How to: Modify Project Properties and Configuration Settings
You can view or modify properties associated with your projects in either the Properties window or the Project Property Pages dialog box. The project type determines where the property appears in Visual Studio.
Note
The options available in dialog boxes, and the names and locations of menu commands you see, might differ from what is described in Help depending on your active settings or edition. This Help page was written with the General Development settings in mind. To view or change your settings, choose Import and Export Settings on the Tools menu. For more information, see Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio.
To view project properties
In Solution Explorer, select a project.
On the View menu, select Properties Window.
In the Properties window, modify the properties you want to change.
If you want to modify properties that are specific to a project configuration, you need to open the Project Designer. These pages generally contain the properties that apply to the entire project and those that are specific to a selected configuration.
To open the Project Designer
In Solution Explorer, select a project.
On the Project menu, choose Properties.
The Project Designer opens.
Editing Common Properties for Solutions
The Common Properties settings in the Solution Property Pages dialog box help you to organize what are included in different builds of a project or solution. Here are several typical ways to use these properties.
To edit Common Properties in the Solution Property Pages
In the Solution Explorer, select a solution.
Choose Property Pages on the View menu.
In the Solution Property Pages dialog box, select a set of Common Properties from the pane on the left.
Enter values for the properties displayed on the right.
To determine how multiple projects run when you start the debugger
Open the Solution Property Pages dialog box.
Select Startup Project set under Common Properties.
In the pane on the right, select Multiple Startup Project.
In the Action field for each project, select a start option:
Start Run the project when you start the debugger
Start without debugging Run the project when you start the debugger, but do not debug this project.
None Do not start this project when you run the debugger.
To set the order in which multiple projects run when you start the debugger
Open the Solution Property Pages dialog box.
Select the Startup Project set under Common Properties.
In the pane on the right, select Multiple Startup Project.
Select a project, and then click Move Up to run that project earlier when you start the debugger, or click Move Down to run the project later.
To make one project dependent upon another
Open the Solution Property Pages dialog box.
Select the Project Dependencies set of Common Properties.
Select a project in the current solution on the Project dropdown menu.
In the Depends on field below, select the check boxes of any other projects that must be built first, before this project is built.
To use Project Dependencies to set the order in which projects are built
Open the Solution Property Pages dialog box.
Select the Project Dependencies set under Common Properties.
Select the project you want to build last in the Project dropdown menu.
In the Depends on window, select the check boxes beside all projects you want to build before this one.
Select the project you want to build next-to-last in the Project drop-down menu.
In the Depends on window, select all projects you want to build before this one.
Continue this process, working backwards from the last project built to the first, until there is no Depends on option listed for the project that will be built first.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Create and Edit Configurations
Building and Cleaning Projects and Solutions in Visual Studio
Reference
Concepts
Understanding Build Configurations