Jochen Kalmbach's WebLog

Use the PSDK with VC++ Express 2005

Currently I couldn´t find any docu about the integration of the actual PSDK into VC++ Express 2005 RTM. There is only the Beta-2 version available

Updating the directory entries

It is very simple, you only need to install the PSDK (normaly into ”%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Platform SDK”) and then you need to change the directory setting for “Executable files”, “Include files” and “Library files”.

The directory settings can be found under “Tools|Options…|Projects and Solutions|VC++ Directories”. In the upper right corner, you will see a combo-box with the directory-types. First you need to choose “Executable files”. Then change the second entry in the list from
”$(VCInstallDir)PlatformSDK\bin”
to
”$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft Platform SDK\Bin”.

Then choose “Include files” and change the second entry from
”$(VCInstallDir)PlatformSDK\include”
to
”$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft Platform SDK\include”.

Then choose “Library files” and change the second entry from
”$(VCInstallDir)PlatformSDK\lib”
to
”$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft Platform SDK\lib”.

Add additional LIBs

It is recommended to add the mostly used LIBs to the default settings; this prevents you from adding these libs to every project. Therefor you need to change the file ”%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\VCProjectDefaults\corewin_express.vsprops”. Replace the line
AdditionalDependencies=”kernel32.lib”
with
AdditionalDependencies=”kernel32.lib user32.lib gdi32.lib winspool.lib comdlg32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib ole32.lib oleaut32.lib uuid.lib”

Enabling the project wizard for Windows-apps/DLLs and LIBs

To enable the wizards for Windows-Apps/DLLs and LIBs, you need to change the file ”%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\VCWizards\AppWiz\Generic\Application\html\1033\AppSettings.htm”
Uncomment the lines 357-359 to:
//WIN_APP.disabled = true;
//DLL_APP.disabled = true;
//LIB_APP.disabled = true;
And uncomment the lines 441-444 to
//WIN_APP.disabled = true;
//WIN_APP_LABEL.disabled = true;
//DLL_APP.disabled = true;
//DLL_APP_LABEL.disabled = true;

Now you are done, and you can build native Win32-apps!

Now there is an offical link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/usingpsdk/