CompilerPaths MSBuild Task

The CompilerPaths Task is an attempt to help discover compiler paths using MSBuild. A NuGet package is available.

APIs

APIs follow these rules:

• Have consistent prefix (i.e. MSVC).
• Contain absolute paths.
• Optional argument have reasonable defaults (e.g. no version means latest).

MSVCFindCompilerPaths Target

Supports Visual Studio 15.0 and above. Only supports Windows 10 SDKs.

Inputs:

• MSVCPlatform: The target platform.
• MSVCVSVersion: Optional Target Visual Studio version.
• MSVCWinSDKVersion: Optional Target Windows SDK version.

Outputs:

• MSVCCompilerPath: Property containing the absolute path to compiler.
• MSVCIncludePaths: Item containing absolute paths to be used as include paths.
• MSVCLibPaths: Item containing absolute paths to be used as lib paths.
• MSVCWinSDKToolPath: Property containing the absolute path to the Windows SDK tools directory.

Example:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <PropertyGroup>
    <MSVCPlatform>x64</MSVCPlatform>
    <MSVCVSVersion>16.6.30204.135</MSVCVSVersion>
    <MSVCWinSDKVersion>10.0.17738.0</MSVCWinSDKVersion>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <Target Name="UseMSVC" BeforeTargets="CoreCompile" DependsOnTargets="MSVCFindCompilerPaths">
    <Message Text="MSVCCompilerPath: $(MSVCCompilerPath)" Importance="High"/>
    <Message Text="MSVCIncludePaths: @(MSVCIncludePaths)" Importance="High"/>
    <Message Text="MSVCLibPaths: @(MSVCLibPaths)" Importance="High"/>
  </Target>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="CompilerPaths" Version="1.*" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

References

MSBuild Reference

MSBuild Transforms

Writing an MSBuild Task