VS10 "Additional Include Directories" Point to VS9 Includes

Question

I installed VS10 side-by-side with VS9 and created a very simple application using it:

#include <cstdlib>
#include <vector>
#include <algorithm>
using namespace std;

class A
{
};
class B : public A
{
};

A* get_a() { return new B; }

int main()
{
    vector<A*> a_list;
    vector<B*> b_list;

    generate_n(back_inserter(a_list), 10, get_a);

    return 0;
}

This generated a number of very odd compiler errors:

1>hacks_vs10.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: void __thiscall std::_Container_base_secure::_Orphan_all(void)const " (__imp_?_Orphan_all@_Container_base_secure@std@@QBEXXZ) referenced in function "protected: void __thiscall std::vector<class A *,class std::allocator<class A *> >::_Tidy(void)" (?_Tidy@?$vector@PAVA@@V?$allocator@PAVA@@@std@@@std@@IAEXXZ)
1>hacks_vs10.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall std::_Container_base_secure::~_Container_base_secure(void)" (__imp_??1_Container_base_secure@std@@QAE@XZ) referenced in function "protected: __thiscall std::_Container_base_aux_alloc_empty<class std::allocator<class A *> >::~_Container_base_aux_alloc_empty<class std::allocator<class A *> >(void)" (??1?$_Container_base_aux_alloc_empty@V?$allocator@PAVA@@@std@@@std@@IAE@XZ)
1>hacks_vs10.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >::~basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >(void)" (__imp_??1?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@std@@QAE@XZ) referenced in function "protected: static void __cdecl std::vector<class A *,class std::allocator<class A *> >::_Xlen(void)" (?_Xlen@?$vector@PAVA@@V?$allocator@PAVA@@@std@@@std@@KAXXZ)
1>hacks_vs10.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >(char const *)" (__imp_??0?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@std@@QAE@PBD@Z) referenced in function "protected: staticvoid __cdecl std::vector<class A *,class std::allocator<class A *> >::_Xlen(void)" (?_Xlen@?$vector@PAVA@@V?$allocator@PAVA@@@std@@@std@@KAXXZ)
1>hacks_vs10.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >(class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > const &)" (__imp_??0?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@std@@QAE@ABV01@@Z) referenced in function "public: __thiscall std::logic_error::logic_error(class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > const &)" (??0logic_error@std@@QAE@ABV?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@1@@Z)
1>hacks_vs10.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: char const * __thiscall std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> >::c_str(void)const " (__imp_?c_str@?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@std@@QBEPBDXZ) referenced in function "public: virtual char const * __thiscall std::logic_error::what(void)const " (?what@logic_error@std@@UBEPBDXZ)
1>hacks_vs10.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "__declspec(dllimport) public: __thiscall std::_Container_base_secure::_Container_base_secure(void)" (__imp_??0_Container_base_secure@std@@QAE@XZ) referenced in function "protected: __thiscall std::_Container_base_aux_alloc_empty<class std::allocator<class A *> >::_Container_base_aux_alloc_empty<class std::allocator<class A *> >(class std::allocator<class A *>)" (??0?$_Container_base_aux_alloc_empty@V?$allocator@PAVA@@@std@@@std@@IAE@V?$allocator@PAVA@@@1@@Z)

...which made me scratch my head for some time, until I discovered that the wrong headers were being #include-ed. Instead of the VS10 version of <vector> etc, the VS9 files are #include-ed. This, in turn, I assume is because the $(IncludePath) variable is defined as:

When I went to Tools>Options>Projects and Solutions>VC++ Directories to change the global setting for this and all future projects, I discovered an unhappy truth:

So how do I change this global setting? The installer clearly set it incorrectly.

Answer 1

Here are the steps to change the settings file through UI:

• Open up property manager by clicking on View.Property Manager.

• Expand the project node and then the Configuration|Platform nodes, you will see "Microsoft.cpp..users" file for each Configuration|Platform. These are the files for the global settings, similar to the old tools/Options/VC++ Directories.

• Multi-Select "Microsoft.cpp..users", right click and bring up the property page window

• In the property page window, click on "VC++ Directories" (for example) in the left pane, add new paths for the directories such as "Include Directories". separated by semicolons

• Make sure to save the settings before shutting down Visual Studio.

• Re-launch Visual Studio and the new settings will be in effect.

If you would like to only change the settings for a specific project, you can right click on the project and bring up the property page. Change the settings for “VC++ Directories”, these settings will be persisted to the project file.