As the question states, what is the default path to the MIDL Compiler in Visual Studio 2013 (or previous versions) for those who want to manually run it from the command line to build IDL files?
It depends on the Platform Toolset you have selected for a project. The default one (v120) takes you to c:\program files (x86)\windows kits\8.1\bin\x86\midl.exe. If you target XP (v120_xp) then you get c:\program files (x86)\microsoft sdks\windows\v7.1a\bin\midl.exe
You normally don't care and use the Visual Studio Command Prompt.
Our sources seem to expect it in Program\ Files/Microsoft SDKs/Windows/v7.0/bin/MIDL.exe so in the SDK rather than in VS. I suspect it may have been removed from the win8 sdk though when they removed the compiler. We have not yet ported to that SDK.
Related
I'm using Visual Studio 2017. Trying to compile a package using certain version of the C++ toolkit and to compile against a certain version a c++ run-time environment.
In my case that would mean the latest toolkit against the latest c++ run-time environment libraries.
How do I make this happen? I tried to use /std:c++17 or /std:latest but this results in a build compiled against vc140.dll.
The documentation of neither cl.exe nor link.exe gives any kind of a hint.
Any ideas? Thanks.
In the project properties UI you can set platform Toolset on the "General" page.
For v140 the resulting command lines start:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin\CL.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin\link.exe
but for v141 they start:-
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.12.25827\bin\HostX86\x86\CL.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.12.25827\bin\HostX86\x86\link.exe
You can read the command line for yourself if you set the build output to diagnostic (via Tools->Options->Build and Run).
You can set them here using the dropdown
(project properties)
(configuration properties)
(general)
(platform toolset)
In VS2017 location of Visual C++ Tools has new installation model
Now it is located somwhere like C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.11.25203.
Or it can be for example C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.10.25017.
So full path depends on VS2017 edition and build number.
There is a macro $(VCInstallDir) which points to ..\VC** folder. But I need to know full path including part which depends on VS2017 **build number. I need this to find Visual C++ tools' include folder.
So can I determine this path without calling VS2017 Command Prompt (VCVARSALL.BAT) or PowerShell script etc.? Is thete some VS macro that I can simply put into VC++ Directory\Additional Directories property of my project?
Check out MSBuild variable $(VCToolsInstallDir), it should do the job for you. It is available in VS2017 C++ projects and its value is set to something like
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.12.25827\
(depending on your tools version). Alternatively you can use $(VCInstallDir) and $(VCToolsVersion) to construct the path, but $(VCToolsInstallDir) should be more reliable.
P.S. Please note these variables only work in VS 2017 and are not available in previous versions of Visual Studio.
How can I get Visual Studio 2012 to use the native amd64 toolchain, rather than the default x86_amd64 cross-compiler?
I am building a large library that causes the linker to run out of memory when doing whole program optimization and link-time code generation.
I found two older posts (here and here) asking this same question, but no answers yet. Microsoft provides documentation on how to specify the toolchain on the command line, but not in the IDE.
There is another method of forcing use of the 64-bit linker on a per-project basis for Visual Studio 2013. Edit your .vcxproj file and insert the following after the <Import...Microsoft.Cpp.Defaults line:
<Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" />
<PropertyGroup>
<PreferredToolArchitecture>x64</PreferredToolArchitecture>
</PropertyGroup>
You need to set the environment variable "_IsNativeEnvironment" to "true" prior to starting Visual Studio 2012 IDE:
set _IsNativeEnvironment=true
start "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" your_solution.sln
For Visual Studio 2013, the name of the environment variable is different:
set PreferredToolArchitecture=x64
sbm start "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" your_solution.sln
Beware that this technique does not work if the version of the IDE does not match the version of the toolchain. That is, if you use VS2013 IDE configured to run VS2012 compiler, you are out of luck. But such combination is uncommon.
Here are some links for further information:
difference between VS12 and VS13
how to embed PreferredToolArchitecture into the project in VS13
If your goal is to use the native environment rather than specifically amd64_x86, you can set the UseNativeEnvironment property in your project file:
<PropertyGroup>
<UseNativeEnvironment>true</UseNativeEnvironment>
</PropertyGroup>
(I have successfully added it to the "Globals" PropertyGroup.)
