vcxproj2cmake

vcxproj2cmake is a tool designed to convert Microsoft Visual C++ project files (.vcxproj) to equivalent CMake files (CMakeLists.txt).

Note

Due to the complexity of MSBuild, the conversion works best for projects of low-to-medium complexity. The generated CMake files may require manual adjustments, especially for larger projects with complex configurations or custom build steps. Still, it can be a useful starting point for migrating projects to CMake and can save a lot of time compared to writing the CMake files from scratch.

Features

• Accepts either a list of .vcxproj project files or Visual Studio solution files (.sln/.slnx) as input.

• Supports console, Win32, Dynamic-Link Library (DLL), and Static Library project types. Includes detection of header-only libraries.

• Leverages CMake generator expressions for property values that are specific to certain build configurations (Debug, Release, Win32, x64).

• The following MSBuild project properties are converted/taken into account:

  AdditionalDependencies AdditionalIncludeDirectories AdditionalLibraryDirectories AdditionalOptions AllProjectIncludesArePublic CharacterSet DisableSpecificWarnings ExternalWarningLevel LanguageStandard LanguageStandard_C LinkLibraryDependencies OpenMPSupport PrecompiledHeaderFile PreprocessorDefinitions PublicIncludeDirectories RuntimeLibrary SubSystem TargetName TreatAngleIncludeAsExternal TreatSpecificWarningsAsErrors TreatWarningAsError WarningLevel

• For projects referencing Qt 5 or 6 via Qt/MsBuild, a corresponding find_package(Qt... REQUIRED COMPONENTS ...) command is generated and AUTOMOC/AUTOUIC/AUTORCC are enabled.

• For projects referencing Conan packages via the MSBuildDeps generator, corresponding find_package commands are generated, intended to be used with the CMakeDeps generator.

Installation

1. Make sure you have the .NET 9 Runtime installed.
2. Download the latest release from the releases page and unzip it to a directory of your choice.

Usage

Basic Usage

Single Project

To convert a single .vcxproj file with no dependency to other projects, run:

.\vcxproj2cmake --projects MyProject.vcxproj

This will generate a CMakeLists.txt file in the same directory as the .vcxproj file.

Multiple Projects

If the project has dependencies on other projects, or you want to convert multiple projects at once, specify the paths to all .vcxproj files:

.\vcxproj2cmake --projects MyProject1.vcxproj MyProject2.vcxproj

This will generate a CMakeLists.txt file for each specified project in their respective directories.

Solution File

If you have a Visual Studio solution file (.sln or .slnx), you can convert all projects in the solution by running:

.\vcxproj2cmake --solution MySolution.sln

This will generate a CMakeLists.txt file for each project next to the .vcxproj file, as well as a top-level CMakeLists.txt file in the same directory as the solution file.

Customizing Output

• Specify the --enable-standalone-project-builds option to include additional CMake commands in the generated project CMakeLists.txt files to allow configuring the projects directly instead of as part of the top-level solution CMakeLists.txt.
• If any of your projects use Qt, you must specify the --qt-version option to indicate the Qt version (5 or 6) used in the project.
• Use options --indent-style and --indent-size to customize the indentation in the generated CMake files.
• Specify the --dry-run option to have the generated CMake files printed to the console without writing them to disk.

Example

The repository contains a small demo solution under ExampleSolution. It consists of a static library project MathLib and an application project App that depends on the library. The solution references both projects and the application has a project reference to MathLib.

The top-level solution looks like this:

Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00
# Visual Studio Version 17
Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "MathLib", "MathLib\MathLib.vcxproj", "{4D944B1C-9EBF-4086-AE57-25DDEBF92F0D}"
EndProject
Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "App", "App\App.vcxproj", "{07DC28F8-AB37-42B2-A0C4-82D4766A9166}"
    ProjectSection(ProjectDependencies) = postProject
        {4D944B1C-9EBF-4086-AE57-25DDEBF92F0D} = {4D944B1C-9EBF-4086-AE57-25DDEBF92F0D}
    EndProjectSection
EndProject

