I am trying to re-use a generic database selection form between two projects by pulling the *.cs and *.resx files into another directory and then having both projects use those files.

Unfortunately, having done this, I can't work out how to include this form in both my projects.

If I "Add > Existing Item..." to my project it simply copies the files into my project directory.

I tried hacking the *.csproj file as follows:

Before:
<File
    RelPath = "ServerSelectForm.cs"
    SubType = "Form"
    BuildAction = "Compile"
/>
<File
    RelPath = "ServerSelectForm.resx"
    DependentUpon = "ServerSelectForm.cs"
    BuildAction = "EmbeddedResource"
/>


After:
<File
    RelPath = "..\_Common\DatabaseSelectorForm\DatabaseSelectorForm.cs"
    SubType = "Form"
    BuildAction = "Compile"
/>
<File
    RelPath = "..\_Common\DatabaseSelectorForm\DatabaseSelectorForm.resx"
    DependentUpon = "..\_Common\DatabaseSelectorForm\DatabaseSelectorForm.cs"
    BuildAction = "EmbeddedResource"
/>


If I do that Visual Studio doesn't like that -- it ignores those entries, doesn't load the form, and, upon saving the project, simply strips them out of the new project file!


I strongly suspect that my whole approach to code re-use is a bit "vb6" -- could someone enlighten me to the 'proper' way to do this?

(I was trying to avoid going all-out and compiling the form into a standalone DLL as I think that would be overkill.)


Thanks in advance.