Project Files

A Visual C++ project file is an XML file that has the extension .vcproj, and contains information that is required to build a Visual C++ project.

Note

.vcproj files are not compatible with NMAKE. For more information about how to build Visual C++ projects with NMAKE, see NMAKE Reference.

Example

The following is a sample .vcproj file for a Win32 Console Application:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>
<VisualStudioProject
    ProjectType="Visual C++"
    Version="9.00"
    Name="SomeProjName"
    ProjectGUID="{60B720A1-39B7-44FD-9729-D74302AE8D51}"
    RootNamespace="SomeProjName"
    Keyword="Win32Proj"
    >
    <Platforms>
        <Platform
            Name="Win32"
        />
    </Platforms>
    <ToolFiles>
    </ToolFiles>
    <Configurations>
        <Configuration
            Name="Debug|Win32"
            OutputDirectory="$(SolutionDir)$(ConfigurationName)"
            IntermediateDirectory="$(ConfigurationName)"
            ConfigurationType="1"
            CharacterSet="1"
            >
            <Tool
                Name="VCPreBuildEventTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCCustomBuildTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCXMLDataGeneratorTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCWebServiceProxyGeneratorTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCMIDLTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
                Optimization="0"
                PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_DEBUG;_CONSOLE"
                MinimalRebuild="true"
                BasicRuntimeChecks="3"
                RuntimeLibrary="3"
                UsePrecompiledHeader="2"
                WarningLevel="3"
                Detect64BitPortabilityProblems="true"
                DebugInformationFormat="4"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCManagedResourceCompilerTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCResourceCompilerTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCPreLinkEventTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCLinkerTool"
                LinkIncremental="2"
                GenerateDebugInformation="true"
                SubSystem="1"
                TargetMachine="1"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCALinkTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCManifestTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCXDCMakeTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCBscMakeTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCFxCopTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCAppVerifierTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCWebDeploymentTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCPostBuildEventTool"
            />
        </Configuration>
        <Configuration
            Name="Release|Win32"
            OutputDirectory="$(SolutionDir)$(ConfigurationName)"
            IntermediateDirectory="$(ConfigurationName)"
            ConfigurationType="1"
            CharacterSet="1"
            WholeProgramOptimization="1"
            >
            <Tool
                Name="VCPreBuildEventTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCCustomBuildTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCXMLDataGeneratorTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCWebServiceProxyGeneratorTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCMIDLTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
                PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;NDEBUG;_CONSOLE"
                RuntimeLibrary="2"
                UsePrecompiledHeader="2"
                WarningLevel="3"
                Detect64BitPortabilityProblems="true"
                DebugInformationFormat="3"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCManagedResourceCompilerTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCResourceCompilerTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCPreLinkEventTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCLinkerTool"
                LinkIncremental="1"
                GenerateDebugInformation="true"
                SubSystem="1"
                OptimizeReferences="2"
                EnableCOMDATFolding="2"
                TargetMachine="1"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCALinkTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCManifestTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCXDCMakeTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCBscMakeTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCFxCopTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCAppVerifierTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCWebDeploymentTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCPostBuildEventTool"
            />
        </Configuration>
    </Configurations>
    <References>
    </References>
    <Files>
        <Filter
            Name="Source Files"
            Filter="cpp;c;cc;cxx;def;odl;idl;hpj;bat;asm;asmx"
            UniqueIdentifier="{4FC737F1-C7A5-4376-A066-2A32D752A2FF}"
            >
            <File
                RelativePath=".\SomeProjName.cpp"
                >
            </File>
            <File
                RelativePath=".\stdafx.cpp"
                >
                <FileConfiguration
                    Name="Debug|Win32"
                    >
                    <Tool
                        Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
                        UsePrecompiledHeader="1"
                    />
                </FileConfiguration>
                <FileConfiguration
                    Name="Release|Win32"
                    >
                    <Tool
                        Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
                        UsePrecompiledHeader="1"
                    />
                </FileConfiguration>
            </File>
        </Filter>
        <Filter
            Name="Header Files"
            Filter="h;hpp;hxx;hm;inl;inc;xsd"
            UniqueIdentifier="{93995380-89BD-4b04-88EB-625FBE52EBFB}"
            >
            <File
                RelativePath=".\stdafx.h"
                >
            </File>
        </Filter>
        <Filter
            Name="Resource Files"
            Filter="rc;ico;cur;bmp;dlg;rc2;rct;bin;rgs;gif;jpg;jpeg;jpe;resx;tiff;tif;png;wav"
            UniqueIdentifier="{67DA6AB6-F800-4c08-8B7A-83BB121AAD01}"
            >
        </Filter>
        <File
            RelativePath=".\ReadMe.txt"
            >
        </File>
    </Files>
    <Globals>
    </Globals>
</VisualStudioProject>

