In my project, there is a common header file shared by many source files. Usually, a modification of the header only affects several source files. I want to recompile those files manually and then let vs to link the project.
Sure, compile your C++ files only (ctrl-F7). Then link the project (right click project, then "Project only" -> Link), then run. In Options => Build And Run, make sure you specify "Prompt to build" when projects are out of date, and then choose to run instead of build. Good luck!
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My goal is to compile existing C++ classes (legacy code, stored in a set of *.h files) into a DLL so that it can be further integrated into a C# application.
For that purpose, it seems best to use MS Visual Studio. I have no experience with this environment, so I tried the naive approach found on MSDN and other SO answers:
File | New | Project from existing code
selected Visual C++
selected file location that is base for include references used in those .h files
specified a project name
let the wizard find and add all C++ files below the directory
selected "Use Visual Studio" for build, with project type "Dynamically Linked Library (DLL) project"
checked none of the checkboxes below (ATL, MFC, CLR)
specified . dir in the "Include search paths (/I)" in Debug settings
checked "Same as Debug configuration" in "Release settings"
clicked Finish button
This creates couple of VS files in the directory:
mylibrary.sln
mylibrary.vcxproj
mylibrary.vcxproj.filters
mylibrary.vcxproj.user
With a project created this way, I press F6 or select Build | Rebuild solution from the menu.
Then I expect the build to produce the .dll file somewhere, but it does not appear. Only these files appear:
.vs/mylibrary/v15/.suo
.vs/mylibrary/v15/Browse.VC.db
.vs/mylibrary/v15/Browse.VC.opendb
.vs/mylibrary/v15/ipch/AutoPCH/efad7c74cd39331b/EXAMPLE.ipch
Debug/mylibrary.log
Debug/mylibrary.tlog/mylibrary.lastbuildstate
Next, I decided to try creating a fresh new library project, just to observe the differences to get some hints, but that did not help - there were too many differences, even in the file structure...
My questions are:
is my choice of MS Visual C++ a good one for given purpose?
if so, what am I doing wrong here?
I think your steps are probably correct and I think that the right approach to use the code from a C# application. You definitely can call a C++ library from C# by importing the methods.
You missed only to export the methods that you want to use from your library. try using __declspec(dllexport) with these methods. please check this link:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/a90k134d.aspx.
Also, the output should be at the build folder, not the source code folder
Compiling .h files into libraries is ok, the compiler does not care - however, the UI does.
Still, you can tweak this by directly editing the .vcxproj file.
While doing so, make sure that the <ClCompile> sections contain:
<RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
Note that you can use commandline for building the DLL project:
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\MSBuild.exe" -target:Clean,Build
(this assumes that your current directory is the one with your .vcxproj)
I want to know how to run a specific files in source files in my project. For example, I have 2 files in my source file, Exer1, Exer2. Now, the Exer1 file is already selected as the default startup file. I want to run the Exer2, however I don't know how to do it. Or much better I could run a selected file. Is this possible? Or do I need to create a new project? Thanks.
You cannot "run a source file". Source files are compiled and linked together to make an executable. In Visual Studio, this is what a project does. Building a project will give you an executable that will run when you press F5.
Now, you can have multiple projects in a solution and they can all generate a different executable. Which one gets started when you press F5 depends on the current StartUp project. To change it, you can right-click on a project and select "Set as StartUp Project".
I am using OF in my project and I want to use some add-ons but I have to add .cpp files to my project in order to compile them. I don't like it. Is there any option so I could specify a folder to scan for source files and compile every .cpp file it finds?
I thought it might be Source Directories in VC++ Directories section but it didn't work. Then I don't really get what it does.
If you want to compile sources using Visual Studio, you will have to add them to your project.
There is nothing wrong about adding external sources to your project in a nice filter.
You can also create a makefile to be used by Visual Studio which will list sources you need.
I'm not aware of an option that does what you ask for in VS. The Source directories configuration is used for locating source files that go along with libraries that you are using in your project. This way you can use the library in its binary format without the need to recompile it every time you rebuild your project, but you can also step into its code while debugging.
I have a tool that generates most (but not all) files that need to be compiled in Visual Studio. The tool reads a configuration file and generates c++ files afterwards. This list can differ from one call to another when the configuration is altered.
I am wondering whether it would be possible to adapt the compiling process to my needs, which would be :
Launch the tool (not needed if configuration file has been modified)
Retrieve new list of C++ files to be compiled (ideally isolated in a folder inside the project)
Compile C++ files
EDIT: Having to close Visual Studio for this process to work is a no-go for me. The idea would be to have cpp files dynamically added as the first step of the compilation process.
Use a pre-build step to run your tool.
Also, create a file containing the list of includes and sources
This file name should be fixed (so that you don't have to change project properties or the vcproj file) -- add it to the project. E.g:
Project Properties > Command Line > Additional Options > #headerListingFile
You are not trying to integrate lex/yacc output with VS, are you?
Would CMake help? It's an automated project manager that generates Makefiles and VS projects for projects you define. Just add a source file, re-run CMake and you're done.
I think what you should do is create a custom makefile and use that for builds.
Please see this page for more information.
I have a project in a c++ solution. For that project, I have some config files that I would like to manage from within the project and when I build the project, have those config files added to the executable build path in the proper directory structure.
Example:
test.exe references config/myconfig.txt
Is there a way to setup myconfig.txt and my project so when I build test.exe, I get
/
as well as
//config/config.txt
so when I run test, all paths stay in the proper order without me having to go in and manually create those directories.
I'm not sure I'm making sense here, but maybe one of you will understand where I'm going.
You could use pre-build events to create the directories and copy the files.
In Visual Studio's Solution Explorer, you can right-click on the non-code files, select "Properties" and set the "Copy To Output Directory" property.
This creates a rule in the build file to (1) include the file, and (2) to copy that file as part of the build process. In other words, it's possible to get this behavior without Visual Studio, but a little more work.