Removing setup projects from the build order

Question

Hi,

We have 15 projects in our development environment. Some are test projects, most are libraries, some are 'final' executables that can actually run, and some are setup projects.

Most of the time, I only want to build those 'final' executables and their respective libraries, and let the setup project only be run when we're making a build (and, for the most part, that should only be done by a continuous integration server anyway). Unfortunately, it appears that clicking 'start/continue' now also builds the setup projects anyway, which I do NOT want to have happen (it's very slow, and really slows us down).

To reiterate: I can build just fine, and it will just build up to the appropriate point. If I choose start/continue, however, the setup projects get built, even though I'm not in the setup projects.

So how do I remove my setup projects from the build tree? They're in the build order, but they're not dependencies and they aren't dependencies of any contained project. Why are they even getting built?

This is vs2008 (with brand spanking new WiX installers, v 3.0.5120)

Answer 1

Under the Solution properties, you can choose a configuration (or make one), and turn OFF the "Build" toggle for those projects.

This way you could have two configurations: "Debug" and "Debug with Build Projects".

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To do this, right click on the Solution, choose Properties, Configuration Properties. If you want to make a new configuration, choose "Configuration Manager..." and create the new configuration, otherwise just edit one of your current ones (probably Debug).

Under Configuration Properties/Configuration, you can choose exactly which projects get built by default.

Answer 2

Under the build menu select "Configuration Manager...". Uncheck whatever you don't want built.