.Net Tips – use a shared AssemblyInfo.cs for your solution

So often when you are working on a solution with multiple projects you will have to change the contents of the AssemblyInfo.cs file for each project so the DLLs show the correct company, trademark, and most importantly version numbers. This is a very laborious task and chances are you might have been wondering how you can put the common settings in one file whilst leaving you free to use the AssemblyInfo.cs file in the project for project-specific settings.

Well, the solution is simple really, you can create a file, say SharedAssemblyInfo.cs, at the solution’s root directory and put all the common settings there. Then, every time you want to make use of the common settings, just right-click on your project and Add an Exiting Item…, browse to the SharedAssemblyInfo.cs, and make sure you choose to Add As Link.

Once you’re done, you will see the SharedAssemblyInfo.cs in your project, along with a shortcut label:

Now you can safely remove all the common settings from the project’s AssemblyInfo.cs!