Solutions as Containers
Solutions manage the way sets of related projects are grouped together. A solution can include just one project, or several projects built jointly by a development team. A complex database application might even require multiple solutions.
Solutions allow you to concentrate on developing your projects, instead of sorting through all the details of managing project files, scripts, and connections. Each Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio solution allows you to:
Work on multiple projects within the same instance of a SQL Server Management Studio.
Work on related items that apply to a particular project.
Manage miscellaneous files opened outside the context of a solution or project.
Control source files.
SQL Server Management Studio automatically generates a solution when you create a new project. You can then add other projects to the solution as needed. You can also create blank solutions without projects, as a way to use the designers to modify stand-alone files.
To help you manage the projects and files in a solution, Solution Explorer provides a tree view of the entire solution.
SQL Server Management Studio stores the definition for a solution in two files: a solution definition (.sqlsln) file and a solution user options (.sqlsuo) file.
The solution definition file stores the metadata defining your solution, including the list of projects that are associated with the solution.