in my application, I use various resources. I specified pre-build events to copy my resources to output directory. My directory structure looks like this:
/Debug/Models/
/Debug/Shaders/
/Debug/Textures/
/Debug/sfero.exe
/Debug/...
I want to access these resources relative to the .exe file and that works fine when I run the executable directly from Debug folder, but when I run it in Visual Studio, it is being launched in different directory, thus I cannot access my resources. Obviously, I don't want to copy my resources to location from where Visual Studio runs my application.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
You can either make your application logic smarter about searching for resources, or you can pass command-line parameters (see the Debugging area of Project Properties) when launching from Visual Studio, passing the path where to look.
The default current directory in Visual Studio is defined as $(ProjectDir) - which is by default the location of your vcproj file.
Go to your project's Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Debugging -> Working Directory and change it to $(SolutionDir)$(Configuration)\ or whatever your Output Directory points to.
Related
Usually, I place all the assets I need in the project folder, and whenever I run it using the Visual Studio debugger, it runs fine. But when I run the .exe file using the command line, or by just clicking on it, it has problems loading the files. The only way it can load the files is if copy all the resource files in the folder that my .exe application resides in. How could change where Visual Studio looks for the resource files when I run it using the Visual Studio Debugger so that it looks in the folder with the .exe in it, and not the project folder for all configurations (i.e. Debug and Release).
If I understand correctly you would like to move application dependencies into the Debug or Release folder.
You can do it using project property page (right click on the project and select properties). From list on the left side, select build events. There are three options, you can use Post-Build.
Have a look here : Visual Studio Post Build Event - Copy to Relative Directory Location
I have set my project to output my .exe file into a specific directory, and if I run this compiled executable outside of Visual Studio, it can find and use the files around it using cstdio. However, if I run it within Visual Studio, those files are suddenly gone, as if it's in the wrong directory.
What is causing this, and how might I fix it?
Visual Studio will run the program that's "over there" in its own project folder, so the program's working directory, where it creates and looks for files etc..., will be the project directory and not where the executable is stored.
You can do this yourself. Open a command prompt and type the full path to the executable. It will run, write, and look for files in the prompt's current folder.
Do not use argv[0]. this will give you the command line, and might not include the actual location of the executable.
If you want to keep your files with the executable no matter where the program is run from, GetModuleFileName will tell you where the executable is. You can then strip off the executable to get the path and concatenate that with the names of other files you want to stay in the same folder as, or relative to, the executable. With this approach you can run the program from anywhere, including Visual Studio.
If you want to know where the executable is being run from and make your own way, use _getcwd.
If all you care about is Visual Studio, navigate to Project->Properties->Configuration Properties->Debugging and set the Working Directory to the target directory
I will assume that what you really want to do is to copy the executable elsewhere after the build. That way you don't have to have anything special in the executable that is only for debugging (development). You can have Visual Studio do the copy for you automatically using a Custom Build Step. The build should create the executable in the same project directory that it normally does, then the copy will be done after that (like a mini deployment).
In the project's properties:
Select "Build Events" | "Post-Build Step"
Enter a post build event command to do the copy, for example:
copy "$(TargetDir)$(TargetFileName)" "G:\Temporary"
Where "G:\Temporary" is wherever you want the file to be copied to.
Be mindful of the configuration. You can choose to create the Custom Build Step for both debug and release configurations, but then the executable will be copied to the same place for both configurations. You probably will want a different copy command for each configuration.
While in the property page for entering the Custom Build Step, you can click the down-arrow and select "Edit..." (inside the less than and greater than symbols) to get help creating the command. While doing that, click on "Macros>>" to see the big list of available macros.
I am porting an old visual studio C++ project. I have a data folder in the project directory that contains all the image assets. The project is build using an external make file.
My problem is, the project cannot load the asset files while running the executable from the VS IDE during debugging. However, if I execute the exe from bin folder, it can load the assets.I am assuming there are some kind of environment issue in the project, but could not figured it out.
Any clue?
My guess is that the program tries to access the assets using a relative path like ..\data\some.data. It works when you run it manually from the bin folder, because the current directory is set to the bin folder itself (the folder from where an application was launched) by default.
But when running projects from the Visual Studio IDE, parameters set under "Project properties > Debugging" tab apply instead. There is an option "Working directory", which defaults to $(ProjectDir), i.e. the folder where the project file resides.
