Compiling using MSBuild 12.0 from Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 - c++

I have a solution that was compiled with MSVC 12.0 Visual Studio 2013 (C++/CLI and C#) but only have Visual Studio 2015 (Community). I want to build the project using MSVC 12.0 as it was intended, as I only need to rebuild 1 part of the solution (of 5) for my purpose and want it to be compatible with the other DLLs. When trying to build it from MSVC 14.0 (Visual Studio 2015) it says:
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V140\Microsoft.Cpp.Platform.targets(57,5): error MSB8020: The build tools for v120 (Platform Toolset = 'v120') cannot be found.
Of course I installed the MS Build tools for 2013 (MSVC 12.0, v120) from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40760 as well as the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2013 package.
And the right directory for the 12.0 build tools install is C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\12.0\Bin\amd64
It looks like a configuration error on the solution (or in Visual Studio in general) since it is looking for the build tools in the wrong directory. Does anyone know what settings I need to change / add in Visual Studio to get it to compile with MSBuild 12.0 instead of 14.0? I'd prefer not to install Visual Studio 2013 since I don't use it for anything else (just want to have the option to use VS 2013 MSBUILD within VS 2015 as needed).

Okay I have gotten this working although in a roundabout way. Thanks others that have answered and commented. Sign up for a Microsoft Visual Studio Dev Essentials subscription for free. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/vs-dev-essentials/ Then you can go through the menus and download Visual Studio Community 2013 by going to this link and finding it https://my.visualstudio.com/downloads. After doing so, you can build MSVC 12.0 from Visual Studio 2015. Sure, not perfect, but it works. I haven't tried uninstalling Visual Studio 2013 to see if it still works (Windows Phone SDK 8.1 is installed with 2013 as was mentioned to get it working in the Enterprise version of 2015) but if you could somehow keep that and remove the 2013 edition I believe it could work without 2013 installed...

If you go to the top of your .vcxproj change it to this
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="12.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
Then your .sln can still open in Visual Studio 2015
VisualStudioVersion = 14.0.25420.1
The reason is because the compiler version is specified on a project-by-project basis, and will override the solution version.

I'd prefer not to install Visual Studio 2013 since I don't use it for anything else (just want to have the option to use VS 2013 MSBUILD within VS 2015 as needed).
You can install VS2013 toolset version from your VS2015 installer without installing visual studio 2013. From the 2015 installer, select Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.0/8.1 Tools and common Tools for Visual C++ 2015:
After installation completed, you will find the platform Toolset below:
Then you can built your project with platform toolset Visual Studio 2013(v120).
You can refer to more info from the similar question on SO.

Related

Downgrade Visual Studio 2019 back to Visual Studio 2017

There is a lot of answers related to upgrading a solution from Visual Studio 2017 to Visual Studio 2019 on StackOverflow. But how do I downgrade back to Visual Studio 2017? When I try to build a project in Visual Studio 2017 I get the following error:
Error MSB8020.
The build tools for v142 (Platform Toolset = 'v142') cannot be found. To build using the v142 build tools, please install v142 build tools. Alternatively, you may upgrade to the current Visual Studio tools by selecting the Project menu or right-click the solution, and then selecting "Retarget solution".
Before that, I used Visual Studio 2019 with the solution and it worked fine. But now I have to use Visual Studio 2017 instead and as expected I have errors. Is there a way to fix it not recreating the solution manually? Thanks for advice!
This problem is with your MSBuilder, re check the version of MSBulder in Visual Studion sometime it may be still support for vs2019.
or
You can changed this in your project
to: Project->Properties->General->Platform Tool_set and change to the current version of your VS.
Think this will be helpful.!

Is it necessary to install Visual Studio C++ Build Tools if Visual Studio 2017 is already installed?

Visual studio 2017 community is installed on my PC along with Visual Studio Build Tools 2017. I am using Windows 10.
Is it still necessary to install Visual C++ Build Tools? Is there a possibility that there will be some packages that cannot be compiled if Visual C++ Build Tools is not available even though Visual Studio Build Tools 2017 is there?

