How to build SLN file from the command line using MSVC build tools

Question

I am trying to build the Hunspell project on GitHub with MSVC 2017 build tools: https://github.com/hunspell/hunspell

The project have a msvc folder containing a Hunspell.sln and libhunspell.vcxproj files (I am interested in the library)

My setup:

Windows 10
MSVC2017 build tools (15.9.3)
Windows 10 Kit: 10.0.17763.0

If I open the "x86 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2017" and try to build the solution I get the following error:

>msbuild libhunspell.vcxproj
Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 15.9.20+g88f5fadfbe for .NET Framework
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Build started 2018/12/01 6:01:18 PM.
Project "c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj" on node 1 (default targets).
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V140\Platforms\Win32\PlatformToolsets\v140_xp\Toolset.targets(36,5): warning MSB8003: Could not find WindowsSdkDir_71A variable from the registry.  TargetFrameworkVersion or PlatformToolset may be set to an invalid version number. [c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V140\Microsoft.CppBuild.targets(366,5): warning MSB8003: Could not find WindowsSDKDir variable from the registry.  TargetFrameworkVersion or PlatformToolset may be set to an invalid version number. [c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj]
InitializeBuildStatus:
  Touching "Debug\libhunspell\libhunspell.tlog\unsuccessfulbuild".
PreBuildEvent:
  echo N | copy /-Y ..\src\hunspell\hunvisapi.h.in ..\src\hunspell\hunvisapi.h
  :VCEnd
  Overwrite ..\src\hunspell\hunvisapi.h? (Yes/No/All): N
          0 file(s) copied.
ClCompile:
  C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin\CL.exe /c /I..\src\hunspell /I. /ZI /nologo /W4 /WX- /Od /Oy- /D WIN32 /D _DEBUG /D _WINDOWS /D _USRDLL /D HUNSPELL_STATIC /D _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS /D _USING_V110_SDK71_ /D_MBCS /Gm- /EHsc /RTC1 /MDd /GS /fp:precise /Zc:wchar_t /Zc:forScope /Zc:inline /Fo"Debug\libhunspell\\" /Fd"Debug\libhunspell\libhunspell.pdb" /Gd /TP /wd4706 /wd4251 /wd4267 /analyze- /errorReport:queue ..\src\hunspell\csutil.cxx 
csutil.cxx
c:\development\hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\src\hunspell\csutil.cxx(84): fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'windows.h': No such file or directory [c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj]
Done Building Project "c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj" (default targets) -- FAILED.


Build FAILED.

"c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj" (default target) (1) ->
(CheckWindowsSDK71A target) ->
  C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V140\Platforms\Win32\PlatformToolsets\v140_xp\Toolset.targets(36,5): warning MSB8003: Could not find WindowsSdkDir_71A variable from the registry.  TargetFrameworkVersion or PlatformTool set may be set to an invalid version number. [c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj]


"c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj" (default target) (1) ->
(PrepareForBuild target) ->
  C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V140\Microsoft.CppBuild.targets(366,5): warning MSB8003: Could not find WindowsSDKDir variable from the registry.  TargetFrameworkVersion or PlatformToolset may be set to an invalid version number. [c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj]


"c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj" (default target) (1) ->
(ClCompile target) ->
  c:\development\hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\src\hunspell\csutil.cxx(84): fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'windows.h': No such file or directory [c:\Development\Hunspell\hunspell-1.7.0\msvc\libhunspell.vcxproj]

The important part in the above is the following: Cannot open include file: 'windows.h'

It seems like my console is set up correctly when looking at the INCLUDES variable:

echo %INCLUDE%
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.16.27023\include;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\NETFXSDK\4.6.1\include\um;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17763.0\ucrt;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17763.0\shared;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17763.0\um;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17763.0\winrt;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17763.0\cppwinrt

I have tried many options like running as follow, with no luck:

> msbuild libhunspell.vcxproj /p:AdditionalIncludeDirectories="C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Include\10.0.17763.0\um"

I have also added the full path to the "um" and "shared" (for winapifamily.h) folders to the <AdditionalIncludeDirectories> property manually in the vcxproj file. This works for the static libs, but I had to add the <AdditionalIncludeDirectories> to the <ResourceCompile> step. For the dlls (Release_Dll, etc) linking did not work since I don't know how to fix this (yet).
The above feels wrong, I do not think that the solution can be to hack a project file for the compiler to know where its own files are.

Any help in this regard will be appreciated.

Note: I do not have Visual Studio IDE installed, most SO questions around this question involve steps to solve the issue by changing settings in Visual Studio. This does not apply to this question.

PS: I have no experience with msbuild or the build tools. I normally use the Qt Creator IDE for building with MSVC compiler.

https://github.com/hunspell/hunspell#compiling-on-windows Sounds like its authors expect you to use a non-VS C++ toolchain. — Lex Li, Dec 01 '18 at 17:03
@LexLi that document is out of date I guess, since there are project files and recent commits saying 'fix msvc build'. Anyway, the project file is hardcoded to use the v140_xp toolset. Is that installed? And there's also that warning about not finding WindowsSdkDir_71A, probably related: not sure if targetting xp is compatible with having a Windows 10 Kit — stijn, Dec 01 '18 at 18:51
Adding the paths to the project file and finally running the link command manually from the command line got it compiled successfully... Any suggestions on how not to hard code and let the project file use what is available will also help — CJCombrink, Dec 01 '18 at 19:29
Replacing the v140_xp string with $(DefaultPlatformToolset) in the project file should do that exactly. — stijn, Dec 02 '18 at 13:38

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 03 '18 at 07:07

How to build SLN file from the command line using MSVC build tools

You should install the Individual components VC++ 2015.3 v14.00 (v140) toolset for desktop via build tools.

According to the error log:

TargetFrameworkVersion or PlatformToolset may be set to an invalid version number

When we open the libhunspell.vcxproj with notepad, we could to know following properties:

  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug_dll|x64'" Label="Configuration">
    <ConfigurationType>DynamicLibrary</ConfigurationType>
    <PlatformToolset>v140_xp</PlatformToolset>
    <UseOfMfc>false</UseOfMfc>
    <CharacterSet>MultiByte</CharacterSet>
  </PropertyGroup>

So, to resolve this issue, we need install the toolset v140_xp. To accomplish this, Open the build tool, switch to the Individual components tab and select VC++ 2015.3 v14.00 (v140) toolset for desktop:

After that, I can build the peoject successfully:

Hope this helps.

How to build SLN file from the command line using MSVC build tools

1 Answers1