Re: [Boost-users] linking and including in visual studio

Subject: Re: [Boost-users] linking and including in visual studio
From: Gavin Lambert (gavinl_at_[hidden])
Date: 2016-04-28 00:34:09

On 28/04/2016 08:44, Michael Powell wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 1:17 AM, degski <degski_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>> Maybe thiis is not fully helpfull to the above, but I do change the props
>> file in:
>
> You're right, that is interesting. That works until you need to
> rebuild your dev environment. Bottom line is, the settings,
> directories, etc, should ultimately travel with the project.

Rather than changing that file, I use a hierarchy of props files.  (You 
can attach property files to VS projects via the slightly-hidden View -> 
Other Windows -> Property Manager.)

For example, I have a boost.props file that contains only an import of a 
specific version props file (eg. <Import 
Project="boost_1_60_0\boost.props" />) and individual props files in 
each version dir that contain the actual build settings for that version.

This way, projects that should use the latest Boost installed on a given 
dev PC just link to the base boost.props file, while projects that need 
a specific version (generally for historic reasons) link to the file in 
the version-specific directory.

(Due to the size of Boost, I usually also have the "real" files on a 
network share that is mapped to a standard drive letter on different 
PCs, and another just-import props file in source control that redirects 
to the appropriate props file on the share; this is what the projects 
actually link to.)

This lets different projects build with different versions of Boost 
intentionally, and to have a central place to upgrade most projects to 
the newest Boost version when one is added to the share.