I got a CSharp project which uses a generated source file. The sourcefile is generated as a PRE_BUILD command.
add_custom_command(
TARGET ServiceTest PRE_BUILD
COMMAND cmd.exe /c "#echo content of file > \"$(ProjectDir)sourcefile.cs\""
)
The file generated is included this way and located in the binary tree of that project:
set(SOURCE_FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/sourcefile.cs")
set_source_files_properties(${SOURCE_FILE} PROPERTIES GENERATED true)
add_executable(ServiceTest <Some other Sources> ${SOURCE_FILE})
My problem is that I can't seem to visually get the generated file into the explorer in Visual Studio. I tried reloading the project and checking the projectfile itself. Everything looks ok. The only difference is that the root folder of the source is different. I also thought of cmake not finding the file so I also tried an empty initial file. It does not work.
Does anyone have an idea how I could get Visual Studio to immediately show the generated Source?
Related
I have a solution that references multiple projects. In one of those referenced project I added the following Post-Event (to copy it's .exe file to the solution output).
xcopy /y "$(TargetName).*" "$(SolutionDir)UIBackendSSRSReports\$(OutDir)"
This works perfectly when compiling from Visual Studio, but when running from msbuild it fails (exited with code 4).
Seems like when using msbuild the values of OutDir (as well as the other macros) are different.
ex: $(OutDir)
In VS = D:\Workspace-ET\source_SSRSBackEnd\Common\BackEnd Automation\BackEndSSRSReports\UIBackendSSRSReports\bin\Debug
In msbuild = " D:\B\1\Src_PMC-QA-Automation\BackEndSSRSReports_ssrsBranch\bin\
Not sure why they are so different, any ideas? We build with a buildAgent and buildController TFS setup
I realize that similar questions were posted earlier but I need slightly different solution.
I have VS2012 C++ project A.vcxproj,that has debug1 configuration( platform x64) , and it builds corresponding .exe. It also uses a dll from other VS2012 C project B.vcxproj from a path that must be added to the environment variables. A.vcxproj.user file has following text
<LocalDebuggerEnvironment>PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\libsndfile\bin;..\..\lib\simulink\;$(LocalDebuggerEnvironment) </LocalDebuggerEnvironment>
I need to add this setting automatically to the "A"project with following constraints
I cannot export user file as it as "per user", so cannot upload to our SCM system where other users can download it.
I tried adding code in main function, something like
_putenv("PATH = ....\lib\simulink");
but this does not work, as before the main file is compiled, it needs to search for the dll from specified path, which it dosn't .
Can anyone suggest a easy, portable fix , that i could distribute to all users through SCM, along with the project file.
I have also tried following:
--Created batch file setpath.bat with following content
#ECHO %PATH% set PATH = %PATH%;C:\Program Files\libsndfile\bin;C:\dev\lib\simulink
-- added to A.vcxproj settings->build event->Pre-build->Command line
call C:\setpath.bat
and I don't see the added paths under vS op window. neither does the VS User file gets the change, and running the project complains for missing dll error.
--I tried to execute the batch file in
A.vcxproj settings->
Custom build step->Execute before "Run"
and still no result.
I guess the solution needs to add needed path to current environment variable for the time VS project is "run".
Thanks
sedy
added to A.vcxproj settings-> Build Events ->Pre-Build event
call setdllpath.bat
where the file contains the following:
#ECHO %PATH%
set COMSPEC = "%VCINSTALLDIR%\vcvarsall.bat" amd64
setx PATH "C:\Program Files\libsndfile\bin;..\..\lib\simulink"
#ECHO %PATH%
So, once I build the Project, close Visual studio and open it again, and run the files wiithin project, it picks up dll correctly.
Contents in *.vcxproj.user, *.vcxproj.user or *.props use the same xml schema so can be easily exchanged or included.
First if usefull you can add UserMacros to define the path to your libraries.
Like bellow for the following two variable
PYTHONHOME=$(USERPROFILE)\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37
PYTHONPATH=$(PYTHONHOME)\DLLs;$(PYTHONHOME)\Lib;$(PYTHONHOME)\Lib\site-packages
Edit the .vcxproj adding inside <Project>:
<Project .... >
...
<PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros">
<PYTHONHOME>$(USERPROFILE)\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37</PYTHONHOME>
<PYTHONPATH>$(PYTHONHOME)\DLLs;$(PYTHONHOME)\Lib;$(PYTHONHOME)\Lib\site-packages;</PYTHONPATH> </PropertyGroup>
...
</Project>
After you can add inside your build configuration, the following to set the $(Path) variable.
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'" Label="Configuration">
<LocalDebuggerEnvironment>Path=$(Path);$(PYTHONHOME);$(PYTHONHOME)\DLLs;$(PYTHONHOME)\Lib;$(PYTHONHOME)\Lib\site-packages;$(PYTHONHOME)\Scripts;$(PYTHONHOME);</LocalDebuggerEnvironment>
I am using Visual Studio Express 2012. Where is the location of the log file? I have searched in the folder where my solution and projects are stored, but cannot find any .log file.
This is the configuration for logging:
Log file from Visual Studio is only supported for C++ projects. You just have to work with the output window for others.
See this similar thread: VS2010: minimal build log in output and detailed log in log file
And in case you happen to do this for a C++ project, the file is at:
... build log in the intermediate files directory
... The path and name of the build log is represented by the MSBuild macro
expression, $(IntDir)\$(MSBuildProjectName).log.
Use build output instead of logging to file. Instead of copy/paste, simply click somewhere in the output and press CTRL + S to save. Visual Studio will prompt you for a location (tested with Visual Studio 2017, but I'm assuming this works in earlier versions too).
The msdn documentation is pretty clear about this (And you ain't gonna like it!):
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj651643.aspx
Where it says:
To create a build log file for a managed-code project On the menu bar,
choose Build, Build Solution.
In the Output window, highlight the
information from the build, and then copy it to the Clipboard.
Open a
text editor, such as Notepad, paste the information into the file, and
then save it.
While it's true that VS doesn't allow this directly, it is still possible to build with MSBuild "inside" VS2015 and get both the build window output and the log file, as follows: (Arguably this is a bit of a hack.)
In your VS Managed solution, add a new project (Let's call it 'Make').
a. The project type you want is Visual C++/NMake project.
Define the MSBuild commands you need on the command line (see below).
Change the solution configuration to build the NMake project instead of the normal managed projects.
This will create a project that has Build, Rebuild, and Clean command lines where you can execute MSBuild directly. For example:
Rebuild: MSBuild.exe /ds /v:diag /property:Configuration=Debug ..\BuildTest\BuildTest.csproj /t:Clean,Build
Build: MSBuild.exe /ds /v:diag /property:Configuration=Debug ..\BuildTest\BuildTest.csproj /t:Build
Clean: MSBuild.exe /ds /v:diag /property:Configuration=Debug ..\BuildTest\BuildTest.csproj /t:Clean
You can also specify multiple MSBuild.EXE command lines in order to build multiple projects. For the usual build-the-entire-solution outcome you can target only the final end assemblies and let the dependency graph generate the individual targets.
This will produce a .log file, where NAME is the name of the NMake project you used. In the example above, the log would be make.log.
A working example is available on GitHub:
https://github.com/bitblitz/VS_MsbuildExample
(Tested with VS2015)
Note that building individual projects directly will still build with the normal VS behavior, but you can build the full solution inside VS and get the build logs.
When I build a Visual Studio project, the executable is written to the output directory specified in the projects Property Page.
I have a project that has some extra files (e.g., .ini file) that are used by the program.
How can I configure the project to copy the file to the output directory so that when the program runs, it has a copy of the other file in its CWD?
I checked the Property Page of the file and there was nothing useful other than an option to exclude it from the build (which is disabled), and the custom-build-tool command is empty (plus it is a plain-text file that does not need any processing).
For copying a files to the output directory in Visual Studio 2003 you could use Post-Build event:
Right click on the project->Properties
Common Properties->Build Events
Set Post-Build Event Command Line to:
xcopy /y $(ProjectDir)my_file.ini $(ProjectDir)$(OutDir)
OK and build!
