Invoke cl (Visual Studio 2013) cross-compiler from CMD on 64bit Windows

Question

I have downloaded the LiE software

http://wwwmathlabo.univ-poitiers.fr/~maavl/LiE/

Unfortunately, I work on Windows 7 (64 bit) but the code seems to only target 32-bit Linux platforms (ie there is only a Makefile that uses the GNU make + gcc).

My idea is to install the GNU make (and some other required tools) for Windows from GnuWin32 and adapt the provided Makefile to the Windows-environment by replacing gcc calls by calls to the VC++ 32-bit cross-compiler. However, when I try to invoke the cross-compiler from the command prompt, I get the error "The dll mspdb120.dll is missing". The question is: How do I invoke the cross-compiler from the command-prompt/GNU make for Windows without copying dlls around? Btw invoking the native 64 bit compiler goes off without a hitch by just calling the cl.exe by its fully specified name!

Thanks a lot!

PS I'm using MS Visual Studio Express 2013 and the native-compiler is stored here: C:\\Software\\Development\\Microsoft Visual Studio 2013\\VC\\bin\\ The cross-compiler is, as expected, stored one level deeper: C:\\Software\\Development\\Microsoft Visual Studio 2013\\VC\\bin\\x86_amd64 PPS: I have tried to create a MS Visual Studio solution but the Makefile compiles three exe-files, the bison-parser is called externally + multiple source files are merged into a single object file -- the requirements that are extremely hard to implement using the VS-functionality -- so I have abandoned this futile endeavour.

Answer 1

From the Windows command prompt, run the command C:\\Software\\Development\\Microsoft Visual Studio 2013\\VC\\bin\\x86_amd64\\vcvarsx86_amd64.bat . That will set up the PATH and other environment variables that need to be set to use the Microsoft compiler normally. You'll need to rerun this command every time you open the Windows command prompt.

You can also use a shortcut included with your Visual Studio 2013 installation that will run this script automatically while opening a command prompt. It's located in the Start menu under Visual Studio 2013 -> Visual Studio Tools -> VS2013 x64 Cross Tools Command Prompt . You can also find it at at C:\\Software\\Development\\Microsoft Visual Studio 2013\\Common7\\Tools\\Shortcuts\\VS2013 x64 Cross Tools Command Prompt.lnk .