Try changing that to the bin folder, or, if the resulting .exe file is placed directly there, easily just to the $(OutDir) variable.
I have made a test program in Visual Studio 2013 using Direct X 11. It consists of a simple sprite which rotates slowly based on a timer implementation. The program loads and runs fine using F5 or Ctrl-F5, but when I try to open the actual created .exe (in my \Debug folder) it just shows the window then closes instantly.
Most of the answers I have read on this issue correspond to loading the .exe from inside visual studio. I have also tried Release mode but the same thing happens.
Sprite files are kept in your project folder. The default run-location from the Visual Studio IDE is the project folder of the project which you're executing. That is, normally it executes from the directory where your .vcproj or .vcprojx file is kept (and that is often one folder below your solution directory folder, where your .sln file is kept).
If your project runs correctly from the IDE, but fails to run directly from the debug folder, it is highly likely you are relying on project data files that are kept along side your source files in the project folder. When run from the Debug folder, those files are no longer visible because Debug folder is your working directory; not the project folder.
There are a number of ways to solve this problem, each with its own merits. A few options are:
Post Build Step
Make a post-build step for your project that copies your data files to the $(TargetDir) location with your project. These files will then be visible in the same directory as your executable.
Benefit: Its easy.
Drawback: It will always run if you click "build solution" even if the data files are "up-to-date."
Custom Build Targets
Add your data files to the project and write a Custom Build script that performs the same copy, but also establishes an output dependency file(s).
Benefit: Almost as easy as #1, but a little more tedious.
Drawback: You may have a lot of data files and each will require its own custom build step. (Note: you can multi-select all the data files in your project, and if you're creative with the built-in macros you can have them all use the "same" build rules and commands).
Embedded Resources
Add the data files as custom resources to your executable.
Benefit: Your project no longer requires data files side-by-side with the executable since they are embedded in the resource table of your EXE module.
Drawback: Custom code is required to dynamically load the custom resources from your executable's resource table rather than off-disk. It isn't difficult at all to do, but is additional work.
There are other options as well, but I hope this gives you some ideas to start with.
I have been following some tutorials for c++ game programing. I am kind of new to c++ and I'm using Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Express IDE. I'm working on creating a game, and when I run the program through the IDE, it shows the grass sprites as expected. But when I run the .exe file from the Release folder, it shows weird images. and when I run the .exe file from the debug folder I get a grey screen. Can anybody tell me why this is happening?
I hazard to guess that your sprite images are kept as data files in your project folder. With that I offer the following premise:
The default run-location from the Visual Studio IDE is the project folder of the project which you're executing. That is, normally it executes from the directory where your .vcproj or .vcprojx file is kept (and that is often one folder below your solution directory folder, where your .sln file is kept).
If your project runs correctly from the IDE, but fails to run directly from the release folder, it is highly likely you are relying on project data files (images in your case) that are kept along side your source files in the project folder. When run from the Release folder, those files are no longer visible because your the Release folder is your working directory; not the project folder.
There are a number of ways to solve this problem, each with its own merits. A few options are:
Post Build Step
Make a post-build step for your project that copies your data files to the $(TargetDir) location with your project. These files will then be visible in the same directory as your executable.
Benefit: Its easy.
Drawback: It will always run if you click "build solution" even if the data files are "up-to-date."
Custom Build Targets
Add your data files to the project and write a Custom Build script that performs the same copy, but also establishes an output dependency file(s).
Benefit: Almost as easy as #1, but a little more tedious.
Drawback: You may have a lot of data files and each will require its own custom build step. (Note: you can multi-select all the data files in your project, and if you're creative with the built-in macros you can have them all use the "same" build rules and commands).
Embedded Resources
Add the data files as custom resources to your executable.
Benefit: Your project no longer requires data files side-by-side with the executable since they are embedded in the resource table of your EXE module.
Drawback: Custom code is required to dynamically load the custom resources from your executable's resource table rather than off-disk. It isn't difficult at all to do, but is additional work.
There are other options as well, but I hope this gives you some ideas to start with.
I use VS2008 and try to answer your question. Right click on the project and select properties on the bottom of popup, then go to Debugging under Configuration properties. You can see command you run and arguments you pass in IDE. I guess you miss some parameters.