Shortcut (.lnk) files in Visual Studio Solution Explorer

Question

If I drag in the actual Excel file, it makes a copy of it in the folder and then I can double click it open it in Excel. It shows the little Excel Logo in Visual Studio. Great!!

I am also able to add a shortcut to a file in my solution explorer in Visual Studio. It shows. Example.lnk with a white file. It would be nice if it was smart enough to show the Excel icon. But that's the least of my problems.

If I double click it, it opens the shortcut in Hex. Great if I want to actually edit the shortcut itself, however, no so great when I want to use these tables of data as references with my code. And not have to sync changes between original and the copy Visual Studio enjoys making.

Is there a way to tell Visual Studio to follow the shortcut?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I worked around this issue by creating a small .exe.

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        if(args.Count() > 1)
        {
            Process.Start(args[1]);
        }
    }
}

Then in Visual Studio, right click any .lnk file and pick Open Width. Add this .exe to the list. For arguments put in "$(ItemPath)".

Select application in the listbox and click set as default.

From this point forward any .lnk on the tree will use this program follow the .lnk.