How to determine if a build is from the editor or command line?

Question

I am building a C++ solution with Visual Studio 2005.

Sometimes I open the solution in Visual Studio and build it from within the development environment. Other times I build it from the command line using msbuild.exe. I'm wondering if there is a way that I can determine which of these two types of builds I'm using at compile time (for example, a macro or something like like that). I want to change the path of my output files based on this determination. So, if I'm building from within Visual Studio I would put my output files in FolderA but if I'm building from the command line I would put my output files in FolderB. Is this possible?

Answer 1

Perhaps you can pass in a command-line parameter when building from the command-line that would indicate you are building the solution from the command-line. Otherwise, you can assume you are building from within Visual Studio.

Answer 2

I don't have the answer to your general question, but in order to change the output path, have you thought of adding project configurations ? You could copy project configurations and update the output path of the new ones.