The Question
Is it possible to build the Intellisense database for a solution (C++) at the command line?
The Context
I work on a fairly large C++ codebase. The code takes a while to compile so I set up a local nightly automated build that I can grab any time I want to start a new task. I would like to create the Intellisense database for the solutions of the codebase during this nightly build. We are using Visual Studio 2013.
According to this answer on MSDN, it is (sadly) not possible:
It is not possible to create this file without running VS, it is not a
scenario the team designed/planned for.
Ryan
Related
On a project I am working on, I am maintaining some Feature Tests written in SpecFlow. Our team started using Visual Studio 2017 about a year ago, and we finally got around to doing some upkeep on our tests!
Our tests for the project I'm working on were originally written in SpecFlow 2.3.2, and were last updated in Visual Studio 2015.
The SpecFlowSingleFileGenerator is known to not work on VS 2017, so I spent the better part of yesterday changing our suite to use the MSBuildSingleFileGenerator instead as detailed in this article in SpecFlow's official documentation
Problem:
Locally, I can build my solution, including the Feature Test project just fine.
However, I keep getting the following error when I try to build the project on our build server:
[exec] C:\CheckoutDirectory\My Awesome Project\packages\SpecFlow.Tools.MsBuild.Generation.2.3.2\build\SpecFlow.Tools.MsBuild.Generation.targets(45,5):
error MSB4036: The "GenerateAll" task was not found.
Check the following:
1.) The name of the task in the project file is the same as the name of the task class.
2.) The task class is "public" and implements the Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITask interface.
3.) The task is correctly declared with <UsingTask> in the project file, or in the *.tasks files located in the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\MSBuild\15.0\Bin" directory. [C:\CheckoutDirectory\My Awesome Project\AwesomeProject.FeatureTest\AwesomeProject.FeatureTest.csproj]
I should point out that our team has no experience with writing MS Build tasks, as hitherto we haven't needed to; we use NAnt build scripts on TeamCity to manage our build work. It's clear that error message would be helpful...if we knew literally anything about it.
Now, normally the correct answer would be: Google it. I did that, and this specific error has no pertinent results.
Additionally, this is blocking my team, since we need our build to work. I don't have the time to do the research and education necessary to properly understand how MS Build technology works. That wil have to come later.
Question:
Bearing in mind that SpecFlow has broken our process, and our team's lack of knowledge about the MS Build system: I need to know how to get around the "GenerateAll" task was not found error. What do I do to get around it?
Secondary Question:
I'm also open to lateral thinking. Is there some way to hack either VS 2017 or SpecFlow to make the SpecFlowSingleFileGenerator "compatible" with each other? The objective here is NOT to avoid making changes, but to control the changes. I need a path towards transitioning from the old file generator to the MS build generation system.
Additional Information:
So, I did some digging, and I found a place where "GenerateAll" is being called in the SpecFlow.Tools.MsBuild.Generation.targets file:
<Target Name="UpdateFeatureFilesInProject"
DependsOnTargets="BeforeUpdateFeatureFilesInProject"
Inputs="#(SpecFlowFeatureFiles)" Outputs="#(SpecFlowFeatureFiles->'%(RelativeDir)\%(Filename).feature.cs')">
<GenerateAll
ShowTrace="$(ShowTrace)"
BuildServerMode="$(BuildServerMode)"
OverwriteReadOnlyFiles="$(OverwriteReadOnlyFiles)"
ProjectPath="$(MSBuildProjectFullPath)"
ForceGeneration="$(ForceGeneration)"
VerboseOutput="$(VerboseOutput)"
DebugTask="$(SpecFlow_DebugMSBuildTask)"
>
<Output TaskParameter="GeneratedFiles" ItemName="SpecFlowGeneratedFiles" />
</GenerateAll>
</Target>
Because I've confirmed that this is being copied out to the build server, the situation is yet more mysterious. It appears that the NuGet package is being pulled down faithfully. Therefore, I can't figure out why my local copy is behaving differently than the copy on the build server.
I am not sure where you found this statement:
The SpecFlowSingleFileGenerator is known to not work on VS 2017
The SpecFlowSingleFileGenerator is working in VS2015, VS2017 and VS2019. We see it as a legacy feature, but it's still there. Since some weeks it is disabled by default, but you can enable it in the options.
It works for SpecFlow >= 2.3.2 and 2.4. For SpecFlow 3 you have to use the MSBuild integration. There are some problems with older versions of SpecFlow, but with them it can also work. It depends on your setup.
About your MSBuild error:
The MSBuild Task for SpecFlow < 3.0 is in the specflow.exe. Is it on your build server?
It is part of the SpecFlow NuGet packages. Normally you get this kind of error if MSBuild can't find the assembly where the task is.
For "debugging" problems with MSBuild, I can highly recommend to use the MSBuild Structured Log Viewer (http://msbuildlog.com/). With it, it makes it easy so see what is happening in your build.
We have an example for MSBuild Code- Behind- Generation with SpecFlow 2.3.2 here: https://github.com/techtalk/SpecFlow-Examples/tree/master/MSBuild/OldCSProj_SpecFlow232
You could compare your project with this example.
