[!INCLUDE[ssManStudioFull](../../includes/ssmanstudiofull_md.md)] uses different file types than [!INCLUDE[msCoName](../../includes/msconame_md.md)] [!INCLUDE[ssBIDevStudioFull](../../includes/ssbidevstudiofull_md.md)] or [!INCLUDE[msCoName](../../includes/msconame_md.md)] Visual Studio. This means you cannot open a [!INCLUDE[ssManStudioFull](../../includes/ssmanstudiofull_md.md)] solution in [!INCLUDE[ssBIDevStudioFull](../../includes/ssbidevstudiofull_md.md)] or in Visual Studio. [!INCLUDE[ssManStudioFull](../../includes/ssmanstudiofull_md.md)] solution files allow Solution Explorer to display a graphical interface for managing your files.

|Extension|File type|Description|Created by|

|-------------|-------------|---------------|--------------|

|.ssmssln|[!INCLUDE[ssManStudioFull](../../includes/ssmanstudiofull_md.md)] Solution Object|Provides the environment with references to the location on disk of [!INCLUDE[msCoName](../../includes/msconame_md.md)] [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion_md.md)] projects, project items, and solution|[!INCLUDE[ssManStudioFull](../../includes/ssmanstudiofull_md.md)]|

In the same way that solutions contain solution files that manage objects in a solution, projects contain project files. The type of project file that [!INCLUDE[ssManStudioFull](../../includes/ssmanstudiofull_md.md)] creates for a project depends on the template used to create the project. The following table describes the type of file created for each project.

|Extension|Project template|

|-------------|--------------------|

|.ssmssqlproj|[!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion_md.md)] Scripts Project|

|.ssmsasproj|[!INCLUDE[ssASnoversion](../../includes/ssasnoversion_md.md)] Scripts Project|

By default, solution-level files are created in the physical directory of the first project that is created with the solution. You can specify a directory for the solution by creating a solution, or you can specify the directory when you create a new project.

If you have a directory structure similar to the logical structure shown in Solution Explorer, project and solution files are easier to locate and share with other developers on a team.

[Manage Files with Encoding](../../ssms/solution/manage-files-with-encoding.md)

[Miscellaneous Files](../../ssms/solution/miscellaneous-files.md)

[Solution Explorer](../../ssms/solution/solution-explorer.md)

[Solutions (SQL Server Management Studio)](../../ssms/solution/solutions-sql-server-management-studio.md)

[Projects (SQL Server Management Studio)](../../ssms/solution/projects-sql-server-management-studio.md)

[Solution Explorer Source Control](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173879.aspx)