[2005] Adding Documentation To Solution

[agmorgan]

I have a set of user requirements in the form of a Word document.
Should I just place this in the solution directory and add it to the solution with 'Add Existing Item' or is there a proper way to add documentation to your project?

[ComputerJy]

If you mean besides documenting the code, no VS doesn't provide much more

[jmcilhinney]

If the doco is for the solution then add it to the solution. If it's for a project then add it to the project. The advantage with adding it to a project is that you can set its Build Action property to Content, then when you create an installer for your app you just select a project output and add the Content files for your project. That means that each time you build your setup all files marked as Content will be compiled into it. If you add or remove Content files the setup will update automatically with each build without you having to manually add or remove individual files. If you add the doco to the solution then you don't get that and you'll have to specifically add that file to the Setup project.

Also, Word is not the ideal format to be using. Not everyone wil have Word installed, even if it's likely that most will either have it or a compatible application. It's better to use a more universal file format. CHM or RTF are good because all Windows systems can read them. PDF is also good as the reader is free and you can provide it on the CD with your app for those who don't already have it.