= Generating Visual Studio Project =

Use [http://svn.osgeo.org/gdal/trunk/gdal/generate_vcxproj.bat generate_vcxproj.bat] script available in GDAL source code tree to generate project files (.vcxproj) for Visual Studio 2010 or later.

The script generates Visual Studio [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/h27k75y5.aspx External Project] (aka [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8y48z24a.aspx Makefile Project]) generated project. Makefile Project almost entirely relies on build configuration defined in GDAL `nmake.opt` (or `nmake.local`) and `makefile.vc` files.

{{{
Usage: generate_vcxproj ^<Visual C++ version^> [32^|64] ^<^(*^) project file name^>
Parameters:
   1 : Visual C++ version is not the same as Visual Studio version ^( =^> 10.0 ^)
   2 : Windows platform 32 for Win32 and 64 for Win64
   3 : Base file name, with no path and no extension ^(*^)
Examples:
   generate_vcxproj 10.1 32 gdal_vs2010
   generate_vcxproj 11.0 64 gdal_vs2012
   generate_vcxproj 12.0 64 gdal_vs2013
   generate_vcxproj 14.0 64 gdal_vs2015
}}}

1. Edit `nmake.opt` (or `nmake.local`) to configure desired build options.
2. Generate projects: `generate_vcxproj.bat 14.0 32 gdal_vs2015`
   * `gdal_vs2015.vcxproj` is generated.
   * If you build source tree checked out from the repository with [http://svn.osgeo.org/gdal/trunk/autotest/ autotest] folder included, then also `gdal_vs2015_test.vcxproj` is generated for makefile in `autotest/cpp` folder with GDAL C++ tests.
3. Launch Visual Studio IDE
4. Go to File > Open > !Project/Solution...
5. Open project `gdal_vs2015.vcxproj`.
6. Add  project `gdal_vs2015_test.vcxproj` to the solution.
7. Configure Build Dependencies to build the main project before the test project.
8. Optionally, you may also have to add in Windows SDK library paths in the project's "VC++ Directories" configuration properties.
9. Save solution in .sln file.
10. Build.