Has the solution explorer bizarreness with folders and links been fixed? If not, is it no worse than the earlier 7.0.1417 version? Has hell frozen over yet?
Here's my plan. If the segmentation thing is fixed and the solution explorer thing is no worse, I'll try updating to the latest version, unless there is a better one.
The segmentation fault had been a minor annoyance, but today I tried a build 10 times and it faulted 10 times.
clawson 
You might want to give that some more context. Tons of people use AS7. As far as I know very few report seg faults here when using features of Solution Explorer so there must be something very specific that you do that invokes a fault if there is one. It's unlikely anyone can tell you whether that is "fixed" without being told how to recreate such a fault.
Or were we all supposed to "just know" what the "solution explorer bizarrness" means?
Sorry I mixed things up. The Solution explorer bizarreness has nothing to do with segmentation faults. I have been waiting for the bizarreness to be fixed before upgrading.
I'm surprised to hear I'm the only one that has segmentation faults. It happens a lot but usually if I try a second time, it doesn't happen.
First, the Solution explorer bizarreness. I think everyone that uses folders and links has this problem.
In the picture below, everything in the red rectangle shouldn't exist. Studio made it up. Notice the "Atmel_CDC". That's the name of the project. There is only one project. The second "Atmel_CDC" is the product of Studio's imagination. Under that, the System and USB_common folders shouldn't exist either. Both these folders exist farther down. Those farther down are the real ones. Most of the files are in those folders. A few files are in the fake folders in the red rectangle.
I think the bizarreness sets in when I add files later.
Nothing will make them go away, Well maybe an exorcism would do it.
My luck has improved. Just now I had to build 3 times before I got a segmentation fault. My best guess is it depends on the phase of the moon. It must be very very sensitive though because the moon phase doesn't change much in an hour.
I think the bizarreness sets in when I add files later.
steve17 wrote:You're the boss, you can move those files and folders anywhere you want in Project.Nothing will make them go away, Well maybe an exorcism would do it.
If you want to have files added at the Project level then right click on the project name and select add there, if you want to have files added at the Atmel_CDC level then right click on the project name and select add there, etc...
Wrong, wrong, and wrong. I add files like everyone else adds files. The only difference with the way a lot of people do it, I add them as links.
Moving them around is only temporary. The next time I load the project, the bizarreness returns.
But remember that the Solution Explorer view is not a direct view or map of the filesystem
So the segmentation fault is in the compiler - not in Atmel Studio at all.
It asks you to "submit a full bug report" - have you done that?
It's a bit rich to whinge about a problem when you haven't bothered to report it - when specifically asked ...
It says it's building .cpp files but invoking the C (not C++) compiler - is that right?
When I add a file, everything looks normal. It's when I reload the project that the bizarreness happens.
Someone at Atmel said this fix was on their todo list. That was many moons ago. I've been waiting for this fix, or for hell to freeze over, for a long time. I'd appreciate it if someone would pm me when either happens. 
like I said, the Solution Explorer view is not a direct view or map of the filesystem.
That's a Visual Studio thing - not specific to Atmel.
It must use the C++ compiler. Any file that ends with .cpp uses it.
I've been hoping someone else would report it. It happens all the time. It may be only the C++ compiler has the bug. I guess most of you retards are using Cobol or something. 
Okay, I'll try to report it. The instructions say:
So I went there and all I got was some a-hole laughing at me.
like I said, the Solution Explorer view is not a direct view or map of the filesystem.
That's a Visual Studio thing - not specific to Atmel.
Visual Studio uses what they call filters, not folders. There are no folders involved.
Did you take them up on the coupon offer?
No. Do you want to use it?
I have gotten no emails for anything posted here. I do get an email when I post to someone else's thread.
I think this has been mentioned by others. Is there another dead link where I can complain? 
No. Do you want to use it?
I would offer to have you zip up the project and share it with me, but since you use links I would have to create a similar structure to simulate where your files are coming from. If it's no to complicated I could try it if you like, up to you.
Actually, I have a compact small project here suitable for export.
I zipped it and moved it to another location where I unzipped it. Now the Solution Explorer doesn't look bizarre. I built it 20 times and never got the segmentation error although I did get it at least once earlier in the day. I did get the segmentation error on another bigger project after building a few times.
