Command line compilation while augmenting preprocessor defintion

BOUGNOUX Sylvain 1 Reputation point
2022-05-05T15:37:29.643+00:00

Sorry if it has been asked many times, but I still cannot make my way.

I've a C++ foo.sln generating foo.exe. I would like to script the generation passing different preprocessor options (like /DFOO1 /DFOO2 ...). There are msbuild, devenv, nmake, cmake, vcbuild ... This question being asked for more than a decade now!

For unknown reason 'msbuild foo.sln /p:DefineConstants=FOO1 /t:Rebuild', does not work (and '/D FOO1' does not even appear in the cl.exe generated command)! (Even it is not the right solution as I just want to add new defines not overwriting them all).

I am sure cmake will work, but I would like to avoid wasting time generating and maintaining both makefile & foo.sln)

Making several configurations (within foo.sln) for each combination is a nightmare as their number explode.

devenv seems too limited; nmake I don't know; vcbuild is obsolete?

It is quite strange for me to run into this issue in 2022, for this trivial workflow.

Thanks for your help

Using VS2017pro, here with vcvars64.bat

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  1. RLWA32 40,851 Reputation points
    2022-05-05T18:02:13.077+00:00

    It's possible with msbuild if you are willing to do a bit of editing to the preprocessor definitions for various projects of interest.

    For example -

    199343-foo-preproc.png

    Code for proof of concept to show what macros have been defined - 

    #include <stdio.h>  
#include <tchar.h>  
  
int main()  
{  
#ifdef FOO1  
    puts("FOO1 defined");  
#endif  
#ifdef FOO2  
    puts("FOO2 defined");  
#endif  
#ifdef FOO3  
    puts("FOO3 defined");  
#endif  
    puts("All done.");  
    return 0;  
}

    msbuild command - Dont define any macros.

    199290-nomacros.png

    msbuild command - Define FOO1

    199323-onemacro.png

    msbuild command - Define FOO1 & FOO2

    199299-twomacros.png

  2. BOUGNOUX Sylvain 1 Reputation point
    2022-05-06T08:06:02.51+00:00

    Thanks for your prompt answer, I knew this trick from (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/485237/define-a-preprocessor-value-from-command-line-using-msbuild last answer). I confirm it works now, I should have messed up something during my 1st trial. Thanks again.

    PS: you don't need several $(Custom_i), eg I have $(MyConstants), and use it as '/p:MyConstants="FOO1;FOO2"'

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