Please try select the file in Solution Explorer. Then you should be able to see its properties in Properties window (press F4 if it is not visible). You will find there two properties:
"Build Action" and
"Copy to Output Directory"
Set "Build Action" to "Content", and then - select an appropriate value for "Copy to Output Directory" setting.
File properties window with "Build Action" and "Copy to Output Directory" settings
If the way above doesn't work for you, please read this post "Copy to output directory issue with .inf file". And have a look at this one then "Visual Studio: default build action for non-default file-types"
While I was searching the file’s Property Page for a build-action field, I had a thought: set the custom build step to copy the file (manually). This turned out to be easier than I thought. I had figured it would require using cmd or other external executable (xcopy, robocopy, etc.), but that is not necessary.
I set the Custom Build Step as follows:
Command Line : copy $(InputFileName) $(OutDir)
Description : Copying foobar...
Outputs : $(InputFileName)
Setting the outputs field (correctly) was critical in order to prevent VS from always thinking the project is out of date and requiring to be rebuilt (I’m not certain if it needs to be prefixed with $(OutDir)\).
It is reflected in the Output window as such:
Copying foobar...
1 file(s) copied.
Compiling resources...
Linking...
For VS 2017 the command Dmitry Pavlov posted would be the following:
xcopy /y "$(ProjectDir)my_file.ini" "$(OutDir)"
Quotes are important in case there are spaces in the path to the project directory.
Expanding on Synetech's answer.
In VS2019 right click the file you want to copy in the Solution Explorer and select Properties. Then under General >> Item Type change to Copy File then hit Apply.
You now should have UI fields in the Properties Page for Destination etc.
In case this helps anyone, I needed to copy the output dll of the project i was building into another project.
xcopy /y "$(ProjectDir)$(OutDir)$(TargetName)$(TargetExt)"
"C:\Application\MyApplicationName\bin\x86\Debug"
/y = overwrite file if already exists
$(ProjectDir) = location on your machine where the project lives
$(OutDir) = is where your current build setup outputs the build
$(TargetName) = What the project being built is set to be called. Ex: XXX of XXX.dll
$(TargetExt) = the extension of the build Ex: .dll of XXX.dll
"C:/..../x86/Debug" is the location to copy to.
You need the extra $(OutDir). Otherwise, in the rebuild/clean step it will throw away your source.
CommandLine : copy "$(SolutionDir)last-script.js" "$(TargetDir)Debug"
Outputs : $(TargetDir)Debug\last-script.js
Improving Synetech
answer :
In VS 2013 C++ project Command Line : copy %(Identity) $(OutDir) Description : Copying foobar... Outputs : %(Identity)
It works , But it leads to circular dependency , i.e. it will be executed each time you demand increamental build, no meter it has been already copied.
To solve this , you can add that item at target folder, change path to $(OutDir), and use that in first added item as Output. Drawback - two items with similar name are in solution.
Also usefull xcopy with /d /y parameters in postbuild - copy only if target file date is older.
You could also after the unload the project (Right click on the project >> Unload Project) add the following inside an existent <ItemGroup> tag:
<Content Include="..\..\Config\db.config">
<Link>Config\db.config</Link>
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
<SubType>Designer</SubType>
</Content>
In this case it will grab the db.config file from 2 folders up and put it in the output folder(by default bin/Debug) after creating a Config folder with the db.config file inside
Since I write a command line program to check cpp files, and it need lib path and include path of those cpp files.
How can I get the include and lib path info from visual studio project? Our project uses property sheets to make up those information.
It is made up from 3 distinct sources:
Tools + Options, Projects and Solutions, VC++ Directories. In turn built up from several registry keys
the settings in your .vsprops project property sheets
the settings in your .vcproj project
The first part is the hardest, you can get it by running vc\vsvarsall.bat. The .vsprops and .vcproj files are XML, easy to parse.
If you just want to find out what the command line should look like then you can get it from the buildlog.htm file, produced when building from the IDE. Or you could use vcbuild.exe on the command line to build your project from the .vcproj file. Or you could build using devenv.exe /build.
Check out the Visual Studio project files - they're typically only XML files, so you should be able to extract out whatever you need from those, really. Just a matter of understanding and parsing your XML contents in the project file, really.