/w, /Wn, /WX, /Wall, /wln, /wdn, /wen, /won (Warning Level)

  • Article

Specify how the compiler generates warnings for a given compilation.

/w
/Wn
/WX
/Wall
/wln
/wdn
/wen
/won

Remarks

The options and related arguments are described in the following table.

Option

Description

/w

Disables all compiler warnings.

/Wn

Specifies the highest level of warning generated by the compiler. Valid warning levels for n range from 0 to 4:

  • Level 0 disables all warnings.

  • Level 1 displays severe warnings. Level 1 is the default warning level at the command line.

  • Level 2 displays all level 1 warnings and warnings less severe than level 1.

  • Level 3 displays all level 2 warnings and all other warnings recommended for production purposes.

  • Level 4 displays all level 3 warnings plus informational warnings, which in most cases can be safely ignored. This option should be used only to provide "lint" level warnings and is not recommended as your usual warning level setting.

For a new project, it may be best to use /W4 in all compilations. This will ensure the fewest possible hard-to-find code defects.

/Wall

Enables all warnings, including those disabled by default. See Compiler Warnings That Are Off By Default.

/WX

Treats all compiler warnings as errors. For a new project, it may be best to use /WX in all compilations; resolving all warnings will ensure the fewest possible hard-to-find code defects.

The linker also has a /WX option; see /WX (Treat Linker Warnings as Errors) for more information.

/wln

Specifies the level for a particular warning. The first parameter sets the warning level (same as /Wn) and the second parameter is the actual warning number.

For example, /w14326 causes C4326 to be generated as a level 1 warning.

/wdn

Disables the specified compiler warning where nis the compiler warning number.

For example, /wd4326 disables compiler warning C4326.

/wen

Treats the specific compiler warning as an error where n is a compiler warning.

For example, /we4326 flags warning number C4326 as an error.

/won

Reports the error only once where n is a compiler warning.

For example, /wo4326 will cause warning C4326 to be reported only once.

If you create a precompiled header (/Yc (Create Precompiled Header File)) with one of the /w options, any use of the precompiled header (/Yu (Use Precompiled Header File)) will cause those same /w options to be in effect again. You can override the /w setting in the precompiled header with another /w option at the command line.

Pragma directives in source code are unaffected by the /w option.

You can also use warning to control the level of warning reported at compile time.

The C/C++ Build Errors describes the warnings, indicates each warning's level, and indicates potential problems (rather than actual coding errors) with statements that may not compile as you intend.

To set this compiler option in the Visual Studio development environment

  1. Open the project's Property Pages dialog box. For details, see How to: Open Project Property Pages.

  2. Click the C/C++ folder.

  3. Click the General property page and modify the Warning Level or Treat Warnings as Errors properties.

  4. Click the Advanced property page and modify the Disable Specific Warnings property.

  5. For the remaining options, click the Command Line property page and type the compiler option in the Additional Options box.

To set this compiler option programmatically

See Also

Reference

Compiler Options

Setting Compiler Options