[Visual Studio] Trick : make a project item a child item of another

You probably noticed that, in a C# project tree, some items are placed “under” a parent item : it is the case, for instance, for files generated by a designer or wizard :

The following trick shows how to apply the same behavior to your own files.

Let’s assume that you want to customize the classes generated by the EDM designer. You can’t modify the Model1.designer.cs file, because you changes would be overwritten by the designer. So you create a new file, say Model1.Custom.cs, where you will write your custom code for the entity classes (using the partial keyword). By default, this file is placed at the root of the project :

In order to show clearly the association with Model1.edmx, we would like to make Model1.Custom.cs a child item of Model1.edmx, at the same level as Model1.designer.cs… Even though the Visual Studio IDE doesn’t offer that option, it is possible : you just need to edit the .csproj file manually. The easiest way to do that is to unload the project (right click on the project, “Unload project”), and edit it directly in Visual Studio (right click, “Edit FooBar.csproj”). Find the <Compile> element corresponding to Model1.Custom.cs, and add a <DependentUpon> child element, as show below :

    <Compile Include="Model1.Custom.cs">
        <DependentUpon>Model1.edmx</DependentUpon>
    </Compile>

Reload the project : Model1.Custom.cs now appears as a child item of Model1.edmx.

This trick enables you to organize your project better and make its structure clearer.