VC post-build event command - c++

Now I am building a .dll project with VC 10. Depending on whether certain libraries are included or not, the output .dll as well as its corresponding lib file names should be different. For example, if the project uses the native STL library provided by Mirosoft, the .dll name is *_native_stl.dll; if the project uses STLport, then the output .dll name is *_stlport.dll. Of course I can do it manually, but I am now considering to let VC 10 do it for me automatically. My plan is that if I use a certain library, I define a variable to represent it in the Preprocessor Definitions (located in C/C++ Preprocessor)section. After that, I define a .bat file in the Post-Build Event (located in Build Events) section: call "$(ProjectDir)\script.bat". In the script.bat file, I will changed the default .dll output name $(OutDir)$(TargetName)$(TargetExt) according to the variable definition in the Preprocessor Definitions section. My main problem is that for in batch file how I can check a certain variable is defined or not. Thanks! Any suggestions on changing output file name are welcome as well.

My main problem is that for in batch file how I can check a certain variable is defined or not. Thanks!
You can check this with a statement like this:
if "%MYVAR%" == "" set undefined=1
The variable undefined will be set to 1 only if MYVAR is not defined.

Related

How do I conditionally compile c++ source files in Visual Studio 2019?

I need to conditionally compile C++ source files based on either environment variables or other input parameters. Is there a mechanism in VS2019 to do this?
This solution works with VS2017 but I don't know of any reason why it wouldn't also work with VS2019.
You can "import" environment variables as preprocessor definitions. In your Visual Studio project's properties go to Configuration Properties -> C/C++ -> Preprocessor. Click in the Preprocessor Definitions field, hit the down arrow at the far right and select Edit.
Here, you can add preprocessor definitions that include environment variables. Each line represents a definition with the notation [name]=[value] which defines a preprocessor definition named [name] which will be substituted by [value]. Environment variables should be wrapped in a $() to be resolved. So, for example, to import the environment variable MY_ENV_VAR you would add the definition MY_ENV_VAR=$(MY_ENV_VAR). If MY_ENV_VAR had say 5 at the time of compilation, this definition would be equivalent to having a #define MY_ENV_VAR 5 available across the project.
In your source file, you can then wrap your code with a #if/#endif guard to conditionally compile that code. Using the same example, to only compile a source file if MY_ENV_VAR is exactly 1, you would write :
#if MY_ENV_VAR == 1
// Entire source file
#endif // #if MY_ENV_VAR == 1
Note that environment variables are loaded when Visual Studio launches. You may need to restart Visual Studio if you want recent changes to the environment variables to be visible.
This can actually be accomplished directly by editing the project's .vcxproj file by adding a "Condition" attribute to the CLCompile element for the file in question.
Note that if you do add a Condition attribute then change the properties specifically for that file VS may remove the attribute (I am not sure whether VS does so or not, but it is something to keep in mind).

How to compile a static library with Codelite 11.0.0?

I would like to compile a static library out of all the functions I have written for a C++ project. I am using CodeLite 11.0.0 on Ubuntu 16.04, configured to use GCC as compiler.
I have followed the instructions in CodeLite's tutorial, according to which this should be possible, and changed the project type from Executable to Static Library.
After running the project (CTRL+F5 command), I expected to find a .a file in the /Debug folder, either along with, or in place of the executable file. All I could find, though, was the executable and a number of .o and .o.d files. The same I was finding when the project was set to Executable.
I tried to close and reopen CodeLite, but it did not help. I can't find any official/unofficial example of how to build a static library with CodeLite.
Does anyone know how to set-up CodeLite to produce a .a static library file?
As you've probably discovered, CodeLite allows you to change the type of a
project in the drop-down menu from Settings -> General -> Project type.
Doing so, however, does not change the name of the project target. So, if
you started off your project as an executable myprog - from which, say, the
Debug build generated ./Debug/myprog under the project folder - then
you change the project type to static library and rebuild it, the Debug
build will still generate ./Debug/myprog, but that file will now in fact
be a static library, lacking the customary lib-prefix and .a extension.
To give the output file a conventional static library name -
libmyprog.a - you need to go back into Settings -> General and
change Output File from:
$(IntermediateDirectory)/$(ProjectName)
to:
$(IntermediateDirectory)/lib$(ProjectName).a
Then rebuild the project and it will output a target that is a static
library and looks like one.
Of course, you must make the same changes to the project settings in both
the Debug and Release configurations if you want them both to produce
targets with the same file type and file name.
However...
If this way of converting a program project to a static library project does not
seem very slick, that could be because it is a conversion of very little use.
The static library produced after the conversion will contain exactly the same object
files that the program was built from, including the object file that defines
the main function of the original program. Let's suppose that object file
is main.o, and that it defines 0 or more other functions that the linker can see.
Any other program, newprog, that is linked with the static library must provide
its own main function in a different object file, so in any such linkage one of
two things must happen:-
The linkage of newprog does not need any function defined in libmyprog.a(main.o),
so libmyprog.a(main.o) is not linked and might as well not exist.
The linkage of newprog does need some function, foo, defined in libmyprog.a(main.o),
so libmyprog.a(main.o) is linked; then as well as the definition of foo, the
program links duplicate definitions of main - its own definition plus the
one in libmyprog.a(main.o). Duplicate definitions are an error, so the linkage fails.
Putting a definition of some program's main function into a member of a static
library is pointless, because if that member is ever needed in the linkage of another
program then its linkage will fail.
So converting your program project to a static library project calls for some
refactoring prior to the conversion:-
If any function that you want in the static library is defined in the same source
file as main, then you need to take it out of that source file and define it
is a different one.
After that, remove the source file that defines main from the project.
Lastly, convert and rebuild the project.
You have to do that refactoring to extract from your original program source code
a bunch of source files that are suitable for building into a static library.
Assuming you've done that, the straightforward way to create a static library with
CodeLite is to create a project for that purpose and in the New Project Wizard
choose Library -> Static Library as the project type instead of some kind
of executable.
Then just add either new or existing source files to the static library project
until it contains definitions of all the functions you want the library to
provide. Build, test, debug, edit... until done.

