Any forms/user controls added to a project after the VS2005 release are broken into partial classes.
The Designer.cs part of the class contains the InitalizeComponent method, the dispose method, and the control declerations. This makes the forms easier to work with.
When upgrading an old VS2003 project to 2005 it doesn’t automatically break up this code. The old VS2003 forms and user controls can be updated to pull this code out so they’re easier to work with too.
Step #1 Check out the form
Step # 2 Create a copy of the file and rename one of the files to end with Designer.cs
Step #3 Open the files in VS2005 outside of the project. Just open the files directly.
From the Form.CS file remove the InitializeComponent(), dispose, and control declarations
From the From.Designer.CS file remove everything BUT the InitializeComponent(), dispose, and control declerations
*Note that the designer file doesn’t need the using statements.
Step #4 Set the class as a partial class
The designer file
From the cs file
Step #5 Reopen the project. Right click on the designer file and select Include In Project.
Step #6 Do a Rebuild
Step #7 Makes sure the form designer opens
This does checkout the project file remember to turn the project file in when done.
This refactoring makes the cs files smaller which makes them faster and easier to work with in VS