Project Files - What are they? (Visual Studio .NET)

A Visual Basic project does not contain just a single file. There are several other file types that are essential to the project which Visual Basic creates as they are needed. In fact most projects consist of at least one each of the following files:

Project (.vbproj) file.  One per project. The project file contains:

• A class library reference list.
• A class library Imports list.
• A list of the all the files that the project contains (often with the explicit path to the location of those files).
• A Settings section that determines the project type (i.e. Windows Application, Code Library, etc.).

Form (.vb) files.  One for each form, module, or component in your project. These files contain textual descriptions of the form and its controls, including their property settings, and the code from their event procedures. They also contain form-level declarations of constants, variables, and external procedures; event and general procedures.  Note: This does not include the special AssemblyInfo.vb file, explained below.

Resource Template (.resx) files.  One for each .vb file in the project. Stores binary data (in Unicode/Mime format) for forms that have controls with properties that have binary data values, such as the Image property of a PictureBox control which may contain a bitmap file.

Project User Options (.user) file.  One per project.  Stores customization and configuration information that pertains to the .NET development environment.

The AssemblyInfo.vb file.  One per project.  This is a generic text file that you can manually modify to include Assembly information such as, Name, Company, Copyright, and other Assembly attributes.  This file is included in every project automatically.