VC++ Directories, Projects and Solutions, Options Dialog Box

  • Article

[This documentation is for preview only, and is subject to change in later releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

This dialog box lets you specify directories where the Visual Studio project system should look for files. You can specify as many directories as you want. For special situations, you can remove standard Visual Studio directories, so that your versions of build files are found rather than the Visual Studio defaults.

Note

If you want to set up directory search paths (for your projects) that can be shared by other users or that can be applied across multiple computers, Visual C++ provides an alternative to this dialog box, by using project property sheets. For more information, see Property Sheets (C++).

Platform

This option lets you choose the build platform. Directories that you specify will be used only with projects building for this platform.

General

  • Executable Directories
    Directory settings displayed in the window are the directories that Visual Studio will search for executable files. Corresponds to environment variable PATH.

  • Include Directories
    Directory settings displayed in the window are the directories that Visual Studio will search for include files referred to in your source code files. Corresponds to environment variable INCLUDE.

  • Reference Directories
    Directory settings displayed in the window are the directories that Visual Studio will search for assembly and module (metadata) files referred to in your source code files via #using. Corresponds to environment variable LIBPATH.

  • Library Directories
    Directory settings displayed in the window are the directories that Visual Studio will search for libraries, including run-time libraries. Corresponds to environment variable LIB.

  • Source Directories
    Directory settings displayed in the window are the directories that Visual Studio will search for source files to use for IntelliSense.

  • Exclude Directories
    Directory settings displayed in the window are the directories that Visual Studio will skip when searching for scan dependencies.

Notice that the VCComponents.dat file contains user settings for the computer. If you uninstall Visual Studio and then reinstall it in a different directory or drive, you first have to delete VCComponents.dat. Otherwise, your builds will fail. VCComponents.dat is located in \Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\VisualStudio\7.1\.

To access this dialog box

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.

  2. Expand the Projects and Solutions node.

  3. Select the VC++ Directories page.

To use the directory listing box

  1. Use the up and down arrows to view additional directories in the list.

  2. To add a directory to a list, click the folder button above the directory window. This will add a new line in the directory window. Then, on the new line, click the button that has three dots. This opens a Windows dialog box where you can browse for a directory to add.

  3. To remove a directory from a list, select itand then click the delete button above the directory display.

For information about how to programmatically access the functionality of this dialog box, see VCPlatform.

See Also

Reference

Property Pages (C++)

Other Resources

Projects and Solutions, Options Dialog Box