Build from command line in Codegear 2009 IDE - makefile

Is it possible to automagically generate a MAKEFILE from the Codegear 2009 IDE? Or build a project from the command line?

No, but depending on your objective, you may be able to do what you want. If you simply want to do a build from a command line, this is possible. Because CB2009 uses msbuild, you can drive a build which uses all the same options and settings as an IDE build. There is a rsvars.bat file which sets all the environment variables you need and a shortcut to this batch file installed in the start menu called "RAD Studio Command Prompt" Once those are set, you can then call:
msbuild yourProjectFile.cbproj
This can then be integrated into a make system, continuous integration tool, or other automation.

Related

Why building project using msbuild is way slower than using visual studio IDE?

I'm trying to use the msbuild to build visual studio project using command line.
I used this commands
SET VCTargetsPath=C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V120
msbuild.exe ../../../embedded/ports/visualC12/config-from-host.vcxproj
/p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=Win32 /t:rebuild
Using IDE : it took around 2 min
Using cmdline: it took around 20 min
In command line it looks like it build a lot of projects that are not built in the IDE
Any suggestions?
In command line it looks like it build a lot of projects that are not built in the IDE Any suggestions?
That because you are using the property /t:rebuild in your command.
This switch performs the same function as the Rebuild Solution menu command within the integrated development environment (IDE)-will clean and then build the solution from scratch, ignoring anything it's done before. So MSBuild will build all projects regardless of whether them were built before or not.
When you build projects in IDE with build option ranther than Rebuild, it will perform an incremental build: if it doesn't think it needs to rebuild a project, it won't. It may also use partially-built bits of the project if they haven't changed. That is the reason for a lot of projects build in command line but are not built in the IDE.
To make the build faster, you can change the property to /t:build in command line or select rebuild option when you build in IDE.
Besides, there are many factors that affect the speed of building, for example, parallel. When we build multiple projects in IDE, the default value of parallel is 8, Tools->options->Projects and Solutions->Build and Run:
MSBuild command line is also support parallel, /maxcpucount Switch
msbuild.exe myproj.proj /maxcpucount:3
So when you compare the build speed between the command line and the IDE, you have to make sure that all the relevant settings are the same for command line and IDE.
Hope this helps.

Obtain visual studio generated build command

I want to create a batch file for building releases of a multi-solution software. What I am curious about how may I obtain the exact MSBuild command that Visual Studio executes when I click on "Rebuild Solution"?
It is equivalent to
MsBuild /t:Rebuild /p:Configuration=<config>;Platform=<platform>
although VS actually generates a temporary msbuild file from the solution and then builds that. You get the file by setting an MSBuildEmitSolution environment variable:
open a VS command window
enter set MSBuildEmitSolution=1
enter devenv to open a VS instance within that command window so it uses the MSBuildEmitSolution environment variable
open and build your solution

Batch Builds in Visual Studio 6 for VC++ project

In VS 2008 and VS 2010, one can easily create a solution and modify the "Solution Configuration". We can choose what configuration each project gets built in when we trigger a build at the solution level.
Is such a facility available in the Visual Studio 6.0?
In my experience:
when a configuration is chosen (form the list available) in VS6 for a VC++ project, the dependencies (which themselves have multiple configurations defined) get built in some random order. There is no way to control the configurations of dependencies at build time.
"Batch Build" does come close to this but is not as flexible for my purpose.
I have tried various options in the VS6.
Hope I am clear.
Here is a link on the MSDEV command line.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa699274(v=vs.60).aspx
There is a way to control the building of dependencies. Specify /NORECURSE and dependencies will not be built.
I use /REBUILD with /NORECURSE to keep the dependencies from getting built.
And I build each project one at a time inside the workspace in a bat file by doing a chdir to the subdirectory and calling MSDEV just for that subproject:
msdev myproject.dsp /MAKE "myproject - Win32 Debug" /REBUILD /NORECURSE > Build.log
Then I cd to the next project directory one at a time.
On a side note, I had difficulties for several years where NMAKE would not work for my specific tasks. Turns out that the PATH environment variable inside MSDEV (Visual Studio 6.0) is different from the PATH environment variable of a command shell you would run NMAKE on.
The Path used by the MSDEV shell is the %PATH% at the time Visual Studio 6 was installed. We use this and poke the registry as needed for MSDEV to get the correct path setup when switching revisions of our software; however this doesn't help update the %PATH%. The MSDEV path can be queried with a query script. I don't have my example handy.
That is why builds in MSDEV sometimes work when builds using the command line don't, as the path to DLLs differ, and any custom build steps that run .exe will not work outside of the MSDEV environment unless the path is updated.
I have a script somewhere that reads the queries the registry to extract the MSDEV path and update PATH of a shell so that batch scripts doing nmake will work as they would inside the MSDEV shell environment. The problem with the REGISTRY QUERY is that the return arguments differ with different flavors of Windows (XP/SERVER2003/...).
One thing I just discovered is that Incredibuild works with the old VS6.0 MSDEV IDE. This is a game changer. It distributes builds. I'm evaluating it now, but it might be useful to anyone waiting for long VS6.0 builds.

Env vars for Visual Studio command prompt

I'm doing an RDP into a machine that has just the CLR installed, and doesn't have Visual Studio on it. Can I somehow load all the Visual Studio-specific environment variables on to the regular command prompt and convert it into the VS command prompt so that I'm able to build my projects via command line?
I looked at the vcvarsall.bat file. That calls the appropriate processor-specific batch file. Couldn't get any inputs from there.
Short of installing all VS, or tracing thru all the various batch files to find out what's getting set, you may be able to simply capture the env vars that are set.
Open up a VS command prompt, and run set > vars.bat
Then open up vars.bat, and put a set command in front of each line.
Not sure how much this will help, since you're going to be missing all the utilities that come with Visual Studio, but it does answer your question.
I don't recommend trying to copy only what you need. You'll need other header files, libraries, dlls, etc... You can instead install VS express edition.
If you are trying to debug a problem you can use remote debugging in Visual Studio or use WinDbg on the computer.

How can i debug in visual studio as command line?

I hav my execuatable produced by command line building.
I want to debug it in command line itself as like as gdb does in linux.
Also i want run my program in Visual studio GUI from command line options..
How can i do that?
Make sure it is compiled in the debug version. Run the program. Then "Attach to Process" from VS tools menu.
You can also specify the runtime options when running the debugger (it's in the project properties).
I don't think that VS has a pure command line mode, but you could use CDB/NTSD.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc266320.aspx
It is what lots of developers at MS do.

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