Share project between Visual Studio 2013 and Visual Studio 2012

I am using Visual Studio 2013 community and created C++ project.
I want to share the project with a colleague working with Visual Studio 2012 professional.
Once he took the project he had to change the toolset to v110 and it worked just fine for him.
When he shared it back with me I got the message:
error MSB8020: The build tools for Visual Studio 2012 (Platform Toolset = 'v110') cannot be found.
To build using the v110 build tools, please install Visual Studio 2012 build tools.
Alternatively, you may upgrade to the current Visual Studio tools by selecting the Project menu or right-click the solution, and then selecting "Upgrade Solution...".
I do not want to upgrade the solution, as that will cause us each time to change the project, but I couldn't find anywhere to download the VS2012 build tools.
Where can I find Visual Studio 2012 build tools?
You can have both Visual Studio 2012 and Visual Studio 2013 installed on the same machine. Once you have both installed you can use the Visual Studio 2012 compiler in Visual Studio 2013.
So I suggest you install Visual Studio 2012. I think Express edition should be enough.
Alternatively, your colleague can install Visual Studio 2013 Community Edition alongside his existing Visual Studio 2012 Professional Edition. I think the features are roughly equivalent the only question is if they are breaking the license terms.

Visual Studio c++ download and excecution for new computer with windows 8.1 64bit

I just bought a new computer, with Windows 8.1 64bit installed and wanted to start developing in C++.I am new to Visual Studio, I used to do it with eclipse but suggestions I found in the internet were to prefer Visual Studio.
I tried to download Visual Studio C++ 2008 redistributable package (x64) from here http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15336.
But I couldn't find where it was stored in my computer, after searching it with key words. Then I uninstalled it, to install again from scratch.
To uninstall it I opened my control panel and it saw that I have Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x86) installed already, assuming it comes with the computer I bought, and the date of installation matches this. I can't find though where it is stored so I can't open it.
When downloading Visual Studio 2008, it says I need to uninstall previous Visual Studio versions.
Bottom line:
Should I uninstall the Visual 2012 (x86) that probably came with the computer (which is 64bit)? Or should I use it (and try to find where is it located)?
If I shouldn't use the 2012: Was the 2008 version I tried to install good? (2008 gives an "old" intuition, but just my intuition).
Is there an easy way to find out where the application is located for excecution? Any specific file to look for?
thank you
You want to download thee actual Visual Studio IDE from http://www.visualstudio.com/ . Try downloading the free Community Edition for a start.
The Visual Studio redistributable packages are actually the minimal runtime libraries to run C++ programs that were compiled with visual studio. You got a version installed by default even on fresh computers, otherwise you can't run many programs (they are also included with the IDE).
The redistributables are also often bundled with installers to make sure that others can run your programs.
The VC++ Redistributable packages only include the libraries required to run applications built with the respective version of Visual Studio (for example Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable is for Visual Studio 2012).
It does not include any version of Visual Studio.
You could uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x86) but however as it was preinstalled on your computer, I imagine that some program pre-installed by the computer manufacturer requires it. It's probably not a good idea to remove that.
So no, it's not a good idea to remove it.
In order to use the 2012 version of Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable you should install the vs120 compiler, aka the VC++ compiler that comes with Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.
For developing with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, using Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable is completely fine as it matches the compiler version. However if you want to use the newer 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015 versions you need to use those respective versions of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable.
If you wish to use an up-to-date version of Visual Studio, try the Visual Studio 2013 Community Edition, or if you're feeling adventurous try the Visual Studio 2015 Release Candidate.
The application you built is always located in the project's directory, under /Debug or /Release, depending on whether you built a debug or release version of the application. If you do not know where your project folder is located you may right-click your project in the File pane and click Open folder in Windows Explorer.

What I need to install to compile for Platform Toolset v100 using Visual Studio 2013?

I've just formatted the PC and have Visual Studio 2013 installed. Now, I would like to compile a Visual Studio 2010 C++ solution without convert it and continue targeting v100 platform toolset.
I get the this error:
error MSB8020: The build tools for Visual Studio 2010 (Platform Toolset = 'v100') cannot be found. To build using the v100 build tools, please install Visual Studio 2010 build tools. Alternatively, you may upgrade to the current Visual Studio tools by selecting the Project menu or right-click the solution, and then selecting "Upgrade Solution...". C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V120\Microsoft.Cpp.Platform.targets 64 5 TPC30004
and project properties I see that of course I miss the needed toolset.
I can't change the target because cannot force XP users to install the new C++ 2013 re-distributable so probably I should install Visual Studio 2010 to fix the problem, but if possible I would like to avoid it (small SSD at the moment and not much free space).
Are there other options available?
You will need to install the Visual Studio 2010 for that. There is no alternative.
You still can install to a different drive, to keep memory footprint on C: as low as possible.
There's also the option of installing the Windows SDK 7.1, which comes with the same VS2010 Platform Tools in it and is available for free. Unlike the VS2010 Express edition, it also includes the AMD64 (but not the Itanium) version of the tools.