[Guide]: Lightweight compiler for Windows for replacement heavy Visual Studio IDE. Compile rAthena faster. Save your bandwidth and disk space.

[anacondaq]

Problem

Please open the link and read https://github.com/rathena/rathena/pull/2089

tl;tr VS2008, VS2010 solutions no more available after upgrade above. I'm not against these changes, but they create some problems that are described in comments in the link above and in the images below.

My little "cry story", which affects many users, and main ideas has been explained there: https://github.com/rathena/rathena/pull/2089

Solution

1.91GB data instead of 9.1GB data to download / store on HDD just for doing the same task (compiling) is not it good?

Something like this looks this tool, and on the screenshot above you see that login, char, map server and others projects inside solution has been successfully built.

What is it?

This is Visual Studio C++ Build Tools. Detailed information what is it you can read here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd293626.aspx

This is just a set of console apps as the compiler, linker, etc. Without heavy Visual Studio IDE which does its job pretty well.
You can save up to 4-5x times internet bandwidth and space at disk.

For whom is this?

I think this guide will be useful for all who has only one goal - compile rAthena source code on Windows and run it.
For people who wish to save some data, and internet bandwidth. Who don't develop new features for rAthena, because IDE much better for this purposes. 

Pros of VS 2017 C++ Build Tools:

• lightweight, you need to download and install just ~1.9GB of data, instead of installing whole very heavy Visual Studio IDE (~8-15GB depends on VS)
• very fast, resource lite, because don't need to run IDE, this is a command line tool
• not need to modify any part of a project, you can compile whole .sln (solution) of rAthena without any modification via a single command or running compile.bat (see below)
• Do the same things what do "Build Menu" in VS 2017 (build, rebuild, clean solution, break, etc)
• Ideal tool for people with limited internet, and SSD drives which use rAthena for compilation / recompilation only (src -> .exes)
• will print errors, warnings while compilation too, like Visual Studio 2017 IDE, so you will not miss any problems

Cons of VS 2017 C++ Build Tools:

• if you are not a developer of rathena source code, and don't use Visual Studio 2017 full features (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/whats-new-in-visual-studio) you will not find any negative sides of this. 

 

Guide how to compile rAthena on Windows

How to compile rAthena without Visual Studio IDE but by Visual Studio C++ Building Tools?
It's very easy, let me follow you though mini-guide which will require few actions from you.

1. Go Here: https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2017/
download Building Tools for Visual Studio 2017, then run it

 

2. Go to Individual Components and select next checkboxes:

• Static analysis Tools
• VC++ 2017 v141 toolset (x86,x64)
• Windows Universal CRT SDK
• Visual C++ Build Tools core features
• Windows 8.1 SDK
• Windows Universal C Runtime

This is minimal package of things what need to install to make compilation works, either you will have tons of errors when will try to compile a code.
This minimal package has been tested and verified on Win10x64 and works great. Nothing extra, only most important components. 

 

3. Let's try to compile your server (rAthena source code (rAthena.sln))

Mini-theory what you need to know. You will build whole solution (rAthena.sln) via MSBuild via command line by entering next format

Quote

MSBuild <path to rAthena.sln> <flags>

As I remember MSBuild not added to "path", so just calling from command line "MSBuild" command not enough, for that need or create .bat file, or call it manually via terminal (console)

If you don't want to read details below, you can stop here, and download "compile.bat", then copy the file to your rAthena folder and run it.
After this you will see console window inside what you will be able to see compilation output. Then when process will be finished, you will get compiled rAthena exe's in rAthena emulator folder from where you have been ran "compile.bat" file.

 

Or here is raw code from compile.bat you can copy-paste it to text editor then save your file as 'compile bat' and copy the file to your rAthena folder

@Echo OFF
Echo "Building solution/project file using batch file"
SET PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\BuildTools\MSBuild\15.0\Bin
SET SolutionPath=%~dp0\rAthena.sln
Echo Start Time - %Time%
MSbuild.exe %SolutionPath% /p:PlatformToolset=v141 /m
Echo End Time - %Time%
Set /p Wait=Build Process Completed...

 

If you don't want to use .bat file, you can always launch compilation via next combination of actions

Click "Run Start (Windows button)" - find in Start Menu - Developer Command Prompt for VS 2017, and then run it.

Inside opened console app, enter next command:

MSBUILD C:\user\admin\desktop\rathena\rAthena.sln /p:PlatformToolset=v141 /m

Where path you must set by yourself (where is located your rAthena.sln)

About /p:PlatformToolset=v141. By default rAthena solution file developed for VS2013, and VS2013 uses v120 toolset. This toolset available only with Visual Studio 2013, and this toolset impossible to install for this VS Building Tools. So, we have installed v141 toolset and we will use it. And we don't need to edit any config files to update our solution (like in rAthena guide what you can read at topic about rAthena solution upgrade). So, don't remove this parameter, and always have it as an argument, either you will not be able to compile solution and will see million of errors.

About /m - this is the optional parameter, you can not use it if don't wish (/m parameter makes compilation much faster).

When you will enter it, MSBuild will compile source code in console and will print you about any warnings / errors during compilation (like you see in Visual Studio IDE). When it will finish, you will see results, something like this

 

 

Useful commands And Links

Build / Re-build Project:

MSBuild <path_to_rAthena.sln> /p:PlatformToolset=v141

or if you wish to build faster try add /m flag too

MSBuild <path_to_rAthena.sln> /p:PlatformToolset=v141 /m

 

Clean Solution:

MSBuild <path_to_rAthena.sln> /t:Clean

 

Information about MSBuild:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd293626.aspx/ 

 

That's all, hope it's enough, and I have helped someone.

