Trying to build GDAL from github using Visual Studio 2019 v16.6.5 on Windows 10 x64 - c++

Question

I want to use Visual Studio 2019 to build GDAL. But I keep getting errors when trying to build.
The computer I'm using is Acer Aspire f 15 F5573G-72CP,
CPU is i7 7500U 2.7GHz, RAM is 16GB, OS is Windows 10 64 bit
Steps I've taken are:
Download Visual Studio Community, included .NET desktop development, Universal Windows Platform development, Desktop development with C++ and Node.js development.
Used GIT BASH from git for windows to pull the repo https://github.com/OSGeo/GDAL.git and located it c:/gdal
in c:/gdal/GDAL/nmake.opt:
3.a. changed line 42 to Line 42: MSVC_VER=1926
3.b. I uncommented line 260:
Line 259: # PROJ stuff (required dependency: PROJ >= 6)
Line 260: PROJ_INCLUDE = -Id:\install-proj\local\include
3.c. Uncommented line 213: Line 213: WIN64=YES
Also pulled the repo: https://github.com/OSGeo/PROJ.git located at c:/proj/PROJ
Using Windows Powershell, cd c:/gdal/gdal -> generate_vcxproj.bat 16.0 64 gdal_vs2019
which outputs the following:
PS C:\gdal\gdal> .\generate_vcxproj.bat 16.0 64 gdal_vs2019
The system cannot find the path specified.
Generating:
"C:\gdal\gdal\gdal_vs2019.vcxproj"
"C:\gdal\gdal\gdal_vs2019.vcxproj.user"
"C:\gdal\gdal\gdal_vs2019.vcxproj.filters"
"C:\gdal\autotest\cpp\gdal_vs2019_test.vcxproj"
"C:\gdal\autotest\cpp\gdal_vs2019_test.vcxproj.user"
"C:\gdal\autotest\cpp\gdal_vs2019_test.vcxproj.filters"
This might take a little while...
Projects done!
Launch Visual Studio IDE
* Open project "C:\gdal\gdal\gdal_vs2019.vcxproj"
* Add project "C:\gdal\autotest\cpp\gdal_vs2019_test.vcxproj"
* Configure Build Dependencies to build the main project before the test project.
* Save solution in .sln file
Done!
PS C:\gdal\gdal>
Open Visual Studio 2019, open a project or solution, select C:\gdal\gdal\gdal_vs2019.vcxproj, ensure Solution Platforms dropdown is set to x64, Build->Build Solution, which returns three errors:
Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State
Error U1077 'call' : return code '0x1' gdal_vs2019 C:\gdal\gdal\NMAKE 1
Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State
Error U1077 '"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.26.28801\bin\HostX86\x64\nmake.EXE"' : return code '0x2' gdal_vs2019 C:\gdal\gdal\NMAKE 1
Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State
Error MSB3073 The command "chcp 65001 >NUL && nmake -f makefile.vc MSVC_VER=1926 WIN64=1 DEBUG=1 WITH_PDB=1" exited with code 2. gdal_vs2019 C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v160\Microsoft.MakeFile.Targets 46
The Output tab shows:
1>------ Build started: Project: gdal_vs2019, Configuration: Debug x64 ------
1>
1>Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility Version 14.26.28806.0
1>Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
1>
1> cd port
1> nmake /nologo /f makefile.vc
1> call prev_dllbuild.bat
1>The system cannot find the path specified.
1>
1>C:\gdal\gdal\port>IF NOT EXIST dllbuild.prev (ECHO 1 ) 1>dllbuild.prev
1>
1>C:\gdal\gdal\port>SET /P PREV_DLLBUILD= 0<dllbuild.prev
1>
1>C:\gdal\gdal\port>IF NOT "1" == "1" (ECHO 1 ) 1>dllbuild.prev
1>NMAKE : fatal error U1077: 'call' : return code '0x1'
1>Stop.
1>NMAKE : fatal error U1077: '"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.26.28801\bin\HostX86\x64\nmake.EXE"' : return code '0x2'
1>Stop.
1>C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v160\Microsoft.MakeFile.Targets(46,5): error MSB3073: The command "chcp 65001 >NUL && nmake -f makefile.vc MSVC_VER=1926 WIN64=1 DEBUG=1 WITH_PDB=1" exited with code 2.
1>Done building project "gdal_vs2019.vcxproj" -- FAILED.
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
How should I address these errors to get GDAL built successfully?

Answer 1

This is a little late, but have you tried the following:
Read https://trac.osgeo.org/gdal/wiki/BuildingOnWindows
Read https://trac.osgeo.org/gdal/wiki/BuildHints for specific
needs/dependencies/drivers
Get all the dependencies you need
Edit nmake.opt to disable/enable features/drivers you don't
need
Run NMAKE
You could also try cleaning:
nmake /f makefile.vc clean
nmake /f makefile.vc
Finally, you could try building on a different computer.

Answer 2

Hark, this is the way one should ask questions: clear, precise steps, detailed description. Very helpful!
I could compile when I didn't use the GIT repo. Instead I downloaded PROJ following their Windows installation documentation:
The simplest way to install PROJ on Windows is to use the OSGeo4W_
software distribution. OSGeo4W provides easy access to many popular
open source geospatial software packages. After installation you can
use PROJ from the OSGeo4W shell. To install PROJ do the following:
note::
If you have already installed software via OSGeo4W on your computer, or if
you have already installed QGIS on your computer, it is likely that PROJ is
already installed. Type "OSGeo4W Shell" in your start menu and check whether
that gives a match.
Download either the 32 bit or 64 bit installer.
Run the OSGeo4W setup program.
Select "Advanced Install" and press Next.
Select "Install from Internet" and press Next.
Select a installation directory. The default suggestion is fine in most cases. Press Next.
Select "Local package directory". The default suggestion is fine in most cases. Press Next.
Select "Direct connection" and press Next.
Choose the download.osgeo.org server and press Next.
Find "proj" under "Commandline_Utilities" and click the package in the "New" column until the version you want to install appears.
Press next to install PROJ.
I downloaded the installers from osgeo4W. Because I needed both 32 and 64 bit versions I downloaded osgeo4w-setup-x86-v1.exe and osgeo4w-setup-x86_64-v1.exe. The download got stuck after 25% when downloading the big proj-file from osgeo, so I selected the oslandia download link instead. This initially fails (at least for me), but after restart it could finish.
In the download package selection click on the "Skip" logo to select binary ("B") and source ("S"). I selected both. I downloaded "proj", "proj-dev" and "proj-dev-data", not sure what is actually neeeded. When it asked to include dependencies (a lot), I selected to include them.
In the nmake.opt (your step 3) I used for the 32 bit:
PROJ_INCLUDE = -IC:\OSGeo4W\include
PROJ_LIBRARY = C:\OSGeo4W\lib\proj.lib
and for the 64 bit:
PROJ_INCLUDE = -IC:\OSGeo4W64\include
PROJ_LIBRARY = C:\OSGeo4W64\lib\proj.lib
For running the generate_vcxproj.bat, I used Visual Studio 2022 x86 and x64 native tool command prompts. In the bat-file I changed:
if "%_vcver_%"=="16.0" (
set _clver_=1926
set _vstoolset_=v143
And in the nmake.opt:
MSVC_VER=1929
I run the bat separately for 64 and 32 bits:
generate_vcxproj.bat 16.0 64 gdal_vs2022
generate_vcxproj.bat 16.0 32 gdal_vs2022_x86
After this step I could open the vcxproj-files in Visual Studio and compile the libraries. I used the genererated gdal_i.lib's and accompanying gdal303.dll's in my project.