Setting_up_Visual_C++_2005-2008

Setting up Visual C++ 2005/2008

• Setting up Visual C++ 2005/2008
  • Setting up environment variables
  • Setting up directories
  • Creating a new project
  • Trouble-shooting
  • Configuring OWLNext projects

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Setting up environment variables

For building OWLNext applications I recommend to set the environment variable OWLROOT to point to the root folder where OWLNext files are installed. An advantage of using this environment variable is that projects are easily transferred from one computer to another without having to modify the project files.

See also: Setting up environment variables under Windows 2000/XP.

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Setting up directories

If you plan to work often on OWLNext applications, it is convenient to add OWLNext include and library directories to the global Visual Studio settings. From the menu "Tools | Options" open the Options dialog, and go to the "Projects and Solution | VC++ Directories" section. In the "Show directories for:" combo-box select "Include files" and add "$(owlroot)\include":

Select "Library files" and add "$(owlroot)\lib":

This will make OWLNext include and library directories available for all Visual C++ projects.

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Creating a new project

Create a new Visual C++ Win32 application project:

In the second page of the Win32 Application Wizard, check "Empty project":

The default for new projects is dynamic linking of the standard libraries. In this case you have to define "_OWLDLL" in "Preprocessor Definitions" in the project options to tell OWLNext to use dynamic linking also. For more information, see Configuring Visual C++ 2005/2008 OWLNext Projects.

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Trouble-shooting

If you receive a linker error

"LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _WinMain@16 referenced in function ___tmainCRTStartup"

then you are trying to build a Unicode application, and you will have to either change the application to Single Byte or MBCS, or change the entry point to "wWinMainCRTStartup". See this article for more information.

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Configuring OWLNext projects

For a walkthrough on how to configure a Visual C++ project to build an OWLNext application with different settings, read the Configuring Visual C++ 2005/2008 OWLNext Projects article.

You can also download and install the OWLNext Application Wizard for Visual Studio. This plug-in adds the "OWLNext Wizard" to the project templates in the "New project" dialog.

Note: If you install the OWLNext Wizard on a 32-bit edition of Windows, then do not change the installation location suggested by the installer. The Wizard assumes that the suggested location is not changed. In 64-bit editions of Windows, the installer will suggest "Program Files (x86)" as the installation location. Unfortunately the OWLNext Wizard assumes that its files are located below "Program Files", so in this case you have to change the installation location to the latter.