premake / premake/premake-core

Add support for CopyToOutputDirectory for VS C++ projects

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enhancement
Dominant language
C
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

What problem will this solve?
Projects using DLL not present in the system will not load them if not copied alongside the executable

What might be a solution?
Add a flag to enable "CopyToOutputDirectory" or add it always

What other alternatives have you already considered?
Currently, we SED the vcxproj after generation

Anything else we should know?
This:

  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264com_AVX.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264com_SSE2.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264com_SSE4_2.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264com_SSSE3.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264dec_AVX.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264dec_SSE2.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264dec_SSE4_2.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264dec_SSSE3.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264enc_AVX.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264enc_SSE2.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264enc_SSE4_2.dll" />
    <None Include="..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264enc_SSSE3.dll" />
  </ItemGroup>

vs

<ItemGroup>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264com_AVX.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264com_SSE2.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264com_SSE4_2.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264com_SSSE3.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264dec_AVX.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264dec_SSE2.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264dec_SSE4_2.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264dec_SSSE3.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264enc_AVX.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264enc_SSE2.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264enc_SSE4_2.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
    <None Include=".\..\SourcesMeiWebRtc\ExternalCodecs\h264_lib\lib_win\h264enc_SSSE3.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
  </ItemGroup>

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating the Visual Studio C++ project generation entry point that emits the shown .vcxproj ItemGroup and None entries. Compare the current generated XML with the requested CopyToOutputDirectory elements, then identify how the behavior should be enabled or applied consistently. Done means generated projects copy the referenced DLLs to the output directory without post-generation edits.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
build-system
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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