MathLib.vcxproj includes a header and source file. It also demonstrates configuration-specific options:

<ItemGroup>
  <ClInclude Include="include\MathLib.h" />
  <ClCompile Include="MathLib.cpp" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup>
  <ClCompile>
    <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
  </ClCompile>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'">
  <ClCompile>
    <PreprocessorDefinitions>DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
    <LanguageStandard>stdcpp17</LanguageStandard>
  </ClCompile>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'">
  <ClCompile>
    <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
    <LanguageStandard>stdcpp17</LanguageStandard>
  </ClCompile>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>

App.vcxproj references the library project, adds its include directory and sets similar configuration-specific defines and compiler options:

<ItemDefinitionGroup>
  <ClCompile>
    <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>..\MathLib\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
  </ClCompile>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'">
  <ClCompile>
    <PreprocessorDefinitions>MATHLIB;DEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
    <LanguageStandard>stdcpp17</LanguageStandard>
    <WarningLevel>Level4</WarningLevel>
  </ClCompile>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'">
  <ClCompile>
    <PreprocessorDefinitions>MATHLIB;NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
    <AdditionalOptions>/O2 %(AdditionalOptions)</AdditionalOptions>
    <LanguageStandard>stdcpp17</LanguageStandard>
  </ClCompile>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
<ItemGroup>
  <ProjectReference Include="..\MathLib\MathLib.vcxproj" />
</ItemGroup>

Running the converter on the solution generates three CMakeLists.txt files:

> .\vcxproj2cmake --solution ../ExampleSolution/ExampleSolution.sln
Parsing ../ExampleSolution/ExampleSolution.sln
Parsing ../ExampleSolution/MathLib/MathLib.vcxproj
Parsing ../ExampleSolution/App/App.vcxproj
Generating ../ExampleSolution/MathLib/CMakeLists.txt
Generating ../ExampleSolution/App/CMakeLists.txt
Generating ../ExampleSolution/CMakeLists.txt

ExampleSolution/MathLib/CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
project(MathLib LANGUAGES CXX)

add_library(MathLib STATIC
    MathLib.cpp
)

target_compile_features(MathLib PUBLIC cxx_std_17)

target_include_directories(MathLib
    PUBLIC
        ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include
)

target_compile_definitions(MathLib
    PUBLIC
        $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:DEBUG>
        $<$<CONFIG:Release>:NDEBUG>
)

ExampleSolution/App/CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
project(App LANGUAGES CXX)

add_executable(App
    main.cpp
)

target_compile_features(App PUBLIC cxx_std_17)

target_include_directories(App
    PUBLIC
        ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../MathLib/include
)

target_compile_definitions(App
    PUBLIC
        MATHLIB
        $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:DEBUG>
        $<$<CONFIG:Release>:NDEBUG>
)

target_link_libraries(App
    PUBLIC
        MathLib
)

target_compile_options(App
    PUBLIC
        $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:/W4>
        $<$<CONFIG:Release>:/O2>
)

ExampleSolution/CMakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
project(ExampleSolution)

add_subdirectory(MathLib)
add_subdirectory(App)

Limitations

• vcxproj2cmake expects project configurations and build platforms to be named Debug/Release and Win32/x86/x64/ARM32/ARM64, respectively. Configurations and platforms with other names are ignored by default. If you would like to add support for your custom configurations/platforms, extend Config.Configs in Config.cs.
• MSBuild properties whose value depends on the build configuration or platform are only supported if the value depends solely on the configuration or platform, but not both. E.g. preprocessor definitions like _DEBUG or WIN32 are supported. They are converted to CMake generator expressions like $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:_DEBUG> or $<$<STREQUAL:${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ARCHITECTURE_ID},x86>:WIN32>. A definition that is specific to a certain combination of configuration and platform, is not supported and skipped with a warning.
• MSBuild properties defined in imported .props or .targets files are not considered.
• Many advanced compiler and linker options are not supported and silently ignored. Only a limited set of commonly-used properties is converted, as listed in the Features section.

Contributing

Contributions of any kind (e.g. bug fixes, improvements or new features) are gladly accepted!