curl/projects

Building via IDE Project Files
==============================

This document describes how to compile, build and install curl and libcurl
from sources using an IDE based development tool such as Visual Studio.

Project files are available for several different Visual C++ versions. The
following directory structure has been used to cater for this:

somedirectory\
|_curl
|_projects
|_
|_
|_lib
|_src

This structure allows for side-by-side compilation of curl on the same
machine using different versions of a given compiler (for example VC10 and
VC12) and allows for your own application or product to be compiled against
those variants of libcurl for example.

Note: Typically this side-by-side compilation is generally only required
when a library is being compiled against dynamic runtime libraries.

Dependencies
============

The projects files also support build configurations that require third
party dependencies such as OpenSSL, wolfSSL and libssh2. If you wish to
support these, you will also need to download and compile those libraries
as well.

To support compilation of these libraries using different versions of
compilers, the following directory structure has been used for both the
output of curl and libcurl as well as these dependencies.

somedirectory\
|_curl
| |_ build
| |_
| |_
| |_
| |_lib
| |_src
|
|_openssl
| |_ build
| |_
| |_VC
| |_
|
|_libssh2
|_ build
|_
|_VC
|_

As OpenSSL and wolfSSL don't support side-by-side compilation when using
different versions of Visual Studio, build helper batch files have been
provided to assist with this. Please run "build-openssl -help" and/or
"build-wolfssl -help" for usage details.

Building with Visual C++
========================

To build with VC++, you will of course have to first install VC++ which is
part of Visual Studio.

If you require support for Internationalized Domain Names via Windows IDN
then you will need either:

* Microsoft Windows SDK Update for Windows Vista:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=23719

* Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 or above

Once you have VC++ installed you should launch the application and open one
of the solution or workspace files. The VC directory names are based on the
version of Visual C++ that you will be using. Each version of Visual Studio
has a default version of Visual C++. We offer these versions:

- VC10 (Visual Studio 2010 Version 10.0)
- VC11 (Visual Studio 2012 Version 11.0)
- VC12 (Visual Studio 2013 Version 12.0)
- VC14 (Visual Studio 2015 Version 14.0)
- VC14.10 (Visual Studio 2017 Version 15.0)
- VC14.30 (Visual Studio 2022 Version 17.0)

Separate solutions are provided for both libcurl and the curl command line
tool as well as a solution that includes both projects. libcurl.sln,
curl.sln and curl-all.sln, respectively. We recommend using curl-all.sln to
build both projects.

For example, if you are using Visual Studio 2022 then you should be able to
use VC14.30\curl-all.sln to build curl and libcurl.

Running DLL based configurations
================================

If you are a developer and plan to run the curl tool from Visual Studio (eg
you are debugging) with any third-party libraries (such as OpenSSL, wolfSSL
or LibSSH2) then you will need to add the search path of these DLLs to the
configuration's PATH environment. To do that:

* Open the 'curl-all.sln' or 'curl.sln' solutions

* Right-click on the 'curl' project and select Properties

* Navigate to 'Configuration Properties > Debugging > Environment'

* Add PATH='Path to DLL';C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;
C:\Windows\System32\Wbem

... where 'Path to DLL` is the configuration specific path. For example the
following configurations in Visual Studio 2010 might be:

DLL Debug - DLL OpenSSL (Win32):
PATH=..\..\..\..\..\openssl\build\Win32\VC10\DLL Debug;C:\Windows\system32;
C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem

DLL Debug - DLL OpenSSL (x64):
PATH=..\..\..\..\..\openssl\build\Win64\VC10\DLL Debug;C:\Windows\system32;
C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem

DLL Debug - DLL wolfSSL (Win32):
PATH=..\..\..\..\..\wolfssl\build\Win32\VC10\DLL Debug;C:\Windows\system32;
C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem

DLL Debug - DLL wolfSSL (x64):
PATH=..\..\..\..\..\wolfssl\build\Win64\VC10\DLL Debug;C:\Windows\system32;
C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem

If you are using a configuration that uses multiple third-party library DLLs
(such as DLL Debug - DLL OpenSSL - DLL LibSSH2) then 'Path to DLL' will need
to contain the path to both of these.

Notes
=====

The following keywords have been used in the directory hierarchy:

- The platform (For example: Windows)
- The IDE (For example: VC10)
- The platform architecture (For example: Win32, Win64)
- The target configuration (For example: DLL Debug,
LIB Release - LIB OpenSSL)

If you are using the source code from the git repository, rather than a
release archive or nightly build, you will need to generate the project
files. Please run "generate -help" for usage details.

Should you wish to help out with some of the items on the TODO list, or
find bugs in the project files that need correcting, and would like to
submit updated files back then please note that, whilst the solution files
can be edited directly, the templates for the project files (which are
stored in the git repository) will need to be modified rather than the
generated project files that Visual Studio uses.

Legacy Windows and SSL
======================

Some of the project configurations allow the use of Schannel, the native
SSL library in Windows which forms part of Windows SSPI. However, Schannel
in Windows <= XP is unable to connect to servers that no longer support the
legacy handshakes and algorithms used by those versions. If you will be
using curl in one of those earlier versions of Windows you should choose
another SSL backend such as OpenSSL.