Option presets

See also: Option presets

The option presets allow you to use predefined configuration for the MSVC toolchain in order to develop specific applications. The saker.msvc.coptions.preset() task returns an options object that when passed to the compiler and linker tasks as an option, it will configure it appropriately for the given use-case:

$ccompile = saker.msvc.ccompile(
	src/**/*.cpp,
	CompilerOptions: [
		saker.msvc.coptions.preset(console),
	]
)
$procclink = saker.msvc.clink(
	$ccompile,
	LinkerOptions: [
		saker.msvc.coptions.preset(console),
	]
)

In the above example we retrieve the console preset and apply it to the compiler and linker tasks. This will result in the appropriate include directories, library paths, and other options to be set for the tasks.

Using presets can be useful if you want to avoid lower level configuration of the backing cl.exe and link.exe.

The available list of presets will grow as the saker.msvc package is being developed.

`console`

The console preset contains configurations that are applicable for creating a simple console application.

It adds the appropriate library paths from the WindowsKits SDK. It adds the appropriate include directories from the MSVC and WindowsKits SDKs.

It also sets the /SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE simple parameter for the linker task.

The preset adds the _CONSOLE preprocessor definition.

`dll`

The dll present contains configurations for creating a Dynamic Link Library.

It adds the appropriate library paths from the WindowsKits SDK. It adds the appropriate include directories from the MSVC and WindowsKits SDKs.

It also sets the /SUBSYSTEM:WINDOWS and /DLL simple parameters for the linker task.

The preset adds the _WINDOWS and '_WINDLL' preprocessor definition.

`optimize-debug`

The optimize-debug preset adds configurations for creating a debug optimized binary.

The preset adds the /Od simple compiler parameter.

The preset adds the _DEBUG preprocessor definition.

`optimize-release`

The optimize-debug preset adds configurations for creating a release optimized binary.

The preset adds the /GL, /Gy, /O2, /Oi simple compiler parameters. It also adds the NDEBUG preprocessor definition.

The preset adds the /LTCG, /OPT:REF, /OPT:ICF simple linker parameters.

Preset identifier

The presets can be created with a given Identifier specified for them:

$options = [
	saker.msvc.coptions.preset(console, Identifier: con),
	saker.msvc.coptions.preset(dll, Identifier: lib),
]
# Compiling the console app
$conccompile = saker.msvc.ccompile(
	consrc/**/*.cpp,
	CompilerOptions: $options,
	Identifier: main-con
)
saker.msvc.clink(
	$conccompile,
	LinkerOptions: $options,
	Identifier: main-con
)
# Compiling the library
$libccompile = saker.msvc.ccompile(
	libsrc/**/*.cpp,
	CompilerOptions: $options,
	Identifier: main-lib
)
saker.msvc.clink(
	$libccompile,
	LinkerOptions: $options,
	Identifier: main-lib
)

If an Identifier is specified for the retrieved preset configurations, then they will be only merged with the associated tasks if the Identifier of the task contains all the componets as specified in the preset Identifier.

In the above example we compile a console application and a library. We store the options that we apply in the $options variable. We specified different Identifiers for the preset configurations, and this result in that the con preset will be only applied to the main-con compilation, and the lib preset will only apply to the main-lib compilation.

Storing options this way can help maintainability of your build script as the configurations are not spread out in your build script, but can be specified in one place.