I don't know if this is possible at all:
I have one project in Visual Studio express. Now I would like to create multiple executables (handy small applications) out of that project. These executables are different of course. But the entire functionality is in the source code of the project (of course). The point is: Depending on the value of one variable some functionality and buttons and so on is disabled and other is enabled.
Now I would like to iterate through all of the possible values and would like to have the corresponding executables created. I wouldn't like change the value of this variable by hand.
Best would be to have an array or so that keeps all of the values and Visual Studio iterates through this set of values to create the executables (with a specific name each).
Hopefully my description wasn't not too confusing.
Maybe my approach is completely wrong.
Does anyone know an approach to solve this?
Thank you!
Related
We have a VS2010 Solution which contains one windows form application and 4 Class Library (DLL) projects. (The class libraries are things like BusinessTier, DataTier, CommonCode, ControlLibrary) The whole thing is targeted for framework 2.0. Its been like this for three years.
Ok
So our application has grown to the point where we want to add a large new feature and marketing wants to deploy it as a separate product. Our product is used to fill in tax forms and the second product will fill in other tax forms.
We want to end up with two exe's (two install MSIs) which will be sold/installed/updated independently and could both be run at the same time on the same computer. Most of the code is in common between the two apps.
I am trying to figure out the best way to structure the solution to create the desired outcome.
1) Option one could be to create a new EXE project and several new DLL projects in the same original solution (Say in a solution folder) which have unique names,versions, guids, etc. with most of the code files as links back to the code files in the original similar DLLS. This allows us to have two completly separate systems with unique names for all the files, version numbers, etc., but allow any customization to be made to each project/dll. Is this a good idea or overkill?
2) Option two would be to create a new exe project in the solution and link to the same dlls as the first exe project. This seems simple enough, but i do not know if it is a good idea to have two projects which use the same DLLs. I do not really want to use the GAC. If we have two exe's which use the same Dll's ( even though they will be in separate application folders) with there be a problem if the DLLS have the same/different version numbers, name or GUID?
What are your ideas?
How should i restructure the solution to accommodate the new product?
Go for Option 2
There is no problem with the same Dlls with the same names. If you deploy the exes to separate folders or keep them in separate folders it will work either way.
I would even go further and look how you can break the application up further into more assemblies/dlls as it will give you even more flexibility. I would also have a single File for AssemblyInfo, and Add it as a linked file to all your projects. This means you have have a single version across all your dlls/exes.
http://vsh.infozerk.net/options/add-an-existing-file-to-a-project-without-copying-it/
autoexp.dat does not seem to take affect in Visual Studio C++ 2005 debugger.
I am not trying to add any custom rules. Just want commonly used stuff like stl::string, to display in a friendlier manner.
Does anyone know. how I can accomplish this? Is this just question of specifying a path to the autoexp.dat file somewhere. The file is available under the Visual Studio installation directory.
I had a similar problem in 2008, with the debugger showing only the e.g. std::vector _Myfirst,
_Mylast members rather than the vector size and children.
Open Tools/Options/Debugging/General and clear the flag "Show raw structure of objects in variable windows"
(Presumably the suggest
This got me the closest.
http://garrys-brain.blogspot.com/2007/12/stlport-visual-studio-2005-visualisers.html
It would appear you need to make adjustments for types while using ports.
Also you might have to make changes to the display to display exactly what you want.
I think this may have to do with the infamous VirtualStore in Windows Vista/7. I could change this in XP but when I try to update the autoexp.dat file in Win7 it creates a copy in AppData\Local\VirtualStore.... instead. I assume that the studio does read the original file when starting, so my changes are not seen. If anyone knows how to be able to edit the actual file please tell me how!
If you use Visual Studio 2008 and have many project files within solutions how do you keep them in sync? In other words, if you change a property in one project, how do you ensure that this property is automatically changed in other projects?
Given that enough contributors are mystified about the notion of nested solutions, I'll just work from the assumption you meant "solution with multiple projects". You give them common settings by using a project property sheet. Start with View + Other Windows + Property Manager. Open one of the nodes, right-click a configuration and choose Add New. Choose a location that makes sense for the solution, the solution directory for example. Configure the settings the way you want them.
Repeat this procedure for all other projects in your solution, now using Add Existing. Every project will inherit the settings you configured in the sheet, unless it overrides them explicitly. You may have to go back to the project properties and change an override back to "inherit".
