docs/markdown/Vs-External.md - meson - Git at Google

 # Visual Studio's external build projects

 Visual Studio supports developing projects that have an external build
 system. If you wish to use this integration method, here is how you
 set it up. This documentation describes Visual Studio 2019. Other
 versions have not been tested, but they should work roughly in the
 same way.

 ## Creating and compiling

 Check out your entire project in some directory. Then open Visual
 Studio and select `File -> New -> Project` and from the list of
 project types select `Makefile project`. Click `Next`.

 Type your project's name In the `Project name` entry box. In this
 example we're going to use `testproj`. Next select the `Location`
 entry and browse to the root of your projet sources. Make sure that
 the checkbox `Place solution and project in the same directory` is
 checked. Click `Create`.

 The next dialog page defines build commands, which you should set up
 as follows:

 | entry | value |
 | ----- | ----- |
 |build  | `meson compile -C $(Configuration)` |
 |clean  | `meson compile -C $(Configuration) --clean` |
 |rebuild| `meson compile -C $(Configuration) --clean && meson compile -C $(Configuration)` |
 |Output | `$(Configuration)\name_of_your_executable.exe|


 Then click `Finish`.

 Visual Studio has created a subdirectory in your source root. It is
 named after the project name. In this case it would be `testproj`. Now
 you need to set up Meson for building both Debug and Release versions
 in this directory. Open a VS dev tool terminal, go to the source root
 and issue the following commands.

 ```
 meson testproj\Debug
 meson testproj\Release --buildtype=debugoptimized
 ```

 Now you should have a working VS solution that compiles and runs both
 in Debug and Release modes.

 ## Adding sources to the project

 This project is not very useful on its own, because it does not list
 any source files. VS does not seem to support adding entire source
 trees at once, so you have to add sources to the solution manually.

 In the main view go to `Solution Explorer`, right click on the project
 you just created and select `Add -> Existing Item`, browse to your
 source tree and select all files you want to have in this project. Now
 you can use the editor and debugger as in a normal VS project.
	# Visual Studio's external build projects

	Visual Studio supports developing projects that have an external build
	system. If you wish to use this integration method, here is how you
	set it up. This documentation describes Visual Studio 2019. Other
	versions have not been tested, but they should work roughly in the
	same way.

	## Creating and compiling

	Check out your entire project in some directory. Then open Visual
	Studio and select `File -> New -> Project` and from the list of
	project types select `Makefile project`. Click `Next`.

	Type your project's name In the `Project name` entry box. In this
	example we're going to use `testproj`. Next select the `Location`
	entry and browse to the root of your projet sources. Make sure that
	the checkbox `Place solution and project in the same directory` is
	checked. Click `Create`.

	The next dialog page defines build commands, which you should set up
	as follows:

	\| entry \| value \|
	\| ----- \| ----- \|
	\|build \| `meson compile -C $(Configuration)` \|
	\|clean \| `meson compile -C $(Configuration) --clean` \|
	\|rebuild\| `meson compile -C $(Configuration) --clean && meson compile -C $(Configuration)` \|
	\|Output \| `$(Configuration)\name_of_your_executable.exe\|


	Then click `Finish`.

	Visual Studio has created a subdirectory in your source root. It is
	named after the project name. In this case it would be `testproj`. Now
	you need to set up Meson for building both Debug and Release versions
	in this directory. Open a VS dev tool terminal, go to the source root
	and issue the following commands.

	```
	meson testproj\Debug
	meson testproj\Release --buildtype=debugoptimized
	```

	Now you should have a working VS solution that compiles and runs both
	in Debug and Release modes.

	## Adding sources to the project

	This project is not very useful on its own, because it does not list
	any source files. VS does not seem to support adding entire source
	trees at once, so you have to add sources to the solution manually.

	In the main view go to `Solution Explorer`, right click on the project
	you just created and select `Add -> Existing Item`, browse to your
	source tree and select all files you want to have in this project. Now
	you can use the editor and debugger as in a normal VS project.