How to add custom llvm to VS2019 - llvm

I have downloaded an installed LLVM 10 on Win 10 machine, which already had VS2019-Enterprise.
Created the Directory.build.props file as:
<Project>
<PropertyGroup>
<LLVMInstallDir>full_path_to_my_llvm</LLVMInstallDir>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>
Ran MSBuild while on the directory that contains .sln and .vxproj files.
Still cannot get see llvm under ConfigurationProperties->General->PlatformToolset.
How does one add LLVM to VS2019?

You can use the Clang Power Tools extension to add any custom LLVM versions, starting with LLVM 4, directly from Visual Studio. (Disclaimer: I am the author of this extension.)
Go to CPT Settings -> select the LLVM Tab -> select the version you want to install by clicking the install button. No configuration is needed. Here is an article about this feature.
You can install multiple versions and decide later what version is better for you.

I just ran into the same issue myself, so I'll post the solution since I came across this question while searching for an answer.
Clang/LLVM support in Visual Studio projects
For best IDE support in Visual Studio, we recommend using the latest Clang compiler tools for Windows. If you don't already have those, you can install them by opening the Visual Studio Installer and choosing C++ Clang tools for Windows under Desktop development with C++ optional components. If you prefer to use an existing Clang installation on your machine, choose the "C++ Clang-cl for v142 build tools." optional component.
C++ Clang-cl for v142 build tools (MSDN's image)
All you have to do is install the 2nd component as shown. After you install that component, and load up Visual Studio again, you'll be able to select "LLVM (clang-cl)" from the Platform Toolset option.
That's all there was to it!

Related

SCons detects Visual C++ v14.2 (2019) but not v14.1 (2017)

I need to build a dependency that uses SCons, and I need to build it with VC++2017, because another dependency I have cannot be built with VC++2019.
SCons successfully detects VC++2019 (v14.2), but not VC++2017 (v14.1):
c:\Python27\Scripts\scons [...] --msvc-version=14.1 [...]
scons: Reading SConscript files ...
scons version: 3.1.1
python version: 2 7 13 'final' 0
scons: warning: VC version 14.1 not installed. C/C++ compilers are most likely not set correctly.
Installed versions are: ['14.2', '14.0', '11.0']
[...]
C++ compiler $CC does not work
I have installed Visual Studio 2019 Enterprise as well as Visual Studio 2019 Build Tools, and for both, I have installed the platform tools / compiler for v14.1 and x86/x64. Compiling with the VC++2017 platform tools works fine in Visual Studio 2019 as well as using MSBuild, so the problem seems to be with SCons only.
How does SCons detect VC++2017 and VC++2019 and where should I start looking for the problem?
(There are old threads about this, but most of them are about people wondering why the "classic" detection/config methods using registry and vcvars.bat no longer work, so these are not helpful)
For current scons, it will believe what it gets back from vswhere.exe for the versions where that tool is considered definitive - 2017 and 2019. You can try seeing what that gives you.
vswhere -products * -property installationPath
That information is used to help locate the desired vars.bat file which imports the seetings needed.
I have found a perfect and simple solution:
Open file MSCommon/vc.py, find line: vc_pdir = os.path.join(vsdir[0], 'VC')
Change [0] to [1]
Re-build, the python will use vs2017
The reason is: if you install multi vs versions, the vsdir[0] is the highest one
Update: This is still (2021-09-16) an issue, and a simple workaround may be this answer - My answer also has a workaround, but it is more complicated and mostly for educational purposes on how recent versions of VC++ compilers can be detected and are (not properly) detected by SCons. You may also want to use my workaround if you are creating a build script for a build server or multiple development machines with varying setups.
The current version of SCons does not support selecting MSVC v14.1 (aka "Visual C++ 2017") if Visual Studio 2019 is installed, but Visual Studio 2017 is not. I confirmed this by looking at the code of SCons (see below).
An alternative approach is to use the --msvc-script option instead of --msvc-version.
In the MSVC installation folder, typically c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\, you will find a file called vcvarsall.bat. If you run this without arguments, you will see that you can give it arguments for target platform and tools version, e.g.,
vcvarsall.bat x86 10.0.17763.0 -vcvars_ver=14.1
to compile for x86 (32-bit), Windows SDK version 10.0.17763.0 and tools version 14.1 (Visual C++ 2017).
Once you have found a command line for vcvarsall.bat that suits you, put it into a new BAT file that you create, say myvcconfig.bat (You have to use the complete path to vcvarsall.bat), then use the following command-line switch to SCons: --msvc-script=myvcconfig.bat.
*** Notes ***
Some parameters to SCons are redundant and will not work with --msvc-script, for example --32. SCons will tell you about them, so just remove them from the command-line.
The installation path of Visual Studio may be different from the one I provided above. You can find the installation path using Microsoft's own VSWhere tool. See also Locate Visual Studio
Visual Studio 2019 and Visual Studio Build Tools 2019 are separate installations with separate build tools. You can detect and use the vcvarsall.bat files of either ones. For example, if you are setting up a toolchain for a build server, you may want to use Visual Studio Build Tools 2019. If you just want to build one library one time (as in my case), just use the Visual Studio that is installed on your dev machine.
In case you are interested in how SCons detects MSVC and why it doesn't work, you can look at the source code in SCons/Tool/MSCommon/vc.py. You can clone the SCons GIT repository.
UPDATE: The following comment in vc.py (as of 2021-09-16) shows why this is still an issue in SCons and why this workaround is needed if you have both VC2017 and VC2019 compilers installed:
# make sure the cl.exe exists meaning the tool is installed
if ver_num > 14:
# 2017 and newer allowed multiple versions of the VC toolset to be
# installed at the same time. This changes the layout.
# Just get the default tool version for now
#TODO: support setting a specific minor VC version
Direct link (valid at time of writing)

