Visual Studio doesn't notice if I change Project Properties - visual-studio-2017

When I change either Linker, Input, Additional Dependencies, or VC++ Directories, the compiler behaves as though the changes did not happen.
That is, I can take all the additional dependencies out (though they are absolutely needed), and the project will still compile and link; or, if I don't initially put in the correct VC++ directories, adding those directories does not enable VS to find the files it needs. (If I right-click a #include , with its red squiggly lines showing there's a problem, it will say, SDL.h not found in... and list a slew of directories, none of which are the one I added.) This matters as I'm trying to determine which library is causing a conflict.
The IDE shows the changes I make when I reload Project Properties; it just won't act on them. It does notice if I change the Windows SDK Version.
This is only happening on one of my computers. I had recently installed Visual Studio 2019 Preview on it. Although I was running 2017, I still tried uninstalling 2019 Preview; no effect.
By request, here's a sample error message of not finding the include file:
c:\myProject\source\audiopath.cpp(14): fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'audiopath.h': No such file or directory
And here's what I get if I try to load the include file by right-clicking #include:
File 'audiopath.h' not found in current source file's directory or in build system paths.
Current source file path: 'C:\myProject\source'
Build system path: [long list of directories, none of which are C:\myProject\include]
Here's what I have for Project Properties, VC++ Directories, Include Directories:
$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);c:\myProject\include
and Project Properties, C/C++, General, Additional Include Directories is c:\myProject\include.
c:\myProject\include does indeed contain audiopath.h.

This is typical case of editing properties of one configuration type (e.g. Release), and building another (e.g. Debug). In Visual Studio 2015 and 2017, when editing the project properties, always make sure that the selected configuration (Release/Debug) matches that of the one currently being edited.
I found this to be happening a lot at my workplace.

Related

How can I tell Visual studio where my additional .dll files are?

I have recently switched my IDE to Visual Studio 2019 for C++ projects. I easily followed a tutorial into setting up a new library like SFML into visual studio, and tell it where the additional include and library directories are.
But there is something else that is required for it to work, which are the .dll files. Every page I followed, even the Documentation by the SFML website, it says that they have to be in the same directory as my project. That means I need to copy-paste the 7-8 files into my project directory. This really makes the folder look untidy. I would like to create a new folder and tell Visual Studio where those files are. I tried going doing this
Project -> Properties -> Linker -> Input -> Additional dependencies
Usually, the lines that would work are
sfml-system-d.lib
sfml-window-d.lib
...
I tried doing $(ProjectDir)valid path\ sfml-files.lib but this gives me the linker error, saying that It could not find the file.
If I simply move the .dlls into a folder without doing anything, the code would compile and link fine. But when it runs, Windows gives me a pop-up box with the same error message.
Here is how it currently looks
Looks really messy, I just want to be able to move them into dependencies like how src contains the source files.
How can I achieve this?
As it is now, it works perfectly fine. The issue only occurs when I try to create a new folder.
I hope I have covered the important information required for a good answer, If not please let me know what more I should add
Microsoft Visual Studio 2019
Currently running 64-bit platform with Debug configuration. Hence the -d suffix
You could create a path environment for your specified directory, which is like drescherjm’s suggestion. The steps:
Right-click “This PC” -> “Properties”-> “Advance System settings”
Click “Environment Variables”
In the System Variables group, edit “Path”
Add your directory, for example: ”D:\ SFML-2.5.1\bin”
Restart your visual studio and re-open your project
The easier solution might be to put them in the x64 subdirectory. This allows you to have various builds side by side (x86/x64, debug/release).
Since this x64 directory is where the EXE is located, it is the first directory searched for DLL's. It will take precedence over the Path solution suggested in the other answer. The Path directories are searched last of all.

Visual Studio ignoring include directories

I am running Visual Studio Community 2017 and Windows 10. I have a project for which I have added an include-file directory under Project > Configuration Properties > VC++ Directories > Include Directories, but Visual Studio simply ignores the directory and will not find the include files. It finds the files if I hard-code the directory into the #include statement. I checked the .vcxproj file and the directory shows up there. I just updated/corrected Visual Studio to the most recent version and have since re-booted, but the problem remains. Help, please!
First, ensure that MFC is enabled in project properties > Configuration Properties > General
use of mfc must be set to static or dynamic library.
then to ensure that cl.exe is using all of the include directories that you specify, you need to go to project properties > c/c++ > general and change suppress startup banner to no /nologo.this will give you the full cl command for each source file, showing exactly what visual studio is attempting to do with the code and configuration options that you give to it.
Additional ideas for troubleshooting this kind of issue:
When using vs2015 you can try to add '#include <somenoneexistingfile.h>' to the top of any .c/.cpp and right-click on it to open a context menu and select "Open Document <somenoneexistingfile.h>. This will open a dialog showing you the actual paths being used for including. Note: This specific approach doesn't work with vs2019 or later.
Besides this, you can check if:
you edited the actual configuration (Debug/Release) which you are starting, i.e. maybe you only edited the additional-include-path for the debug-build but are trying to compile a release-build.
you edited the actual platform (x64 vs x86) which you are starting, i.e. maybe you only configured the additional-include-path for x86 but are trying to compile the x64 platform.

