Setup_Visual_Studio_Express

Setup Visual C++

Visual C++ Express Edition<ref>Visual C++ Express Homepage</ref> is a integrated development environments (IDE) developed by Microsoft that is a lightweight version of the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ product line. The idea of express editions, according to Microsoft, is to provide streamlined, easy-to-use and easy-to-learn IDEs for users other than professional software developers, such as hobbyists and students.<ref>Wikipedia entry about Visual Studio Express</ref>

Download and install

Download the webinstaller from the Visual C++ Express Edition Website and run it. Go through the installer wizard - Visual C++ will be downloaded and installed accordingly. Alternatively you could download the whole DVD containing the complete Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition set (scroll to the bottom) to install the tools offline.

Setup

To configure and compile plplot with Visual C++ you can either use the command line interface or the integrated development environment. See the instructions at Configure PLplot for Visual CXX CLI or Configure PLplot for the Visual Studio IDE.

If you are using the CLI you may find it useful to set up a batch file to prepare the environment before you start. To do so open your favorite text editor and enter the following CLI commands

 @echo off

rem setup Visual C++ compiler call "%VS90COMNTOOLS%"\vsvars32.bat
rem setup PLplot library set PLPLOTDIR=path_to_plplot set PLPLOT_LIB=%PLPLOTDIR%\data set PATH=%PLPLOTDIR%\dll;%PATH% 

and save this to e.g. vcvars.bat. Start you Windows CLI, cd into the directory where the batch file was saved and run vcvars.bat. Run nmake /?, to see if everything works. Your Visual C++ developing environment is now ready.

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