You can check which toolchain is being used by adding the /Bv compiler option. Example output is below. Notice that the toolchain directory appears after bin\ (amd64_x86 in this case).
2>ClCompile:
2> Compiler Passes:
2> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64_x86\CL.exe: Version 18.00.31101.0
2> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64_x86\c1.dll: Version 18.00.31101.0
2> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64_x86\c1xx.dll: Version 18.00.31101.0
2> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64_x86\c2.dll: Version 18.00.31101.0
2> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64_x86\link.exe: Version 12.00.31101.0
2> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64\mspdb120.dll: Version 12.00.31101.0
2> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64_x86\1033\clui.dll: Version 18.00.31101.0
I know this is a rather old post, but it's still relevant for VS 2017. Here you also have the "PreferredToolArchitecture" environment variable and a "build in" setting in the IDE is not readily available.
However you can integrate that easily on a project by project base so that you can always chose what tool architecture to use. Maybe this is helpful for some. Do this:
Go to Property Manager and create a new property sheet, e. g. named "x64 Toolchain.props" so you know what it does. With a separate property sheet you can then switch the tool architecture as appropriate by including or not including the sheet into a project.
Open the properties of that new sheet, navigate to "Common Properties\User Macros" and click "Add Macro".
In the dialog you set the name to "PreferredToolArchitecture", the value to "x64" and enable the checkbox "Set this macro as an environment variable in the build environment".
Optionally navigate to "Common Properties\C/C++\Command Line" and add "/Bv" under "Additional Options". This will make the compiler output the tools it uses including its path and version number, might be helpful for checking if really the desired architecture is being used. It will place entries in the log output window like so:
Compiler Passes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\bin\HostX86\x64\CL.exe: Version 19.15.26730.0
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\bin\HostX86\x64\c1.dll: Version 19.15.26730.0
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\bin\HostX86\x64\c1xx.dll: Version 19.15.26730.0
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\bin\HostX86\x64\c2.dll: Version 19.15.26730.0
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\bin\HostX86\x64\link.exe: Version 14.15.26730.0
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\bin\HostX86\x86\mspdb140.dll: Version 14.15.26730.0
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\bin\HostX86\x64\1033\clui.dll: Version 19.15.26730.0
Now for all projects that should be build with the x64 tool architecture include the new property sheet into the project in property manager. And for those that should not simply don't include it. That's it.
HTH
Edit:
It seems unfortunately this is not reliable! See below comments. I would really appreciate if MS would wire this setting to some GUI element and make it work consinstently...
I have a similar problem using Visual Studio 2010 on XP 64 SP2. If I set the VC++ executable directory to the amd64 bin (the native x64 folder) as the first in the search path, then I received the TRK0002 error … Invalid handle value.
But if I set _IsNativeEnvironment=true in a Visual Studio 2010 command prompt and start the ide from the command line as posted before, then the error goes away. Apparently, the 32-bit GUI IDE Environment is receiving info from a 64 bit process and is expecting info from a 32-bit process such as x86\cl.exe or x86_64\cl.exe.
In a scenario where you want to compile an IA64 bit executable, and you use the x86_ia64\cl.exe compiler. Since you are using a 32-bit cross compiler and have the _IsNativeEnvironment variable set to true, this must upset the IDE when posting messages in it's window consoles. Set the _IsNativeEnvironment=false, if you have previously set it to true.
The IDE should pick up that a native compiler was being used on a native 64-bit
machine and should have automatically set this variable to the appropriate value when the native compiler was selected from the IDE. A simple fix has never been applied to patch this problem. Solution. Do it yourself from the prompt, or buy the latest IDE from Microsoft to fix the problem.
So, the real wizards at Microsoft are the developers who work mainly from the command line. And the other developers, who wear the pointy hats and sit in the corner, must have been hired from Apple and were more concerned about appearance than function.
The whole purpose of an IDE is to make coding simple, not more complicated than using a text editor and a Makefile from the command line.
