General Property Page (File)

This topic applies to Windows projects. For non-Windows projects, see Linux C++ Property Page Reference.

When you right-click on a file node Solution Explorer, the General property page under the Configuration Properties node opens. It contains the following properties:

• Excluded From Build

  Specifies whether the file should be in the build for the current configuration.

  To programmatically access this property, see ExcludedFromBuild.

• Content (Applies to UWP apps only.) Specifies whether the file contains content to be included in the app package.

• Item Type

  The Item Type specifies the tool that will be used to process the file during the build process. Files whose extension is known to Visual Studio have a default value in this property. You can specify a custom tool here if you have a custom file type or wish to override the default tool for a known file type. For more information, see Specifying Custom Build Tools. You can also use this property page to specify that a file is not part of the build process.

  The following illustration shows the property page for a .cpp file. The default Item Type for this kind of file is the C/C++ Compiler (cl.exe) and the property page exposes various compiler settings that can be applied to this file only.

  

  The following table lists the default Item Types:

  File extension	Item Type	Default Tool
  .appx	XAML Application Definition	App packager
  .hlsl, .cso	HLSL Compiler	fxc.exe
  .h	C/C++ Header	C/C++ Preprocessor
  n/a	Does not participate in build	n/a
  .xml, .xslt, .xsl	Xml	XML Editor
  .resw, .resjson	PRI Resource (UWP Apps)	MakePri.exe
  	Media (UWP)	App packager
  .xsd	XML Data Generator Tool	XML Schema Definition Tool (Xsd.exe) (Requires .NET workload. Not included with MSVC.)
  	Manifest Tool	mt.exe
  .rc	Resource	Windows Resource Compiler (rc.exe)
  .appxmanifest	App Package Manifest	App packager
  .obj	Object	C/C++ Linker (link.exe)
  .ttf	Font	n/a
  .txt	Text	n/a
  n/a	Custom Build Tool	User-defined
  n/a	Copy file	n/a
  .packagelayout	App Package Layout	App packager
  .resx	Compiler Managed Resource	Resgen.exe (Resource File Generator)
  .natvis	C++ Debugger visualization file	Natvis framework
  .jpg, .bmp, .ico, etc.	Image	Resource compiler based on application type.
  .cpp	C/C++ Compiler	cl.exe

  To programmatically access this property, see Tool.

For information on how to access the General property page under the Configuration Properties node, see Set C++ compiler and build properties in Visual Studio.

See also

C++ project property page reference