Detection of Visual Studio is unreliable
- Dominant language
- Python
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Description
**Describe the bug**
Detecting a Visual Studio installation may be leaning too hard on just the presence of `vswhere.exe`. This executable can exist from simply installing the C++ Build Tools to get `psutil` working.
```
❯ briefcase build windows visualstudio
Visual Studio appears to exist, but Briefcase can't retrieve installation metadata.
Please report this as a bug at:
https://github.com/beeware/briefcase/issues/new
In your report, please including the output from running:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\vswhere.exe
from the command prompt.
```
**To Reproduce**
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
Install just the [Build Tools](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/visual-cpp-build-tools/) as recommended by `psutil` when its install fails.
**Expected behavior**
Briefcase better detects when Visual Studio is altogether missing.
If `vswhere.exe` returns an empty list, it may be better to assume it isn't installed at all.
**Environment:**
- Operating System: Windows 10
- Python version: 3.10.8
- Software versions:
- Briefcase: `0.3.12.dev47+g50014d1b`
Contributor guide
Research direction
Reproduce the issue with `briefcase build windows visualstudio` after installing only the C++ Build Tools, then trace the Visual Studio detection entry point that invokes `vswhere.exe`. Done means an empty `vswhere.exe` result is treated as Visual Studio being absent rather than producing the installation-metadata error.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- build-system, operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100