CODEWITHSUNDEEP
visual-studiobuildvisual-c++
Cheeso
Cheeso

Reputation: 192417

How to include a build timestamp in a VC++ project?

I am converting a makefile project into a Visual Studio VC++ project. It's actually C source code.

One of the statements I have in my makefile is:

echo char * gLibraryBuildSig ="%DATE% %TIME%"; > BuildTimestamp.c

This produces a C source file with a single line in it:

char * gLibraryBuildSig ="Sun 08/23/2009 17:56:05.05";

In the makefile I then compile all the C source with cl.exe, and after linking, delete the BuildTimestamp.c file. This gives me a global symbol that provides the bubild time as a string.

How can I do the same thing in a VS2008 project? Keep in mind it's not MSBuild.

I'm part-way there. To generate a C module at build time in Visual Studio, I just use the pre-build event.

alt text

How do I include that generated file into the compile, but also exclude it from source control and project management?

Or, is there a better way to do what I want?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 2699

Answers (3)

Chef Gladiator
Chef Gladiator

Reputation: 1008

I might be 10 years late, but I like this simple approach. My solution is

  1. my pre-build step:

     echo #define DBJ_BUILD_TIMESTAMP __DATE__ " " __TIME__  > build_time_stamp.inc

  2. That little inc, contains a compile time constant in both C and C++. I usually include it in my main.cpp

     #include "build_time_stamp.inc"

Since it is generated on each build, it provokes (re)compilation of main.cpp

  1. Usage might be

    printf( "\nBuild time stamp: "  DBJ_BUILD_TIMESTAMP );

  2. If you do not what to be bothered by GIT to commit/sync/push, that inc file, after each build, simply do not include it in a project. In any case if you want to use it in some more complex scenario, simply keep it in a global constant:

     constexpr auto build_time_stamp = DBJ_BUILD_TIMESTAMP ;

Enjoy ...

Upvotes: 1

1800 INFORMATION
1800 INFORMATION

Reputation: 135245

Another alternative is to use the preprocessor to include the generated file:

#include "BuildTimeStamp.c"

The file that includes this file can be one of the files in the project under source control.

Upvotes: 0

Martin v. Löwis
Martin v. Löwis

Reputation: 127447

The compiler (cl.exe) has predefined macros __DATE__ and __TIME__, as well as __TIMESTAMP__. You can compile a file containing only these as a pre-link step.

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions