What is app.aps file in Visual C++?

Question

I just discovered a misterious file in my (new) Visual Studio 2012 C++/CLI project: app.aps.

I can find no reference on the internet about it. What is it meant for? Can I safely delete it? It seems so. Should I ignore or include in my commits to source version control?

Solution 1

It's a generated file for designer efficiency, you can ignore it in source control:

File created by Microsoft Visual C++, a software development application; stores the binary representation of a resource included with the project; enables the application to load resources more quickly.

http://fileinfo.com/extension/aps

Solution 2

APS files are the binary versions of resource files. As resource editor does not directly read the .rc and resource.h files, the resource compiler turns them into the APS file.

Reference - Files Affected by Resource Editing

Comments

[Aisah Hamzah]

Much clearer than the original answer. Also, worthwhile to add, this happens in any kind of project. If you have *.rc files in, say, a C#, VB or F# project, and you open them in VS 2017/2019, a new file will appear with the same name and the aps extension. If deleted, it will be autogenerated next time you open the *.rc file.