Suggestions for maintaining Visual Studio vcproj project files in version control

Question

Microsoft Visual Studio uses XML to save its .vcproj project files. So diffing XML project files should be easily.

Unfortunately, if you change any

Answer 1

We are seeing this here at work now, with project files where the configurations are reordered on several peoples computers, and it is very frustrating...

*Note: We all use VS 2008 Pro, not Team

At first it looks like they are randomly reordered, but there is in fact a pattern and it is not random at all.

For one group the configurations are ordered by Platform, then by Config:

• Debug|Win32
• Debug|x64
• Release|Win32
• Release|x64
• Debug DX11|Win32
• Debug DX11|x64
• Release DX11|Win32
• Release DX11|x64
• ...

For the other group the configurations are ordered by Config, then by Platform:

• Debug|Win32
• Release|Win32
• Debug DX11|Win32
• Release DX11|Win32
• Debug|x64
• Release|x64
• Debug DX11|x64
• Release DX11|x64
• ...

Looking through perforce history, this is consistent with multiple projects submitted by the same sets of people, and there is about a 50/50 split, so it is not just happening for one person.

Is this the same issue that you are all seeing? If so, I hope this pattern helps find a solution that does not involve a macro/extra diff step...

It has to be a setting somewhere, or a side effect of clicking something, since it is 100% reproducible per each of these machines. Even if it is something silly like which option you choose for your initial environment layout (VC++, VB, General Development, ect...)