Using same Debug settings for Start External Program across 32 bit and 64 bit debug environments

Question

We use a mixture of 32-bit and 64-bit development environments. Some of our class libraries are debugged using a 32-bit application so we have debug settings for "Start External Program" and "Working Directory". The problem is that the settings need to be different since the 32-bit application is installed to

C:\Program Files\xxx (on the 32-bit dev enviroment) or C:\Program Files (x86)\xxx (on the 64-bit dev environment)

Is there a way to use some sort of tag like %PROGRAMFILES% or $(ProgramFiles) so that Visual Studio 2008 will know where to look for the external program?

This wouldn't be a major issue except the solution file (where the debug information is saved) is checked into source control...so getting the latest version of the solution from our source repository keeps yoyo'ing the debug settings between the two program files locations.

Answer 1

These debug settings, "Start External Program" and "Working Directory," are stored in the ProjectName.csproj.user file, not the solution (.sln) file or the project (.csproj) file. Typically, the .user files aren't included in source control since they're specific to the user's environment where the debugging's going on.

You could maintain two separate .csproj.user files (one for each environment) and swap to the correct version before opening the solution. Not ideal, but better than nothing.

Answer 2

As pointed out by BQ, Start External Program and Working directory are stored in the .user file. However you can use $(Program Files) in both .csproj and .user files for any setting that relates to a directory name...the only trick is that you have to manually edit the relevant .user or .csproj file in a text editor.

Provided the user doesn't edit the value in Visual Studio it maintains it's value of $(ProgramFiles) and is correctly expanded in both 32 bit and 64 bit environments.