Getting Started with Visual Studio Express

[Jim]

In VS2005, the dlls you need to distribute are in here C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\redist\x86\Microsoft.VC80.CRT.  Not sure if that'll be the same with Express.

Jim

[rain_storm]

What did I do wrong?

I installed visual studio C++ to the default directory and followed steps 4&5 as well as I understood but I'm getting this error

File: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\VCProjectDefaults\CoreWin_Express.vsprops
Line: 9
Column: 1
Error Message:
A name was started with an invalid character.

the file the error is referring to is the same file that M$ told me to edit in step 4 I thought I did it right but the line the error is reporting the problem with isnt the line I edited its the next one down here is what that file looks like

Code Select Expand


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<VisualStudioPropertySheet
ProjectType="Visual C++"
Version="8.00"
Name="Core Windows Libraries">
<Tool
Name="VCLinkerTool"
AdditionalDependencies="kernel32.lib user32.lib gdi32.lib winspool.lib comdlg32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib ole32.lib oleaut32.lib uuid.lib"
</VisualStudioPropertySheet>

the last line is the problem apharently so what did I do wrong?

[Jim]

You've managed to chop /> off the end of the previous line.  Exactly what Shockwave did 
It used to read

Code Select Expand


<Tool
Name="VCLinkerTool"
AdditionalDependencies="kernel32.lib" />


Jim

[rain_storm]

The really should bulletproof these things Thanks Jim

[Jim]

What?  You mean you don't understand XML tags?!   Actually, it's ridiculous isn't it?  They could have made an exe that would automate the entire process, including installing the Platform SDK.

Jim

[rain_storm]

Everything is working now thanks again Jim I just ran my first app (step 5) it worked, didnt do much mind you but its a start

[Jim]

Excellent!

[Jim]

Service Pack 1 for Visual Studio 2005 and Express has been out for a while now.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-au/vstudio/bb265237.aspx
.NET 2005 431Mb
2005 Express 19-149Mb

And then there is a Service Pack 1 Update for Vista available too. 28.9Mb.

If you get an error like this:

fatal error C1900: Il mismatch between 'P1' version '20060201' and 'P2' version '20050411'

It means you're using a non SP1 version and you're trying to link in a library or object built with SP1.  The two solutions are to upgrade your install, or rebuild the library from source.

Jim

[Maxx]

Hi guys im having problems with the install paths in step 3 followed all ms install steps and still gives me cannot find windows.h whenever i try compile anything everytime update paths click ok dell .dat file in documents and settings restar VS same error .

Any Suggestions Except Throw It Away

[Paul]

Throw it away:)

just kidding

I installed this a few days ago and all acually vent fine(more or less). one problem that i had was that the paths in step 3 where wrong for me, so check them manually maxx.

installing the directx sdk worked the same way with these dodgy paths.

//Paul

[Maxx]

Throw it away:)

just kidding

I installed this a few days ago and all acually vent fine(more or less). one problem that i had was that the paths in step 3 where wrong for me, so check them manually maxx.

installing the directx sdk worked the same way with these dodgy paths.

//Paul

Thanx Paul i tried again but this time with paths as $(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2\include and everything worked fine including DirectX with same path routine.

Thankyou Very Much.

[Jim]

Good stuff!  Welcome to the forum!

Jim

[Shockwave]

Yip, Hi Maxx

[Maxx]

Thanx for the help and the welcome guys and big hands up on the forums great community you have here.

[ekoli]

HI!

I just re-installed Visual Studio 2003 .NET again after fighting with VS Express. I tried to compile an 64k intro with it and the only way I could get it running at the Euskal compo machine was to use static linking which, after Kkrunchy, did take the exe from 41 Kb up to 72 Kb.. I think I tried everything just to make the bastard work but it wouldn't find the new c++ standard library dll's on the compo machine. I searched everywhere for answers but couldn't find a proper solution.
The worst part is that I really miss VS Express now, perhaps I should re-install again and find a solution that works. Any one here who has got it working without static linking? It makes me really mad since I know the dll's are there, the program is just too lazy to go looking for them. 

[Rbz]

Which dll do you're talking about ? Msvcrt.dll perhaps ?

[ekoli]

Which dll do you're talking about ? Msvcrt.dll perhaps ?

Yeah, the msvcr80.dll which my intro did everything to avoid.
Perhaps the problem lies in that I haven't had time too dig deeper in too what differences they have made in the 2005 edition ( manifest files and such ) compared to earlier releases.
On my computer things just worked smooth. On some computers which had VS Express and the Platfrom SDK installed it worked, on others it didn't. On computers which only have the runtime installed the thing just dies due to missing dll. I tried the depends software and it confirms that the intro can't locate the msvcr80.dll on the computer.
It feels like there is something wrong in the project but I gave up searching for a solution since VS 2003 gets it working without a problem.
Anyone who had similar problems and fixed it? I know itÃ,´s possible to get things working without static linking, I just failed on finding how.

[Jim]

I looked into this recently.  I think there's more than one version of msvcr80.dll, and that newer versions of VC2005 with the latest service pack generate exes that need the newest version of it.  And I think that when you get the .NET Framework updates from Microsoft Updates you automatically get the new DLLs.

And this is Microsoft's attempt to fix what us developers call "DLL Hell"!

Jim

[ekoli]

ok, thanks Jim. Then I use 2003 for intros and Express for demos.

[Rbz]

Which dll do you're talking about ? Msvcrt.dll perhaps ?

Yeah, the msvcr80.dll which my intro did everything to avoid.
Perhaps the problem lies in that I haven't had time too dig deeper in too what differences they have made in the 2005 edition ( manifest files and such ) compared to earlier releases.
On my computer things just worked smooth. On some computers which had VS Express and the Platfrom SDK installed it worked, on others it didn't. On computers which only have the runtime installed the thing just dies due to missing dll. I tried the depends software and it confirms that the intro can't locate the msvcr80.dll on the computer.
It feels like there is something wrong in the project but I gave up searching for a solution since VS 2003 gets it working without a problem.
Anyone who had similar problems and fixed it? I know itÃ,´s possible to get things working without static linking, I just failed on finding how.

I had similar problem, my solution for this was using an old msvcrt.lib file from MSVC 6.0 renaming it to msvcrts.lib and copy it to the psdk lib folder, using this method I can use the standard msvcrt.dll present on all pc config.