Edited June 4, 2017 by Anacondaqq

[mrmagic]

Thanks, that's really save a lot of harddisk space.

[Akkarin]

Very well described! Topic pinned.

[Deleted User]

Genius! I learned something from this.
I have VS 2015 which costs almost 10GB including Updates. i didn't realize there was a method that can use lightweight compiler.
Thank you!

Edited June 4, 2017 by Kaze

[Secrets]

Suggestion: VC++ build tools installer can be executed in silent mode from the command line. You could make a batch file to make a 1-click install script!

[reigneil]

this save me from installing 10Gigs of files on my limited space SSD. also bandwidth friendly...

[mazvi]

Anyone using MinGW to compile rathena? http://www.mingw.org/

[Akkarin]

9 hours ago, mazvi said:

Anyone using MinGW to compile rathena? http://www.mingw.org/

Not really relevant to this particular topic, is it.

[walter307]

On 6/4/2017 at 6:41 AM, Anacondaqq said:

MSBUILD C:\user\admin\desktop\rathena\rAthena.sln /p:PlatformToolset=v141 /m

i was trying to recompile my rathena.sln but it was giving me an error "msbuild error msb1008: only one project can be specified".

Turns out that there was a missing " " on the path. Nevertheless this whole Guide is a total kick a**  Kudos to you!

MSBUILD "C:\user\admin\desktop\rathena\rAthena.sln" /p:PlatformToolset=v141 /m

[eleriaqueen]

Nice post OP, I hate Visual Studio as a an IDE (the GUI part mostly) it's heavy and I'm bad at using it.

Edited September 7, 2017 by eleriaqueen

[LearningRO]

it's possible to make "clean solution" and then "recompile" in one of .bat file <<?

[Gloorft]

Hello, i downloaded the ready RÖ server (this specific version:https://rathena.org/board/topic/109823-ragnarok-online-complete-offline-pack-2017-make-your-ro-server-in-less-then-5-minutes/), and i'm currently learning how to configure it.

The server itself is working fine, though when i try to compile it i always get a MSB1001 error, and i tried both through the .bat file provided and through the dev command prompt, with both giving me the same result. Another weird detail is that i don't have a single rAthena.sln file, instead i have a bunch of different numbered ones (rAthena-9, rAthena-10, and then rAthena-12 to 15). I'm currently using windows 8.1 to compile it, if that affects anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

[anacondaq]

On 12/30/2017 at 7:12 PM, Gloorft said:

Hello, i downloaded the ready RÖ server (this specific version:https://rathena.org/board/topic/109823-ragnarok-online-complete-offline-pack-2017-make-your-ro-server-in-less-then-5-minutes/), and i'm currently learning how to configure it.

The server itself is working fine, though when i try to compile it i always get a MSB1001 error, and i tried both through the .bat file provided and through the dev command prompt, with both giving me the same result. Another weird detail is that i don't have a single rAthena.sln file, instead i have a bunch of different numbered ones (rAthena-9, rAthena-10, and then rAthena-12 to 15). I'm currently using windows 8.1 to compile it, if that affects anything.

Thanks in advance.

 

input rAthena-15.sln instead of rAthena.sln. And my pack by the link above is pretty old and will be soon upgraded (many many changes and updates). 

[Brynner]

alternate download for build tools. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/productinfo/installing-an-earlier-release-of-vs2017#top

[Brynner]

how to fix this?

[Brynner]

problem solve by adding this.

SET VCTargetsPath=C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\V120

[babytsina]

tried and tested...good job good sir.....

btw works like a charm with herc as well just use the -14.sln

[kamirie]

How can i fix this errors

[Brynner]

16 hours ago, kamirie said:

How can i fix this errors

Have you tried my solution above?

[kamirie]

On 9/1/2018 at 3:16 PM, Brynner said:

Have you tried my solution above?

Yes , I tried it. When I re-test it shows the same issue.

[blakbord]

On 6/4/2017 at 6:41 AM, Anacondaqq said:

1. Go Here: https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2017/
download Building Tools for Visual Studio 2017, then run it

hi, why I can't download this Building Tools?

[anacondaq]

23 hours ago, blakbord said:

hi, why I can't download this Building Tools?

try this: http://bfy.tw/K4KZ

Edited September 26, 2018 by Anacondaqq

[Slyx]

@Anacondaqq

Thank you for the guide

What is the different between clean solution and build/rebuild?

I guess clean is for first time compile and build/rebuild for modification on source afterward? 

[anacondaq]

44 minutes ago, Slyx said:

@Anacondaqq

Thank you for the guide

What is the different between clean solution and build/rebuild?

I guess clean is for first time compile and build/rebuild for modification on source afterward? 

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3095901/difference-between-build-solution-rebuild-solution-and-clean-solution-in-visua

[Seirei]

Hi @Anacondaqq
I can't find VC++ 2017 v141 toolset (x86,64) on the list. 

And thanks for the guide 

[anacondaq]

Spoiler

27 minutes ago, Seirei said:

Hi @Anacondaqq
I can't find VC++ 2017 v141 toolset (x86,64) on the list. 

And thanks for the guide 

 

 

 

If you have errors, there is no simple solution how to avoid these errors and fix them from command line from MSBuild Tools. That mean you will be forced to use Visual Studio 2017 Community.