Templates and Solution Explorer Icons

Bernhard Hiller

We use Zeta Resource Editor[^] for localization. We add the .zreproj file to our solutions, and can open it by a double-click from the Solution Explorer (Visual Studio Professional 2015 Update 3). But the icon shown there is some "default" icon used for unknown file types. So I created a template for zreproj files. In C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplates\CSharp\Data\1033, I added (as administrator) a folder ZreprojFile, and there an icon ZreprojFile.ico, a default file ZreprojFile.zreproj, and the template proper ZreprojFile.vstemplate which is:

Zreproj File
Zeta Resource Editor Project
ZreprojFile.ico
Microsoft.CSharp.ZreprojFile
CSharp
2.0
1
ZreprojFile.zreproj

ZreprojFile.zreproj

Then I installed the template. Now I can add a Zreproj to a C# solution, in the "Add - New Item" dialog the icon is shown correctly. But still: the icon in the Solution Explorer did not change. How can that be achieved?

Richard Deeming

As you've discovered, the icon in the template only affects the "Add new item" dialog, not the solution explorer. Changing the icons in the solution explorer is not a simple task. Mads Kristensen has published an extension[^] to add some missing file icons, but it doesn't seem to include ".zreproj" files. You could either use the option within that extension to suggest a new icon for that file type, or see if you can adapt the source of the extension[^].

"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

Bernhard Hiller

Thanks for your solution. With such an enormous effort, I'll likely stay with the default icon...