The build tools for Visual Studio 2008 (Platform Toolset = 'v90') cannot be found

I'm trying to build project c++ on vs2017 but there error appear:
"The build tools for Visual Studio 2008 (Platform Toolset = 'v90') cannot be found " after navigation, I must download VS 2008 I have installed it, but problem still exist .
any Suggestion ?
You need:
An MSVC 9.0 compiler toolchain
https://wiki.python.org/moin/WindowsCompilers lists the products that have it:
VS 2008, "Visual C++" feature and "x64 compilers and tools" subfeature
Express edition only has x86 compilers
Do install SP1 on top of VS2008 -- in vanilla VS2008 installer, installation for many features, including x64 compilers, is broken
WinSDK 6.1
WinSDK 7.0
"Visual C++ Compiler for Python 2.7" package
MsBuild 4.0 toolset configuration files for the above toolchain. (These are the directories c:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\Platforms\<arch>\PlatformToolsets\v90\ with .props and .targets files in them)
The only product I know that has this package is VS 2010 ("Visual C++" feature and "x64 compilers and tools" subfeature).
(WinSDK 7.1 technically has it, too, but its setup is riddled with bugs and broken on an x64 system.)
(You can bypass the buggy installer though if you install <GRMSDK_EN_DVD.iso>\Setup\vc_stdx86\vc_stdx86.msi directly. Despite the name, it has toolset files for all 3 platforms.)
"Visual C++ Compiler for Python 2.7" package is not supported by these toolset configuration files. So if you use it, you'll need to either manually specify its location in one of registry values specified in .props, or modify .props to also look in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\DevDiv\VCForPython.
The projects are targeting the v90 platform toolset. The solution is to either open the .sln file with VS2008 (i.e. use the right tool), or spend some time updating the projects to target the latest platform toolset (i.e. VS2017). To do that, just right click each project, and go to Properties, then look at General | Windows SDK Version. You may have to fix compilation / linker errors following the project upgrade.
It is possible to upgrade the project file from the command line without opening it in Visual Studio. I was running into the same issue, and found another solution in the Microsoft documentation for Visual Studio (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/reference/upgrade-devenv-exe?view=vs-2017).
Here are the steps:
Open the developer command prompt for you version of Visual Studio, e.g. 'Developer Command Prompt for VS 2017'.
Navigate to the directory of your project file.
Execute the following command: devenv myproject.sln /upgrade