However it should be easy to get the bizarre thing. Here's what I did. I went into the USB_common folder and removed, but not deleted, the usb_user.cpp file. Now it won't build of course. I think I closed and reopened the project at this point. Then I used "add as link" to put it back to where it had been. Everything looks normal. Now close and reopen the solution. You should find a new "project" has been added inside the real project, and a new USB_common folder has been created, and the usb_user.cpp file is in there.
I'm sending you the zip file, actually a 7zip file as an attachment. I had to append .txt to the zip file name for this forum to accept it. If you prefer a classical .zip file, I can give you that too.
Hi Steve, you need to go one folder higher so that I have the .atsln file, project folder, and the topmost .vs folder. Folder looks somewhat like this;
I just downloaded it. Then I removed the .txt. Then I used 7zip to do a "extract here". That got me a folder called Simple_usb_cdc_2. When I looked inside, I saw this:
I'll post a regular old .zip file soon.
Here's a .zip file.
Yeah, my first extraction didn't work, tried it a second time and it worked, sorry to put you through the extra effort. Here are the results of my findings;
What you call a "new project inside the real project" is not that at all. It is apparently Atmel Studio's strange way of indicating where the linked files are in the hierarchy of the project. I do think it is strange that they are not just displayed in the lower USB_common folder, but it did not impact the build in any way whatsoever. I removed that file link and added it back in as a normal file and it put it back where it was originally, though it did leave behind the added project folder structure that was created when the file was added as a link. Same things occurred when I removed usb.cpp fro the USB_CDC section and added it back in as a link.
Strange that if you add it as a link to the project itself, as opposed to adding it to the USB_common section, it was added below main.c. Sloppy happenings, to say the least.
Conclusion, Bizarre!
But it still seems that it is something to do with the way this project was set up. I tried to get the same things to happen by testing projects on my computer and the linked files were placed into the correct folders every time. Not sure what is happening yet. I'll try setting up a clean version of your project later and get back to you.
In the meantime you shouldn't worry too much about it, the project still builds fine.
EDIT: see next post
I had forgotten to close and reopen the sessions on my project when testing, rough day.
Let me reiterate, Conclusion, Bizarre! Steve, if it really bothers you, then initiate a support ticket or just yell "MICROCHIP"! I don't know if bizarreness being the strange way linked files are displayed in AS7 counts as a real bug though.
rossh_af This very annoying bug exists in my AS7 as well.
My projects access a common folder where I put re-usable components. The common folder is located above and outside the project root. I "Add existing" them to the project using the "Add as link".
If I "Unload project" to close it out, and then "Reload project", then AS7 will redefined all my folder and project file structure into something un-usable and duplicated, and in-compilable
This below is the actual BUG in the .cproj file, where the AS7 saves an invalid entry, only to make a big mess when it gets reloaded;
BAD:
<Compile Include="..\common\components\tft20.h">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>\<THE_PROJECT_FOLDER>\src\components\tft20.h</Link>
</Compile>
correct:
<Compile Include="..\common\components\tft20.h">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>src\components\tft20.h</Link>
</Compile>
Some one give me the proper place to report this, and I'll do it please.
.
rossh_af, is the file tft20.h in both project folders \<THE_PROJECT_FOLDER>\src\components and src\components ?
EDIT: Your compile issues are probably something else and not the effect of having the linked file.
EDIT: The middle include here is where my linked file resides at and the project builds just fine.
<Compile Include="src\driver_init.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="src\osc.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\osc.c</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="src\pmic.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
</Compile>
EDIT: Note the project folder structure below, the linked file is shown in its own folder, but the path is to where the file resides in the src\ folder;
rossh_af The source file is in the external folder ONLY. The project tree structure includes a matching folder structure, but with no actual files in them.
real file:
C:\Files\AtmelStudio\Projects\<solution name>\common\components\tft20.h
project real tree:
C:\Files\AtmelStudio\Projects\<solution name>\<project name>\src\components\ [empty]
The"link as" will put tft20.h file name link into the projects src\components\ tree location, which is correct.
But because of the <Link> save error with the confused path, when I reopen the project, it all turns into a giant mess of duplicated tree structures. Trying to edit it within AS7, makes it double duplicated.