Example

The following is a sample .vcproj file for a Windows Forms Application:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Windows-1252"?>
<VisualStudioProject
    ProjectType="Visual C++"
    Version="9.00"
    Name="SomeProjName2"
    ProjectGUID="{9F98E38E-199E-4226-8041-6E6A5C9A6D14}"
    RootNamespace="SomeProjName2"
    Keyword="ManagedCProj"
    >
    <Platforms>
        <Platform
            Name="Win32"
        />
    </Platforms>
    <ToolFiles>
    </ToolFiles>
    <Configurations>
        <Configuration
            Name="Debug|Win32"
            OutputDirectory="$(SolutionDir)$(ConfigurationName)"
            IntermediateDirectory="$(ConfigurationName)"
            ConfigurationType="1"
            CharacterSet="1"
            ManagedExtensions="2"
            >
            <Tool
                Name="VCPreBuildEventTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCCustomBuildTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCXMLDataGeneratorTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCWebServiceProxyGeneratorTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCMIDLTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
                Optimization="0"
                PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;_DEBUG"
                RuntimeLibrary="3"
                UsePrecompiledHeader="2"
                WarningLevel="3"
                DebugInformationFormat="3"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCManagedResourceCompilerTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCResourceCompilerTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCPreLinkEventTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCLinkerTool"
                AdditionalDependencies="$(NoInherit)"
                LinkIncremental="2"
                GenerateDebugInformation="true"
                AssemblyDebug="1"
                SubSystem="2"
                EntryPointSymbol="main"
                TargetMachine="1"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCALinkTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCManifestTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCXDCMakeTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCBscMakeTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCFxCopTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCAppVerifierTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCWebDeploymentTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCPostBuildEventTool"
            />
        </Configuration>
        <Configuration
            Name="Release|Win32"
            OutputDirectory="$(SolutionDir)$(ConfigurationName)"
            IntermediateDirectory="$(ConfigurationName)"
            ConfigurationType="1"
            CharacterSet="1"
            ManagedExtensions="2"
            WholeProgramOptimization="1"
            >
            <Tool
                Name="VCPreBuildEventTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCCustomBuildTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCXMLDataGeneratorTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCWebServiceProxyGeneratorTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCMIDLTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
                PreprocessorDefinitions="WIN32;NDEBUG"
                RuntimeLibrary="2"
                UsePrecompiledHeader="2"
                WarningLevel="3"
                DebugInformationFormat="3"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCManagedResourceCompilerTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCResourceCompilerTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCPreLinkEventTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCLinkerTool"
                AdditionalDependencies="$(NoInherit)"
                LinkIncremental="1"
                GenerateDebugInformation="true"
                SubSystem="2"
                EntryPointSymbol="main"
                TargetMachine="1"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCALinkTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCManifestTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCXDCMakeTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCBscMakeTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCFxCopTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCAppVerifierTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCWebDeploymentTool"
            />
            <Tool
                Name="VCPostBuildEventTool"
            />
        </Configuration>
    </Configurations>
    <References>
        <AssemblyReference
            RelativePath="System.dll"
            AssemblyName="System, Version=2.0.0.0, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=MSIL"
            MinFrameworkVersion="131072"
        />
        <AssemblyReference
            RelativePath="System.Data.dll"
            AssemblyName="System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=x86"
            MinFrameworkVersion="131072"
        />
        <AssemblyReference
            RelativePath="System.Drawing.dll"
            AssemblyName="System.Drawing, Version=2.0.0.0, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL"
            MinFrameworkVersion="131072"
        />
        <AssemblyReference
            RelativePath="System.Windows.Forms.dll"
            AssemblyName="System.Windows.Forms, Version=2.0.0.0, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=MSIL"
            MinFrameworkVersion="131072"
        />
        <AssemblyReference
            RelativePath="System.XML.dll"
            AssemblyName="System.Xml, Version=2.0.0.0, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=MSIL"
            MinFrameworkVersion="131072"
        />
    </References>
    <Files>
        <Filter
            Name="Source Files"
            Filter="cpp;c;cc;cxx;def;odl;idl;hpj;bat;asm;asmx"
            UniqueIdentifier="{4FC737F1-C7A5-4376-A066-2A32D752A2FF}"
            >
            <File
                RelativePath=".\AssemblyInfo.cpp"
                >
            </File>
            <File
                RelativePath=".\SomeProjName2.cpp"
                >
            </File>
            <File
                RelativePath=".\stdafx.cpp"
                >
                <FileConfiguration
                    Name="Debug|Win32"
                    >
                    <Tool
                        Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
                        UsePrecompiledHeader="1"
                    />
                </FileConfiguration>
                <FileConfiguration
                    Name="Release|Win32"
                    >
                    <Tool
                        Name="VCCLCompilerTool"
                        UsePrecompiledHeader="1"
                    />
                </FileConfiguration>
            </File>
        </Filter>
        <Filter
            Name="Header Files"
            Filter="h;hpp;hxx;hm;inl;inc;xsd"
            UniqueIdentifier="{93995380-89BD-4b04-88EB-625FBE52EBFB}"
            >
            <File
                RelativePath=".\Form1.h"
                FileType="3"
                >
                <File
                    RelativePath=".\Form1.resX"
                    SubType="Designer"
                    >
                </File>
            </File>
            <File
                RelativePath=".\resource.h"
                >
            </File>
            <File
                RelativePath=".\stdafx.h"
                >
            </File>
        </Filter>
        <Filter
            Name="Resource Files"
            Filter="rc;ico;cur;bmp;dlg;rc2;rct;bin;rgs;gif;jpg;jpeg;jpe;resx;tiff;tif;png;wav"
            UniqueIdentifier="{67DA6AB6-F800-4c08-8B7A-83BB121AAD01}"
            >
            <File
                RelativePath=".\app.ico"
                >
            </File>
            <File
                RelativePath=".\app.rc"
                >
            </File>
        </Filter>
        <File
            RelativePath=".\ReadMe.txt"
            >
        </File>
    </Files>
    <Globals>
    </Globals>
</VisualStudioProject>

Use the XSD Schema for Project Files to validate your own .vcproj files.

See Also

Reference

Modifying Project Settings

Other Resources

Building C++ Projects in Visual Studio