Projects and files

A project is a set of files that the compiler holds in memory, and the IDE keeps a copy of the set and shows it in the PROJECT EXPLORER. On disk, the project is one .twinproj file. This chapter describes how to see the files, add them, change them and keep them.

  • Project Explorer — the panel, its file view and object view, what a click opens, and the special folders.
  • Files and folders — the right-click menu, and renaming, moving, copying, exporting and deleting.
  • Adding files — the Add menu, importing files and projects, and resources.
  • References and packages — the libraries a project uses, and the packages it embeds or links.
  • Saving and exporting — Save, Save As, closing, the recent list, and Export Project.

The dialog that holds the project’s settings has a page of its own, Project Settings. The commands of the File and Project menus are listed in the File menu and Project menu reference pages.

The project is in memory

A project is not a folder on disk that the IDE reads and writes. The compiler process holds the files, and the IDE asks it for every operation: read a file, create one, move one, delete one. Two results follow.

  • Adding, renaming, moving and deleting change the project in memory. They reach the disk when the project is saved. File → Save Project writes the whole project to the .twinproj file, and a few other actions save it too. Saving and exporting describes it.
  • A change made outside the IDE is not noticed. There is nothing to watch: the files that the Project Explorer shows are not files on disk. Windows Explorer cannot drop a file into the tree, and the clipboard commands cannot take a file from Windows. Adding files shows how to bring a file in.

A path in the IDE is written /<ProjectName>/<folder>/<file>, and Copy Path puts exactly this on the clipboard. It is not a path on disk.

A project made from a template or a sample, or opened from a folder or a VB6 project, has no file yet. The title bar says Unsaved.twinproj, and the first save asks for a file name.

The parts of a project

A project holds these top-level folders. The Project Explorer draws all but Settings.

Folder Holds
Sources The code: .twin, .bas and .cls files, and the designer files of forms, user controls, property pages and reports.
Resources The files that the build embeds in the program. See Resources.
References One entry for each library the project refers to. See References and packages.
Packages The packages that the project embeds, and the compiler packages VB, VBA and VBRUN.
ImportedTypeLibraries The type libraries that were imported from a file. See Import from file.
Miscellaneous Empty in a new project.
Settings The project’s settings, as JSON. Project Settings edits them.

See Also