How to compile C++ for Windows with clang in Visual Studio 2015

As far as I understand, Visual Studio 2015 is shipped with clang. First I though this was only for Android and iOS apps, but according to this article it should also be possible to use the clang++ frontend for Windows programs. However, I can't find the according option.
So could you please explain to me, how I can change the used compiler to clang in a c++ project (in VS2015 RC Community Edition).
Starting with VS2015 Update 1 you can install the "Clang with Microsoft CodeGen" template via the New Project window, browse to Installed -> Templates -> Visual C++ -> Cross Platform.
You will then be able to choose the Clang 3.7 with Microsoft CodeGen v140_clang_3_7 Platform Toolset in the properties page of any Windows C++ project.
Clang has a completely different set of command-line options which it recognizes, so when using the v140_clang_3_7 toolset, the project properties must be using Clang-compatible options, which can be recognized as starting with - instead of /. For example, Debug Information Format property set to "Full Debug Information (DWARF2) (-g2 -gdwarf-2)", and Enable C++ Exceptions property set to "Yes (-fexceptions)".
There's more information in this blog post.
As far as I understand it both Clang and GCC are shipped with the Android and iOS crossplatform SDKs/tools for Visual Studio 2015.
From what I've seen it only allows me to choose those while having one of those crossplatform projects.
Using the template project for a GLES C++ application you get the following options:
While for a Windows C++ application you get the dialog below where you can see that Windows target platform is grayed out and read-only, meaning you probably have a set of toolkits for each target platform, but you simply cannot change it, at least for now.
Have no idea how you turn a normal VS project into crossplatform though, and it's likely that you can only target Android or iOS out of the box using 3rd party compilers.
It may be possible, though, to install Clang as another toolkit in the same way the XP toolkits are. So perhaps it's just a matter of someone fiddling with it and making it available as it is already installed.
Caveat: This answer is pre-VS2015 update 1 which didn't have the "Clang with Microsoft CodeGen" option.
After reading through the linked post and especially the comments again, I came to understand, that this is not a feature shipped with VS2015 RC but a possible future feature that might e.g. be shipped in a SP or (more likely) with the next version of VS.
As mentioned by sjdowling, the closest thing you can do at the moment (October 2015, clang 3.7) is to download and install llvm for windows. This should give you a LLVM-vs2014 platform toolset option. For me it works for simple test programs, but apparently this version of "clang-vs" seems to not yet support exceptions. However, according to these notes, that problem should be mostly solved for clang 3.8.
While the above solutions work they require that you have installed clang which is off by default in the visual studio 2015 installation. The accepted answer does show how to install it, though the next page will ask you to close visual studio which you are running the new project from.
If anyone is wondering how to install clang because it does not show up in their list here is another solution:
Control Panel->Programs->Programs and Features.
Right click on “Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise 2015” (or
“Microsoft Visual
Studio 15 Preview” if you have the preview of the next version of
Visual Studio installed)
Click “Change”
Click “Modify”
Select “Clang with Microsoft CodeGen” – The March 2016 release.
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vcblog/2016/03/31/clang-with-microsoft-codegen-march-2016-released/

how to get VS2013 c++ compiler to use with Qt without installing VS2013 [duplicate]

