How to Create Arduino Projects In Visual Studio

by Visual Micro 13. January 2014 11:25

Tips - Opening and creating sketch projects

The easiest way to create a project is to use "File>New>Sketch Project". If you have a solution open already then click "File>Close Solution" before doing so otherwise a 2nd project containing the new Sketch will be added into the current solution. Newer users often find it easier to use one solution per project in the early days of using Visual Studio

To open an existing sketch use "File>Open>Sketch Project". Again close the solution first if open.

Once you become more familiar with Visual Studio you will find there are lots of other ways to open sketches. For example, with the solution closed (an empty Visual Studio Ide) click File>Open>File and navigate to any Arduino sketch then click to open a .pde/.ino. The addin will detect the Arduino sketch and ask you if you want to create a new sketch project. or if a project already exists it will ask you if you want to open it.

Advanced users can simply create a normal empty Visual Studio Win32 C++ project and add a .ino of the same name. Visual Micro will kick in and provide Arduino functionality as normal.

The only rules are the Arduino rule which state that an Arduino sketch must contain a .ino file of the same name as the folder. In Visual Studio the project must also have the same name as the folder and the .ino

So, in summary, the special "Sketch" menu items created by Visual Micro are the best for newer users of Visual Studio. These menu items are also aware of the "SketchBook" folder so position file explorers to where Arduino projects are normally saved.