launching vs2008 build from python

Question

The first batch file launches a command prompt, i need the second command to be in the ccontext of the first. how can I do this in python?

As is, it launches the batch, and blocks until the batch (with its command prompt context) terminates, and then executes devenv without the necessary context.

os.system(r'%comspec% /k ""C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat"" x86')
os.system(r'devenv asdf.sln /rebuild Debug /Out last-build.txt')

think of it as in i'm in bash, and i need to execute a command in a perl context, so i type perl -c 'asdf'. executing perl and asdf back to back won't work, i need to get the devenv inside of the perl context.

Answer 1

You could append the devenv command onto the end of the original batch file like so:

'%comspec% /k "...vcvarsall.bat" x86 && devenv asdf.sln /rebuild ...'

(obviously I have shortened the commands for simplicity's sake)

Answer 2

I these situations I use script that does it all. That way you can chain as much as you want. Sometimes I will generate the script on the fly.

compileit.cmd
  call C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat
  devenv $1.sln /rebuild Debug /Out last-build.txt

Answer 3

I run my Python script from a batch file that sets the variables :-)

call ...\vcvarsall.bat
c:\python26\python.exe myscript.py

But Brett's solution sounds better.

Answer 4

I think that the proper way for achieving this would be running this command:

%comspec% /C "%VCINSTALLDIR%\vcvarsall.bat" x86 && vcbuild "project.sln"

Below you'll see the Python version of the same command:

os.system('%comspec% /C "%VCINSTALLDIR%\\vcvarsall.bat" x86 && vcbuild "project.sln"')

This should work with any Visual Studio so it would be a good idea to edit the question to make it more generic.

There is a small problem I found regarding the location of vcvarsall.bat - Because VCINSTALLDIR is not always set, you have to use the registry entries in order to detect the location where it is installer:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\9.0]
"InstallDir"="c:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\\Common7\\IDE\\"

Add ..\..\VC\vcvarsall.bat to this path. Also is a good idea to test for other versions of Visual Studio.