As per the title. I don't want to download the entire Visual C++ installer, only "cl.exe" and the other programs required for compiling and linking C++ programs on Windows.
As said, there is no way to do that. You need to download the entire 4-6GB+ bundle. MS deployment is a botch.
There is no need, however, to actually install everything. If you're up to some manual installation, you can extract individual components from the bundle and put them all in a more organized directory tree.
For example, I've found the following set to be the bare minimum needed for using the current MSVC2013 compilers in a x86 environment:
vc_compilerCore86.msi: MSVC toolchain;
vc_compilerCore86res.msi: MSVC toolchain MUI resources;
vc_librarycore86.msi: MSVC library stuff;
vc_LibraryDesktopX86.msi: More MSVC library stuff;
Windows Software Development Kit for Windows Store Apps-x86_en-us.msi: Windows SDK files and related tools (rc.exe, mt.exe, etc.);
Windows Software Development Kit-x86_en-us.msi: More Windows SDK files (specifically, WinSock2.h, WS2_32.lib, maybe others).
Remember that you can extract the contents of a MSI file by running msiexec /a <msifile> TARGETDIR="<path>" (jot a /quiet parameter if you're batching). Of course, you can also put more into your package by investigating the MSI files inside the bundle. In particular, the above set is missing the latest MSBuild tools, since I don't care for them. Stuff is often scattered around between multiple MSIs cluelessly, so good luck.
I've got a 50MB (!!!) 7z-file containing this set for local deployment, though I cannot share this publicly due to Microsoft licensing restrictions.
UPDATE:
This is the list of MSI files for MSVC2015 tools, headers and libraries:
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.Core\VC_Tools.Core.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.Core.Res\VC_Tools.Core.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Base\VC_Tools.X86.Base.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Base.Res\VC_Tools.X86.Base.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Nat\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.Res\VC_Tools.X86.Nat.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.X64\VC_Tools.X86.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_Tools.X86.X64.Res\VC_Tools.X86.X64.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Base\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.Base.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.Nat.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.X64\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.Res\VC_PremTools.X86.X64.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Headers\VC_CRT.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X86.Desktop\VC_CRT.X86.Desktop.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X86.Store\VC_CRT.X86.Store.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X64.Desktop\VC_CRT.X64.Desktop.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.X64.Store\VC_CRT.X64.Store.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.Res\VC_CRT.Redist.Res.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.X86\VC_CRT.Redist.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_CRT.Redist.X64\VC_CRT.Redist.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.Headers\VC_ATL.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.X86\VC_ATL.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_ATL.X64\VC_ATL.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.Headers\VC_MFC.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.X86\VC_MFC.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_MFC.X64\VC_MFC.X64.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.Headers\VC_PGO.Headers.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.X86\VC_PGO.X86.msi
packages\VisualC_D14\VC_PGO.X64\VC_PGO.X64.msi
packages\Win10_UniversalCRTSDK\Universal CRT Headers Libraries and Sources-x86_en-us.msi
And this is the list of MSI files for WinSDK10 tools, headers and libraries (downloaded separately):
Installers\Windows SDK Desktop Headers Libs Metadata-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK Desktop Tools-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Headers Libs-x86_en-us.msi
Installers\Windows SDK for Windows Store Apps Tools-x86_en-us.msi
All of this include stuff for both x86 and x64 (I haven't considered ARM or IA64). Both bundles compressed with LZMA will yield a 185MB file.
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In 2014 you could not download the Visual C++ compiler alone from Microsoft.
It used to be that you could. Then it used to be that you could get it in the Platform SDK. Then you could only get it by installing Visual Studio.
Happily, at that time, the compiler that was bundled with Visual Studio Express for Desktop (the free version of Visual Studio at the time) was, and is, the very same that you get with Professional or Universal editions.
In November 2015 Microsoft again started providing the compiler tools in a free-standing package called the Visual C++ Build Tools.
Microsoft writes:
” the C++ Build Tools installer will not run on a machine with Visual Studio 2015 already installed on it. The reverse (i.e. upgrade to Visual Studio) is supported.
The long term situation is, as always, unclear. And, disclaimer: I have not used the build tools myself – I would have to uninstall Visual Studio first.
I ended up using Chocolatey, which has a package for Visual C++ Build Tools.
This command:
choco install visualcpp-build-tools
will install the latest 2017 version, but you can select one of the older versions, which include the 2015 release.
After the installation Visual Studio 2017 folder is added to the Programs menu. It includes shortcuts to various developer command prompts with cl.exe and other tools in the path.
