How do I set a path in Visual Studio?

85
votes

How do I set a path for DLL files to be searched in Visual Studio for a particular project alone?

Now I am setting it in the environment path variable, but I would like better control over this.

5
visual-studiovisual-c++development-environment
Do you mean that you're attempting to run something in the debugger, and because the DLLs aren't in PATH, it's not finding them? – Roger Lipscombe
Are you talking about the debugger or running the application from the Window's shell? – Jordan Parmer
Also, are you talking about a DLL you wrote or 3rd-party DLLs you are consuming? – Jordan Parmer
I was asking abt running the exe that is created in debug or release folder – yesraaj

5 Answers

53
votes

You have a couple of options:

  • You can add the path to the DLLs to the Executable files settings under Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > VC++ Directories (but only for building, for executing or debugging here)
  • You can add them in your global PATH environment variable
  • You can start Visual Studio using a batch file as I described here and manipulate the path in that one
  • You can copy the DLLs into the executable file's directory :-)
110
votes

Search MSDN for "How to: Set Environment Variables for Projects". (It's Project>Properties>Configuration Properties>Debugging "Environment" and "Merge Environment" properties for those who are in a rush.)

The syntax is NAME=VALUE and macros can be used (for example, $(OutDir)).

For example, to prepend C:\Windows\Temp to the PATH:

PATH=C:\WINDOWS\Temp;%PATH%

Similarly, to append $(TargetDir)\DLLS to the PATH:

PATH=%PATH%;$(TargetDir)\DLLS
9
votes

If you only need to add one path per configuration (debug/release), you could set the debug command working directory:

Project | Properties | Select Configuration | Configuration Properties | Debugging | Working directory

Repeat for each project configuration.

1
votes

Set the PATH variable, like you're doing. If you're running the program from the IDE, you can modify environment variables by adjusting the Debugging options in the project properties.

If the DLLs are named such that you don't need different paths for the different configuration types, you can add the path to the system PATH variable or to Visual Studio's global one in Tools | Options.

0
votes

None of the answers solved exactly my problem (the solution file I was running was trying to find xcopy to copy a dll after generation).

What solved it for me was going into menu "Project -> Properties"

Then in the window that opens choosing on the left pane: "Configuration Properties -> VC++ Directories

On the right pane under "General" choosing "Executable Directories "

And then adding: 

$(SystemRoot)\system32;$(SystemRoot);$(SystemRoot)\System32\Wbem;$(SystemRoot)\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;$(ExecutablePath)