How do I compile a single source file within an MSVC project from the command line?

Question

I'm about to start doing some benchmarking/testing of our builds, and I'd like to drive the whole thing from a command line. I am aware of DevEnv but am not convinced it can do what I want.

If I could have a single file built within a single project, I'd be happy.

Can this be done?

Answer 1

The magical incantation is as follows. Note that this has only been tested with VS 2010 - I have heard this is the first version of Visual Studio with this capability:

The Incantation

<msbuild> <project> <settings> <file>

Where

• msbuild is a path to MSBuild.exe . Usually this should be set up for you by the VS2010 bat file so the right one will end up in your PATH , but if not I found one at C:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework64\\v4.0.30319\\msbuild.exe
• project is the path to the vcxproj file within which your source file resides.
• settings include the following:
  • /p:Configuration="Debug" // or whatever your Configuration is
  • /p:Platform=x64 // or x86
  • /t:ClCompile // to specify specifically you're looking to compile the file
• file is actually another setting:
  • /p:SelectedFiles="path_to_file"

Notes

• For <project> I had to specify a project ( vcxproj ) file instead of a solution ( sln ) file. The sln I would have used has multiple projects within it, so there would have been extra work to go that route anyhow (if it can even be done).
• For the /p:Platform=x64 setting, there are several environment variables that pivot on what platform you are targeting (x64 v. x86) so make sure you set those up properly via Visual Studio's vcvarsall.bat .
• Regarding path_to_file in the SelectedFiles parameter, this path must be the path as specified in the project file . If the path does not match the path used in the project file to reference the source, it doesn't seem to work.