Possible to create Visual Studio project with Output Type of "none"?

Question

I'm using Visual Studio 2008 and would like to create a sort of container project that holds a number of DLL's that must be installed with a solution. I want them to be in a separate project so that they can be easily attached to a solution as a group.

I created an empty project call TEST, added my DLL's to it with a Build Action of "Content", and set them to "Copy Always". That all works exactly as I want. The problem is that if I set the TEST project Output Type to "Console Application" or "Windows Application" that it won't build because there's no entry point. If I set the Output Type to "Class Library", it builds but I end up with an extra TEST.DLL file that I don't really want.

Is there anyway to sort of set the Output Type to "none"? I want the build actions to take place (so my DLL's get copied) but I don't want the dummy class assembly created. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Instead of putting them in a project, you can put the files in a Solution Folder. One of your projects can have a build action that does the copying, but since they won't be in a project, they won't try to "build".