in the Look in drop-down list box.

Views

Provides options for arranging and viewing the contents of the item selected in the Views drop-down list box.

• Thumbnails
  Displays thumbnails for items in the display pane.

• Tiles
  Displays files and folders as large icons.

• Icons
  Displays files and folders as small icons.

• List
  Displays files and folders in a list format.

• Details
  Displays the name, size, type, and last-modified date of files and folders in a list format. To sort by a particular detail, click its column header.

• WebView
  This command is not available.

Tools

Select a tool to apply to the item selected in the contents pane.

• Delete
  Deletes the selected file or folder from storage.

• Print
  Prints the selected file.

• Add to "My Places"
  Adds the folder to the shortcuts on the My Places bar, to the left of the files and folders list.

• Properties
  Displays the property sheet for the selected item.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Add Existing Items to a Project

How to: Add New Project Items

Reference

Open With Dialog Box

Other Resources

Projects, User Interface Elements