I have installed Visual Studio Express 2012 and I have added cl.exe to my PATH but apparently is missing a dll ( ? ), the mspdb110.dll, I have also noticed that there are 2 cl.exe in 2 different paths:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\VC\bin
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\VC\bin\x86_amd64
how i can compile a file main.cpp from the command line with the VS compiler ?
Where I can find a reference for this compiler ?
Thanks.
Run the vcvarsall.bat batch file from the VC directory under whatever directory you installed Visual Studio to (e.g., on my PC, it's in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\VC). This batch file will configure the environment for toolchain use.
By default, it will configure the environment for use of the x86 native toolchain. You can also provide an argument to the batch file to use a different toolchain. For example, you can pass amd64 to use the native x64 toolchain, or x86_amd64 to use the x86 -> x64 cross compilation toolchain. Take a look at the contents of the batch file if you are interested in other options or what, exactly, it configures.
When I compile my C++ program in Visual Studio Express it says that it can't find atlbase.h. Am I missing some SDK or something?
Visual Studio 2017
When running the Visual Studio Installer, select the Individual components tab, and under SDKs, libraries, and frameworks make sure Visual C++ ATL Support is selected.
It is included with the Windows Driver Kit Version 7.1.0.
Microsoft ATL (Active Template Library), which includes the header atlbase.h is included with the Windows 2003 SDK, but it is not included with any newer Windows SDK release. It is also included with Professional editions of Visual Studio.
Solution for Visual Studio 2017 Express edition
I had the same error when building a COM C++ project in Visual Studio 2017 Express edition. As mentioned by several users here, ATL support is not included with the Express edition of Visual Studio. So to build a C++ COM/ATL project you need at least the Community edition.
If you really need to use the Express edition, you can download and install the Build Tools for Visual Studio 2017. Make sure to enable the 'Visual C++ ATL for x86 and x64' component during the setup.
After that add additional VC++ directories in the project properties:
Include directories: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.14.26428\atlmfc\include
Library directories: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.14.26428\atlmfc\lib\x86
The VC++ compiler should now be able to find the ATL source and library files.
For users of Visual Studio 2015, ensure Common Tools for C++ is installed (part of the VS installer).
Situation
With Visual Studio 2017 Community Edition, we installed "Visual C++ ATL support" and MFC and ATL support. The error still occurred in our x64 project.
Solution
We fixed some paths with the following two commands:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC>mklink /d atlmfc "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.11.25503\atlmfc"
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.11.25503\atlmfc\lib>mklink /d amd64 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.11.25503\atlmfc\lib\x64
Details
We eventually found the header atlbase.h in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.11.25503\atlmfc\include. This path simply was not added to the VC Include directory by vsvars32.bat, so the header was not found during build.
vsvars32.bat includes the following line:
#if exist "%VCINSTALLDIR%ATLMFC\INCLUDE" set INCLUDE=%VCINSTALLDIR%ATLMFC\INCLUDE;%INCLUDE%`.
This resolved to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\atlmfc\include in our machine.
We created a directory junction, so the build tool finds atlbase.h in the expected directory (this is the first command from the Solution section above):
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC>mklink /d atlmfc "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.11.25503\atlmfc"
Afterwards, the linker did not find atls.lib (see Cannot Open File atls.lib). This was due to the expected file structure was that lib should directly contain the x86 version of the libs and lib\amd64 should contain the x64 variants. Instead, lib\x86 contained the x86 versions and lib\x64 contained the 64 bit versions. Since we build a 64 bit project, creating another directory junk from amd64 to x64 solved the problem:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.11.25503\atlmfc\lib>mklink /d amd64 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.11.25503\atlmfc\lib\x64
That header appears to be a part of the Windows Platform SDK.
You should search your computer for the file. That will tell you if you're missing it.
I had same problem with sample project. I specified the sample project's properties and the sample project compiled successfully.
Visual Studio 8
For header
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\atlmfc\include
For .lib file
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\atlmfc\lib
I have not yet seen anyone mention Visual Studio 2015 (MSBuild 14.0). In this case I've had to download Visual C++ BuildTools (found here: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/older-downloads/). After having installed this, running the installer again allowed me to modify the installation and include the ATL libs.
Hope this helps anyone that is still using MSBuild 14.0