The above fix to the <Link>, is how it worked in AS6 without issue. It works in AS7 this way, without issue too. But AS7 changed the way it saved <Link> data, and screwed it all up.
***********
Under my project file structure, AS7 will do this:
Displays BOTH:
\src\components\
\src\<project name>\src\components\
and if you try to wrestle it back into shape.....
\src\<project name>\src\components\
\src\<project name>\src\<project name>\src\components\
See my edits above. I really feel your case is slightly different that the original problem being discussed here.
Try to run a Clean Solution, found in the Build drop down menu, followed by a Build Solution and see if that fixes things.
If that doesn't work, the I suggest that you start over and make your project anew. I've found that has corrected many problems with stubborn project structures and build errors.
and if you try to wrestle it back into shape.....
I do recommend that you start over and just let AS7 take care of the magic.
rossh_af No. the issue is they made a change in AS7 to the way they saved <Link> data, and screwed it up..... A manual edit of the .cproj every time fixes it each time a new file is added, but its very tedious.
The difference from the OP problem and mine is I have one extra folder name in the middle, but the AS7 making the same duplication of the tree, and a giant phony broken tree Solution structure.
There is nothing to fix in my project. The only way it works with outside Links, is to have a one top folder only structure with everything thrown in the project root, and the only reason that works is because AS can't save invalid extra paths into its <Link> data when it reloads.
I do recommend that you start over and just let AS7 take care of the magic.
I have dozens on old and new projects... AS7 is a screw up, that needs this bug fixed.
The most important factor being missed here is that there is a solution folder and within that solution folder is the project folder and those folders have the same name.
When you add a linked file to the project, the Solution Explorer shows that file name in a folder path based on the solution folder, not based on the project folder.
Thus the appearance that there is an extra folder in the project. The file names are actual links and the Full Path to the file can be seen in the file properties.
There is no bug here to report, as far as I am concerned this case is closed.
EDIT: more succinct
Rossh_af, when you open the AS6.2 projects, do you get a pop up like this, and do you select "Migrate the current project to the component infrastructure (Recommended)" and click on upgrade?
rossh_af Your post has been deleted because of your insulting and offensive attitude, both of which are not allowed on this website.
I am sure that you are capable of being civil in both explaining your coding issue and evaluating suggested solutions.
We are all volunteers here.... not employees. We have next to zero influence with the owners of the Microchip/Atmel products and software resources. There is no benefit to be gained by being abusive.
Please moderate your tone or risk being sanctioned by one of the moderators. We strive to keep the discourse civil; your efforts would be appreciated also.
Ross
Moderator
Moving right along, AS7 is not screwing up anything, and I will try to make you see that in the following very detailed explanation. We both are not beginners, so let's show some professional courtesy to one another. You were mistaken if you thought I was insulting you, I was only trying to help.
FULL DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Microchip, yet!
I have a solution, XMEGAA1U_SPI0, and in that solution is the project XMEGAA1U_SPI0. These are the steps I followed to create the screenshots and explanation that follows below.
1. Removed, but did not delete, everything in the src folder.
2. Moved everything that was originally in the src folder to a different folder, TestLinkFileFolder, external to my solution folder.
3. Right clicked on the src folder, selected add, add as link all of the files in the external TestLinkFileFolder. The linked files then appeared in the src folder as seen below. Note the Full Path showing in the bottom right of the screenshot. The file name entry in the src folder is a link to the file in the external TestLinkFileFolder.
4. Unloaded and Reloaded the project, as I had been doing all along. The linked files then appeared in the [projectname]src folder as seen below. Again note the Full Path showing in the bottom right of the screenshot, same as the one above. The file name entry in the [projectname]src folder is a link to the file in the external TestLinkFileFolder.
It is pretty obvious that AS7 chooses this method to display the linked files. But the fact of the matter is that the files are at the location that I specified, they are links to that location, they are not duplicated in the solution folder, and my file still builds fine as shown below.
All in all, I think it is a misunderstanding of how AS7 works that has you and Steve thinking AS7 is broken. It may not display the way you want it too, and I already said above that it was strange that it does display it this way, but there is no error. I see no need for you to manually correct the links in the .cprog files. They correctly point to the linked files as shown by the Full Path above.