How to bind static library in a dynamic one in Code::Blocks

I have this static(.a/.lib) library which I wanted to bind in my dynamic(.dll).
Lets say the static library is libColors.a and the dynamic is SWC.dll.
Now I already change the libColors.a project properties to make a static library--build it--and I haven't found any .dll created, only the .o and .a files which is expected. I switched to my SWC.dll project and change its properties to make a dynamic library and check the box to create also a .a file--link the libColors.a--build it--and the .dll file is created. (also note that I put __declspec(import/export) specification on its classes)
Now I want this SWC.dll to use in an executable file. However, when I include only the SWC.h file in the executable, it gets tons of undefined references. Seems there's a problem here since I didn't call any functions on SWC.h. So, I add on my .exe build options the SWC.a, now it builds with no error. But when I run it, it says I needed the Colors.dll? What do I miss?
You can use tools like objdump, CFF Explorer or Dependency Walker to view the import table of the PE-COFF executable in question.
The likely explanation is that the way your Colors project is compiled isn't really a static library. You can check this by inspecting both SWC.dll and your test executable's import table. Chances are that you'll find an import entry from Colors.dll in one of them and what function's it's trying to import.
Check the data and functions declared in Color.h and make sure they're not decorated with __declspec() anywhere. If the functions in Color.h preprocesses into something like __declspec(dllimport) in 'SWC' this can cause the problem you're seeing.

Choosing which main function to use in Visual C++ 2010

I'm porting a C++ application from Unix and the original developer created several files with main() functions, then use Makefile to choose which main() to use.
How do choose which file contains the main() function in Visual C++ 2010?
Currently, when I compile I get a linker error due to duplicate main() symbols.
The only thing I can think of is macro conditional.
Any other ideas?
Multiple main functions mean that the original code does not create a single executable, but rather a set of them. You should figure out what parts belong to each one of the executables (read the Makefile) and then create different projects inside the solution one for each one of the executables (do the same for the libs). Then you can use the IDE to select which executable you want to compile/run.
in the Configuration Properties for each source file (right-click in Solution Explorer) you can select 'Excluded From Build'. As this is a per-configuration setting, you can add some configurations and mutually exclude the files with main(). For instance for configuration 'MainA' you include maina.cpp and exclude mainb.cpp and mainc.cpp, for 'MainB' include mainb.cpp and exclude maina.cpp and mainc.cpp, etc.
Another option would be to have only one main() and select the appropriate source using arguments or a configuration file. Or, maybe the best solution, create one project for each main file and put the common parts in a static or shared library.

Change IDL generated header file

I'm working on a legacy c++ COM project that I'm moving over to Visual Studio 2010. In the IDL file for this project, I have to reference an ODL file from another c++ project. My problem is that the other project generates its header file as $(filename)_h.h. When my IDL file generates its header file, it generates the ODL filename as $filename.h, and it can't reference the correct file.
In other words, in my IDL file ("MyIDLFile.idl") I have a statement like
import "MyODLFile.odl"
which in the generated file ("MyIDLFile.h") becomes
include "MyODLFile.h"
when I need it to generate
include "MyODLFile_h.h"
How do I specify the file name I want the IDL to generate in an import statement?
I'm not sure what you mean about the import statement, but what you're looking for might be found under the project's Properties. Goto the properties window (Alt-F7) and under "Configuration Properties/MIDL/Output", you'll have the opportunity to declare the Header File which you want it to create. Since your project is legacy, it may be easier to just remove the "_h" from the header file name (e.g. $(ProjectName).h instead of $(ProjectName)_h.h). See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321274 for a lil more info.
This is a common problem to solve when dealing with IDL files. The good thing is that there are a few ways to solve this problem:
The use MIDL compiler's options to change the generated output
Layer your component such that conflicting files are compiled in different paths. You can also control how the generated files are published. Then, code that needs to include it can control where the files are included from.
Your ultimate solution may use a little of #1 and #2.
The MIDL compiler has several options to modify the names of output files, or excluding output files.
Directly specifying names:
-OUTPUT FILE NAMES-
/cstub filename Specify client stub file name
/dlldata filename Specify dlldata file name
/h filename Specify header file name
/header filename Specify header file name
/iid filename Specify interface UUID file name
/proxy filename Specify proxy file name
/sstub filename Specify server stub file name
/tlb filename Specify type library file name
Skipping output files:
-OUTPUT FILE GENERATION-
/client none Do not generate client files
/server none Generate no server files
/notlb Don't generate the tlb file
I personally have used the /prefix option to avoid name collisions of headers in the past.
/no_default_epv Do not generate a default entry-point vector
/prefix client str Add "str" prefix to client-side entry points
/prefix server str Add "str" prefix to server-side manager routines
/prefix switch str Add "str" prefix to switch routine prototypes
/prefix all str Add "str" prefix to all routines
This is an example of that:
/prefix client HIDE_
The interface with method foo would be renamed to HIDE_foo in the header.
The other strategy that works is related to how you layer your directories, build order, and publish files, and use include paths, and order the actual includes. I am only used to using sources with dir files, and build.exe, so I can't give any advice how that works with VS.
This seems to be a common problem, I haven't been able to find any good solution but one workaround is to append a '_i" to your idl files, e.g. EquipmentConstants_i.idl
Microsoft does reference a /header compile switch but I haven't been able to get that to work (midl /header switch).