visual studio not seeing my include files

This may be a very simple question but I haven't been able to figure it out so any help is appreciated.
I have a header that is located in a general folder because I want to use it in several projects for example:
C:\user\geninclude\program\header.h
I created a new empty project with a very simple main, in the main I put
#include <program/header.h>
I then went to the project properties and in VC++ in include directories added C:\user\geninclude\
but when I tried to build the program the program tells me it cannot find header.h because is not in the current directory or in the build system path.
I also tried in the project properties in C/C++ general Additional Include Directories adding C:\user\geninclude\ but still the same error.
I know is something simple I am missing, but I don't know what, I am very new to this just learning.
For reference I am using Visual Studio 2013.
Thank you in advance for your help.
UPDATE: Thank you all for your kind responses, I have tried everything you have told me (check release vs debug in both instances, change / for \ and <> for "", and double checking the header and still the system does not see it. It really is very weird. I'll keep trying...
Please check if your file is really an header file otherwise it won't appear on include.
What you can also do (as a workaround if you need that method fast) is to put your header file (or folder with header files) on the visual studio "include" folder. The path should look like this "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\include"
PS: You should also check the properties configuration when you're adding the path to VC++ include directories. You could be adding the path to debug configuration and trying to run it in release mode.
You do indeed want
Project Properties -> Configuration Properties -> C/C++ -> Additional Include Directories
(or something close to that; I'm using VS 2008). Make sure the configuration you're editing in the top left (debug/release) matches the configuration you're building with (typically visible up top in the main window). So it sounds like you may have done it correctly; I'd double-check for the file's existence in that location. You could also try program\header.h instead of program/header.h. If none of those work, try adding C:\user\geninclude\program to the include directories (no \ at the end) and change it to #include "header.h". If that doesn't work either, you've almost surely got the header file in the wrong spot.
Another thing that can cause include files not being picked up is a difference between the platform set in your c++ project's Property Pages and your "Active Solution Platform" in configuration manager. Can just check if one is set to x64 and the other x86
check if you have specified the path correctly. for example I had written cpp instead of c++ and therefore suffered a lot and wasted like an hour searching here and there.
For Visual Studio 2019 users:
Project(P) > yours_project_name properties(P) > Platform Toolset Visual Studio 2019(V###)
Reasoning: You might download the project from Online and they used other version of Visual Studio as Platform.
Project(P) > yours_project_name properties(P) > Windows SDK Version ##.#(latest installed version).
Reasoning: You might download the project from Online and they used version SDK 8.0 while you have SDK 10.0
ntucvhw

error LNK1181: cannot open input file 'kernel32.lib'

I have a project on VS 2012. latest SDK is installed on the WIN 8 x64 computer, the project is targeting WIn32.
I have a clean build in Debug, but when I go to release I get the 1181 LNK error - cannot open input file kernel32.lib.
I have the file on the computer in several location, and in the VC directories there is $(WindowsSdkDir_71A)lib and $(WindowsSdkDir)\lib.
Using process monitor I've tried to rebuild and see where devenv.exe is looking for the file
** UPDATE:
In debug it looks in the right place.
in release it doesn't look for the sdk,
but I see this:
Y:\MyProjectFofler\$(LibraryPath)\kernel32.lib PATH NOT FOUND
and also several successful reads from the win8.0 sdk (which should be ok, but the result is the same, and I need it to read from the V7.1A SDK folder...)
What can it be and what might be the solution for this error ?
Thanks.
I ran into this using Visual Studio 2017. I was trying to get the Visual Studio project configurations to reference the external library .lib files I wanted. I managed to trigger this error when I removed any reference to the system libraries. I later figured out this can be corrected by including one of their macro values (though you can specify an absolute direct path, but that's probably not the best coding convention and prone to brittleness).
On the Visual Studio project, right-Clicking on the project item in the Solution explorer panel (not the Solution itself, which is the topmost item), then select Properties. From there do the following:
VC++ Directories --> Library Directories : $(ProjectDir)lib; $(LibraryPath)
Note the $(LibraryPath) value will include extra values such as inherited from parents, and from what I can tell this is a verbose option. My folder project contained a folder called 'lib' which is why I had the first value there before the semicolon.
There are other common options I have used to specify the Library Directories value:
$(VC_LibraryPath_x86)
$(WindowsSDK_LibraryPath_x86)
$(NETFXKitsDir)Lib\um\x86
If you look at the section VC++ Directories --> Library Directories, you can click on the entry line and select 'Edit', then you can watch live previews of what Macros values will be evaluated and resolved to. If you need additional or more specialized values, click on the Macros button to look for more options.
Link to image of Visual Studio 2017 Library Directories configuration

use of Log4cxx in visual studio 2012

I tried to build log4cxx for visual 2012 and, after 4 hours of resolving errors, the build was succesful (i'm not sure :)).
As a second step I tried to create a vs project to test logging.
I used this example but it keep tell me that
mainapp.cpp(2): fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file:
'log4cxx\logger.h': No such file or directory
I already specified in the linker the path of directory debug in additional library directories and I added "log4cxx.lib" additional dependencies .
I'm confused and I don't know how to make it work
thanks in advance for your help
You also need to add the directory, where headers for log4cxx are. This is not for linking phase, but for compiler phase.
This can be done with Project Properties -> Compiler -> Preprocessor (I think, I don't have VS opened now)
You don't include .lib. This file is for linking.
You need to add to includes the directory, which contains directory log4cxx, and that (log4cxx) directory must contain logger.h!