Full disclosure: I am one of the maintainers of SpecFlow.
We've just switched to using google test for unit testing due to deficiencies in our previous framework.
In Visual Studio, I have a solution with multiple projects. Each project contains unit tests using google test for a specific class (or collection of linked classes) within our application. We only use VS for managing and running google tests and reference the test classes found elsewhere.
When I want to run all tests, I set startup projects to multiple, then press ctrl-f5. This pops ups 1 console window per project with the standard google test output. This is great! I have to click a key to close each of the output windows, though. It sure would be nice to integrate into "Test Explorer" within VS2013 express.
I've found this script runner:
https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/9dd47c21-97a6-4369-b326-c562678066f0.
It appears to be exactly what I want, but apparently express editions don't allow extensions? (I'm new the land of visual studio.) Anyway, we're using express instead of a different version because we're commercial. My fallback solution is spending the money on a full version of VS. However, I'd much rather find a free solution so I don't have to justify purchase, then deal with licensing visual studio for every new person that joins the group.
Has anyone figured out a solution to this?
Our team also tried using "Google Test Runner" extension. The
integration with VS Test Explorer was great but we did not like
the fact that we could not see gmock warnings. This means that
some tests can pass with warnings and you will simply let that
slip by and create problems in the future. The same problem
exists when trying to use XML output generated by gmock.
Since viewing output in console is a poor option, we've decided to
parse the output of executable that runs the tests and display them
in a browser. To this end, we've modified the project so that it directs
its output to a file ( "> test_output.txt" in Debugging -> Command
Arguments) and modified the main function to parse the output,
insert it into a html file template, save this html file and then open
it in default browser using:
ShellExecute(NULL, NULL, "test_output.html", "", "", SW_SHOW);
This also enabled us to make some customizations to the way results
are displayed using javascript.
You can use this approach in you case by creating a simple project which
will run last in the list of multiple startup projects, parse the output
of other executables and display it in a browser. I know this solution has
its drawbacks, but it is (in my opinion) better than ignoring warnings.
In the same spirit as the question Can I download the Visual C++ Command Line Compiler without Visual Studio? I would like to see if it is easy to bundle the appropriate part of Visual Studio to build Universal App written in C++. Following the answer by #Alek to the aforementioned question, I managed to create an archive where I can basically unzip and use. But this is for traditional desktop (I would say, command-line) programs. I tried to do similar thing for Universal App and there are a couple of issues
The official way (i.e. what Visual Studio does under the hood) is to use MSBuild. Unfortunately, I do not know what are and how to get all of its dependencies. It seems to require significant configuration effort as well.
There is no documentation on how to build resources (e.g. generate C++ source and headers from XAML), how to generate the .appx. If possible, a Makefile template is very much appreciated.
The reason to ask for this is because Visual Studio failed me so many times. For instance, the November Update messed up my entire system; the SDK installer fail at 96% and rolled back. Previously, the upgrade to VS2015 (from 2013) also messed me up entirely. It seems that the only solution to these problems is complete uninstall. Having a portable archive where I can just unzip and restore my production environment back to health is something I would say extremely desirable.
Note: I do not care about the IDE. I only need the ability to build apps from source code on the command prompt.
I'm looking for a native C++ static analysis tool that I can use both from within Visual Studio and as part of a TFS 2010 build. It must also work for 64-bit compilation. Does anyone know any tools that support this?
I am using CppCheck.
This is a commandline tool which we use in our continous integration server, but I'm sure it can be called from a pre/post build event. It outputs to console or file (text/xml).
See our SD C++ CloneDR tool, which detects cloned code in spite of changes to layout, variable names and often even replaced statements.
This tool can be launched from a command line.
I'm not sure about 64-bit compilation. But, I think can use FxCop for static code analysis of C++ projects by integrating FxCop into VS2010 project, run fxcopcmd.exe in the post-build event to automatically perform code analysis when building projects (or) you can use Invoke Process Activity in Build process Template.
According to this blog, Visual Studio 11 will support 64-bit code analysis out-of-the-box in all editions:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/codeanalysis/archive/2012/03/09/what-s-new-in-code-analysis-for-visual-studio-11.aspx
I use visual studio 2008, and I would like to know if it is possible to run scheduled build on it.
Indeed, I have several projects I work on, and every time I change one, it may impact the other.
I would like to run, every night, a batch build on all my projects, so when I come in the morning I can see what compiled (and what did not compile as well).
Is there a way to schedule such a task in visual studio ?
EDIT:
I probably should have mentioned that I needed a light weight solution, so the TFS and other are a bit to complicated to put in place for me.
A simple scheduled task can do the trick.
The best way is to set up a continuous integration server, e.g. CruiseControl.NET, Hudson, TeamCity, etc. There's endless debates here about which is the best one. These can be configured to take your source from your source control and build it as scheduled jobs. Obviously if you're using TFS for source control then you can use TFS to do this as in Nawaz's answer.
Both #Rup and #Nawaz have the best solutions. If you're looking for something really low-tech, though, you could consider simply creating a windows task that does a command-line build of your code on a nightly basis.
For that, you need TFS. Team Foundation Server
See this: How To: Set Up a Scheduled Build in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server