.slnx solution containing a project that imports a .projitems is always dirty in VS — save writes a byte-identical file, prompt returns on every open

[ritchiecarroll]

Summary

A .slnx solution containing a project that imports a shared-items file (<Import Project="…\X.projitems" Label="Shared" />) is marked dirty by Visual Studio on every open. Saving — including File → Save Solution As — writes a byte-identical file (SHA-256 verified), and the save prompt returns on the next open, indefinitely.

This is consistent with VS's shared-items bookkeeping (persisted in classic .sln as GlobalSection(SharedMSBuildProjectFiles)) having no representation in the .slnx format: the in-memory model always differs from the parsed file, while the serializer has nothing to write for the difference. The .shproj itself need not be in the solution — an importing project alone triggers it.

Versions

• Visual Studio 2022 Community 17.14.37502.11
• Microsoft.VisualStudio.SolutionPersistence 1.0.52 (NuGet latest, and the identical copy VS ships in PrivateAssemblies, FileVersion 1.0.52.6595)

Minimal repro (4 files)

Repro.slnx

<Solution>
  <Project Path="Lib/Lib.csproj" />
</Solution>

Lib/Lib.csproj

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <Import Project="..\Shared\Shared.projitems" Label="Shared" />
</Project>

Shared/Shared.projitems and Shared/SharedClass.cs (full contents)

Shared/Shared.projitems

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <MSBuildAllProjects Condition="'$(MSBuildVersion)' == '' Or '$(MSBuildVersion)' &lt; '16.0'">$(MSBuildAllProjects);$(MSBuildThisFileFullPath)</MSBuildAllProjects>
    <HasSharedItems>true</HasSharedItems>
    <SharedGUID>a1b2c3d4-0000-4000-8000-000000000001</SharedGUID>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Label="Configuration">
    <Import_RootNamespace>Shared</Import_RootNamespace>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)SharedClass.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Shared/SharedClass.cs

namespace Shared
{
    internal static class SharedClass
    {
        public static int Answer => 42;
    }
}

Steps: open Repro.slnx in VS → let it load → close the solution → VS prompts to save Repro.slnx. Accept: the file is rewritten with identical bytes. Reopen: same prompt. (Confirmed against exactly these files.)

Evidence the on-disk file is already canonical

• A load→save round-trip through SolutionPersistence 1.0.52 reproduces both this file and a 654-project real-world .slnx byte-for-byte.
• VS Save Solution As on the dirty solution produces a SHA-256-identical file.
• Bisected across ten probe solutions: a <Configurations> block, solution folders with and without explicit Ids, and self-closing intermediate folders all open clean; the only trigger found is a project importing a .projitems. Removing only the Label="Shared" import line from an otherwise-identical project makes the solution open clean.
• For contrast, classic .sln persists this bookkeeping (SharedMSBuildProjectFiles), so after one save such a solution reopens clean.

Expected

Either the format/model round-trips shared-items bookkeeping (an element analogous to SharedMSBuildProjectFiles), or VS does not flag the solution dirty for state the serializer will never persist.

Context

Found in ritchiecarroll/go2cs, where both solutions contain two projects importing a shared Symbols project — every open prompts. Happy to provide more detail or test candidate fixes.