If you want, create and zip up a new project that you think to have bad links, post it here, and I will review it for you. Free of charge!
EDIT: For completeness, here is the relevant section in XMEGAA1U_SPI0.cproj;
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\clk.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\clk.c</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\driver_init.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\driver_init.c</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\osc.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\osc.c</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\pmic.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\pmic.c</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\protected_io.S">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\protected_io.S</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\sleep.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\sleep.c</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\spi_basic.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\spi_basic.c</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\tc.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\tc.c</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="..\..\TestLinkFileFolder\usart_basic.c">
<SubType>compile</SubType>
<Link>XMEGAA1U_SPI0\src\usart_basic.c</Link>
</Compile>
I should have made it clear that the bizarreness doesn't affect the project. It still builds but just looks bizarre. It did take me a while though to figure out that no damage is being done.
If you like bizarreness, maybe Atmel would make it an option in the project properties. There could be a box you can check labelled Bizarre solution explorer. I would suggest the default be bizarre OFF.
I just got a segmentation fault for the project I uploaded here.
Does anyone know how to report this problem?
I'm using gcc version 4.6.2. AVR Toolchain 3.4.0_663. If there is a newer one, I might try it.
I have this in the project's C++ Compiler Miscellaneous section:
-std=gnu++11
theusch 
If you like bizarreness, maybe Atmel would make it an option in the project properties. There could be a box you can check labelled Bizarre solution explorer. I would suggest the default be bizarre OFF.
It appears to me that you might need to substitute "Microsoft" for the no-longer-existing "Atmel" in that, as a Google search [out of curiosity] for "studio linked files shown twice in solution explorer" uncovers similar discussions on VisualStudio operation back to at least VS2010...
https://superuser.com/questions/...
https://social.msdn.microsoft.co...
https://github.com/aspnet/Toolin...
...
I've been using Visual Studio since 1998 and it hasn't happened to me.
I've updated Visual Studio over the years but I'm still using the same Source Safe archiver. Check out the dates on these files.
rossh_af
Example project, with instructions included..... uses AVR tiny as a sample.. . attached.
Demonstrates how "Linking" is broken, and shows how to fix it (like it used to work in AS6, and still does in all MS VS).
rossh_af Your post has been deleted because of your insulting and offensive attitude, both of which are not allowed on this website.
I am sure that you are capable of being civil in both explaining your coding issue and evaluating suggested solutions.
We are all volunteers here.... not employees. We have next to zero influence with the owners of the Microchip/Atmel products and software resources. There is no benefit to be gained by being abusive.
Please moderate your tone or risk being sanctioned by one of the moderators. We strive to keep the discourse civil; your efforts would be appreciated also.
Ross
Moderator
And I'm not doing this to be insulted by your volunteers either...... or treated like an idiot beginner.... I suggest you memo your people to stop it.
* Have it your own way. You were asked nicely and ignored the request. *
Example project, with instructions included..... uses AVR tiny as a sample.. . attached.
Demonstrates how "Linking" is broken, and shows how to fix it (like it used to work in AS6, and still does in all MS VS).
But again, if you reread my last post and look at the screenshots very carefully, you will see that despite the fact that AS7 displays the linked filenames differently in the Solution Explorer tree than Visual Studio does, the actual file being linked to is at the exact location that you specified. While it may be a little disturbing for you to see the Solution Explorer tree displayed like this, know that it has absolutely no effect on the code being built. Therefore my earlier statement that you really don't need to edit the .cproj file. In your case you are manually doing it to correct the placement of the linked filenames in the Solution Explorer tree to fit what you are used to seeing visually ala Visual Studio and AS6.2.
Now, if you really want Microchip to address this issue, register at the Microchip support site and start a support ticket yourself. http://www.microchip.com/wwwregister/default.aspx?ReturnURL=http://www.microchip.com/support/hottopics.asp
In conclusion, I ask you to please stop maligning me and the other good people at this forum, your earlier post was especially crude and demeaning and was not at all deserved, I'll let the moderators decide on your last post.
I'm out.
theusch I've been using Visual Studio since 1998 and it hasn't happened to me.
So all the hits that I saw as the result of the Google search are all Fake News? Must be a conspiracy.
I suggest you memo your people to stop it.