{"id":4123,"date":"2010-01-11T13:46:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-11T13:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.msdn.microsoft.com\/vcblog\/2010\/01\/11\/vcbuild-vs-c-msbuild-on-the-command-line\/"},"modified":"2019-02-18T18:45:41","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T18:45:41","slug":"vcbuild-vs-c-msbuild-on-the-command-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/vcbuild-vs-c-msbuild-on-the-command-line\/","title":{"rendered":"VCBuild vs. C++ MSBuild on the Command Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Visual Studio 2010, the command line tool vcbuild.exe will be replaced by msbuild.exe. The executable change does mean switches will change, too.  To help make the migration easier, I have created this table as a quick guide to the new switches and highlight some differences between the tools.  The table below isn’t a complete table of all the switches provided in both tools.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Migrating to MSBuild requires a new project type with a different extension (vcxproj).  Visual Studio comes with two tools for converting existing projects and solutions.  When dealing with a single project, the “vcupgrade.exe <filename>.vcproj” tool provides a quick conversion.  When dealing with multiple projects in a solution, use devenv to converts the whole solutions (.sln) and all of the projects within.  Once the project or solution has been converted without errors, you can use MSBuild.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

When invoked with no explicit project configuration, VCBuild used to build all Configuration and Platform matrix by default, MSBuild, in contrast, builds only the default “Debug | Win32”.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

In MSBuild, any feature that is enabled by \/p[roperty] switch can also be enabled by setting the environment variable with the respective name.  For an example, “set Configuration=Debug” in the command line is the same as passing “\/p:Configuration=Debug” to all MSBuild execution.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

[] = optional characters to help remember the switch<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Build Project<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

VCBuild.exe <projectname.vcproj><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

MSBuild.exe <projectname.vcxproj><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Build Solution<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

VCBuild.exe <solutionname.sln><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

MSBuild.exe <solutionname.sln><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Rebuild<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/rebuild<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/t[arget]:rebuild<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Clean<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/clean<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/t[arget]:clean<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Use Environment variables for INCLUDE and LIB<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/useenv<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/p[roperty]:useenv=true<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Multi-processor build *<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/m#<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/m:#<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Platform<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/platform:<platform><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/p:Platform=<platform> <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Configuration<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

<configuration><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/p:Configuration=<configuration><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Force Link (Link will always execute)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/forcelink<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/t:BuildLink<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Passes<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/pass0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/t:BuildGenerateSources<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/pass1<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/t:BuildCompile<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/pass2<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/t:BuildLink \/p:BuildType=Build<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

(BuildType property enables the incremental build tracking)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

* Command line build are defaulted to use a single node (\/m:1).  We encourage using n nodes where n is equal to the number of cores on the machine.  <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

MSBuild specific switches<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Single File Build (Selected File Build)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Specify the files and tool’s target name that would execute upon the files. **<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/t:<toolname> \/p:SelectedFiles=”<files>”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\/t:ClCompile<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\/p: SelectedFiles=”StdAfx.cpp;main.cpp”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Preprocess project file<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Aggregate the project file by inlining all the files that would be imported during a build.  This doesn’t actually perform a build.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/PreProcess<:file> or \/pp<:fi<\/a>le><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\/pp:outfile.txt<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

File logging<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Logs the build into msbuild.log. See msbuild help for more information and options.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/FileLogger or \/fl<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Verbosity<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Silence or increase details about the build.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Quiet and would barely show<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/V[erbosity]:(q[uiet], m[inimal], n[ormal], d[etailed], or diag[nostic])<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Detailed Summary<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Provide statistics and summary at the end of build.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\/DetailedSummary or \/ds<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

** At this time, I can’t provide a list of tools, but there will be a complete list of possible targets on MSDN when it is ready.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

If I have missed any options that you feel are important enough to go onto this list, please comment below.  I have left out many possible switches in order to emphasis the commonly used ones.  For further references, consider these links below:<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

MSBuild Command Line Reference – <\/span>http:\/\/msdn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/library\/ms164311.aspx<\/font><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

VC++ Building on the Command Line – <\/span>http:\/\/msdn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/library\/f35ctcxw%28VS.100%29.aspx<\/font><\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The New VC++ Project\/Build system – <\/span>https:\/\/channel9.msdn.com\/posts\/Charles\/Bogdan-Mihalcea-The-New-VC-ProjectBuild-system-MSBuild-for-C\/<\/font><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Felix Huang<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

VC Project & Build Team<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/font><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Visual Studio 2010, the command line tool vcbuild.exe will be replaced by msbuild.exe. The executable change does mean switches will change, too.  To help make the migration easier, I have created this table as a quick guide to the new switches and highlight some differences between the tools.  The table below isn’t a complete […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":289,"featured_media":35994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[53,13,54,33],"class_list":["post-4123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cplusplus","tag-command-line","tag-msbuild","tag-vc-project-system","tag-vcbuild"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"

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