IDE support for project property sheets is a bit flaky, be sure to save them explicitly when you make a change.
I have to say, I've not heard of "nested solutions", and I'd need a pretty compelling reason to do anything of this sort. Especially considering your question really centers on "how do I maintain duplication?" since you say the solutions will share properties. It's a cardinal rule in programming "do not duplicate thyself".
You could put the required options into a compiler response file, and use the same response file in each of your .vcproj files.
See here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/3te4xt0y(VS.71).aspx
Basically, you create a text file like SharedOptions.rsp, and on each line of the file specify a different command-line compiler option. Like /I.\include or /DDEFINE or whatever.
Then in the c++ command-line property page of each project, you add this in the additional options box: #"SharedOptions.rsp".
Then when you edit the options in the text file, they will be picked up by all projects. It is possible that the property manager solution provided by nobugz is just a gui for this - I don't know, I am more of a command-line kinda guy.
I guess you've already done something about this in the last 2 months, but this answer is more for the googlers...
I ended up using global variables available within Visual Studio. These were variables like $ProjectName and the like. There are many available already within VS, they can be user-defined as well.
Is there a pre build action or some compiler switch that we can add?
I have just too many projects in our solution at the moment. I want to add new modules and compile them into separate assemblies.I am looking for options where I can avoid adding new projects for each assembly.
I am using Visual Studio 2005.
Also, It will be worthwhile to know if 2008 has better features over this space.
edit #1: There are two development teams working on this project and we want to cut the modules broadly into two verticals and keep the assemblies separate so that the ongoing patches ( post release ) do not overlap with the functionality in two verticals and also the testing footprint is minimized.
Currently the solution has about 8 projects and we need to setup the structure for the second team to start development.
I do not want to end up adding 5 or 6
new projects in the solution but
rather create folders in the existing
projects so separate code for the new
team or some easy way.
No, Visual Studio is still "one project per assembly". Do you really need to have that many different assemblies?
You may be able to write your own build rules which create multiple assemblies from a single project, but I suspect it's going to lead to a world of pain where Visual Studio gets very confused.
If you could give us more details about why you want lots of assemblies, we may be able to help you come up with a different solution.
EDIT: Having read your updated question, it sounds like you would possibly be better off just working off two branches in source control, and merging into the trunk (and updating from the trunk) appropriately. Alternatively, if the two teams really are working on independent parts of the code, maybe separate projects really is the best solution.
One of the problems (IMO) with Visual Studio is that the files in the projects are listed explicitly - which means that the project files become big merge bottlenecks. I prefer the Eclipse model where any source file under a source path is implicitly included in the build (unless you explicitly exclude it).
Neither Visual Studio 2005 nor 2008 lets you create multi-file assemblies. However, you can run the C# compiler at the command line with the '/addmodule:ModuleName' switch and it'll do what you want. For general details on command line usage of csc see this article. For description of the /addmodule switch see this one.
That said, however, you're most-likely taking a non-optimal approach here. In normal situations you should not have to want to create multi-file assemblies just because you have too many projects. Give more details of your general problem so that people can offer suggestions regarding that.
I'd heed the advice you've been given thus far--if you find yourself asking such questions, there's probably a deeper design issue that's being overlooked--but if you really must do what you're suggesting be done, you have several options. You can hack the project file to allow you to compile files into separate assemblies: the project file is an msbuild file, so there's a lot you can do with it. Also, you can simply use an msbuild file for building your projects and solutions. Or you can use a different build system entirely--NAnt is one example.
The likely problem with these suggestions is that they won't be feasible for your work environment. It's no good to start hacking away at project files that other people on your team use, or to just decide that this or that solution is going to be built using your custom msbuild file. There are many good reasons to use something like a single custom msbuild file, or NAnt, to build your projects, but it's always the wrong decision if it's not made with input from everyone the decision affects.
I would like to hand edit a Visual Studio team settings file to make a few changes. Is there a documented schema anywhere (either XSD or English prose) for .vssettings files?
Could you please elaborate on what you want to edit, and why? I'd be very surprised if you came across something that isn't settable from the GUI. If you need to automate some IDE setup across multiple machines, I'd suggest IDE macros.
Technically - the answer is no. vssettings files are not validated against any schema, documented or not.
In case it isn't obvious from the element names how to achieve what you want - you might, for example, set the desired option with the GUI and diff the resulting vssettings with the initial one.
But, again, why would you want to do that?