As of 2019 Microsoft offers Visual Studio Build Tools which only includes the compiler, build tools and SDK. It's hidden in the all downloads list.
Update: The Visual C++ 2015 Build Tools are located here: http://landinghub.visualstudio.com/visual-cpp-build-tools
The Visual C++ 2017 Build Tools are now part of the regular VS 2017 installer. Just select the workloads you need. Information is on the same page.
This link is preferred to the blog links below as it's the official landing page and will be kept up-to-date.
I'm on the C++ team. If you have any questions about using the VC++ Build Tools or about MSVC in general, feel free to email me. My email is my StackOverflow user name #microsoft.com.
Once I tried to do same this as you. But MS doesn't provide isolated compiler. So if you need MS C++ compiler you must need to install the VS. But if you like to adventure. there is a tricky way to do that. Try it here.
Chrees!
You can use MSVC compiler without Visual Studio and the latest version is available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41151
Also here's a website which details the command line options for the compiler:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9s7c9wdw.aspx
As of the time of writing (June 23, 2021), the following info is taken from Configure VS Code for Microsoft C++.
Here is the important quote:
You can also install just the C++ Build Tools, without a full Visual
Studio IDE installation. From the Visual Studio Downloads page, scroll
down until you see Tools for Visual Studio under the All downloads
section and select the download for Build Tools for Visual Studio.
This will launch the Visual Studio Installer, which will bring up a
dialog showing the available Visual Studio Build Tools workloads.
Check the C++ build tools workload and select Install.
Note: You can use the C++ toolset from Visual Studio Build Tools along
with Visual Studio Code to compile, build, and verify any C++ codebase
as long as you also have a valid Visual Studio license (either
Community, Pro, or Enterprise) that you are actively using to develop
that C++ codebase.
As what stated in visual c++ 2015 tools for windows desktop
Mount your VS2015.iso
You can find all packages at your mounted location E:\packages | G:\packages
Navigate to Control Panel.
Right-Click at your VS2015 and choose change-modify
Check the Visual C++ boxes as stated in the link.
Click on Modify.
If installer fail to update, copy the mounted directory location and paste on it.
Click Retry button.
On March 21, 2022, the best I could figure out was to find the "Visual Studio Community" free download (required logging in with Microsoft account). There was no longer any "just give me the damn Build Tools" concept, but there is the promise that you just download an installer and then pick. So I downloaded the installer and ran it.
Of course, none of the top-level options are suitable for "just give me the damn Build Tools", so I pick the "Individual Components" option. This supplies an incredibly large list of things I don't want, but buried within it I find "MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools (Latest)" which looks hopeful. I check that box and I'm informed they will give me also "Visual Studio code editor".
I'm sternly warned that I'm installing "without workloads", which seems to be some additional crap that the "Visual Studio core editor" I'm never going to use wants. I decline the additional bloatware. Some gigabytes later, it says I'm "Done installing" but warns "We recommend rebooting soon to clean up any remaining files."
After decades of (re-)writing scripts to locate the Microsoft compiler, I bow to Microsoft's superior ability to keep breaking any easy method of automating this process. Whenever I install the Microsoft compiler on a system, I manually set a system-wide environment variable that points to the Microsoft batch file for setting shell environment variables for the tools. Today's machine is a no-license (hey, Microsoft sucks the same way, just not as much!) Windows 10, and that is <Winkey>-x | System | Advanced System settings | Environment Variables
I create a variable called RLBVCVARS and set it to (in this particular case) c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat My portable Windows dev environment keeps an alias that points to that so, I can mostly pretend Microsoft doesn't constantly introduce breaking changes to their installation schemes. I think you have to reboot for a "system" environment variable to take effect, but hey, Microsoft wants you to reboot after installing anything anyway, so no biggy.
First compile says can't find "io.h". Back to the installer. Let's try adding "Windows 10 SDK" (3 versions to choose from!). A GB or so later, I have an io.h and can build my current project. Onward and upward.

LLVM 3.4 unable to select Platform Toolset in VS 2012

I have built the LLVM using Cmake from the documentation # LLVM on visual studio. I have an existing code project in visual studio, where I want to build my interpretor. I want to set the Platform Toolset to LLVM, however when I navigate to Properties>general>Platform Toolset in VS 2012 for my existing project, I dont see an option to add the LLVM tool chain in the drop down. I must be doing something terribly wrong here. Any help would be appreciated.
The LLVM Platform Toolset is not built by default- it requires a custom installation step and is not as simple as "Just build LLVM". Typically, it's easier to just download the installer from the LLVM Website. If you want to know how to build the Windows installer yourself, you'll have to ask in #llvm on OFTC.net.
Note that the existing LLVM Platform Toolset solution has some serious integration limits, like no exceptions/RTTI and AFAIK no support for the debugger and such too, which makes it seriously limited. Right now it's mostly useful for getting better error messages.