How do I compile boost using a specific VC++ Runtime?

Question

I'm trying to get a consistent VC++ runtime for distribution, but I cannot find anything forcing boost/bjam to cooperate.

I have successfully compiled libcurl and UnitTest++ with the method in this link.

Avoiding problems with VC2005 SP1 Security update KB971090

The general strategy is to include this header in all the cpp files.

#ifndef __midl
#define _SXS_ASSEMBLY_VERSION "8.0.50727.762"
#define _CRT_ASSEMBLY_VERSION _SXS_ASSEMBLY_VERSION
#define _MFC_ASSEMBLY_VERSION _SXS_ASSEMBLY_VERSION
#define _ATL_ASSEMBLY_VERSION _SXS_ASSEMBLY_VERSION
#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C" {
#endif
__declspec(selectany) int _forceCRTManifest;
__declspec(selectany) int _forceMFCManifest;
__declspec(selectany) int _forceAtlDllManifest;
__declspec(selectany) int _forceCRTManifestRTM;
__declspec(selectany) int _forceMFCManifestRTM;
__declspec(selectany) int _forceAtlDllManifestRTM;
#ifdef __cplusplus
}
#endif
#endi

b2 has options for setting cxxflags, though they do not seem to honor my /FI compile option to use the header and force the correct runtime. I assume that they are using something else. I suppose boost doesn't use the msvc flags?

I would like to compile boost with 8.0.50727.762 specifically.

Answer 1

Apparently bjam is persnickety about which flags have leading -- dashes.

bjam ^
    toolset=msvc-8.0 ^
    link=static ^
    cxxflags=/FI"C:/boost_1_44_0/sxs_header.h" ^
    --with-thread ^
    --with-date_time ^
    --with-system ^
    -d2

Will produce the correct compiler flags:

file bin.v2\libs\thread\build\msvc-8.0\release\link-static\threading-multi\win32\thread.obj.rsp
"libs\thread\src\win32\thread.cpp"
 -Fo"bin.v2\libs\thread\build\msvc-8.0\release\link-static\threading-multi\win32\thread.obj"
    -TP
 /O2
 /Ob2
 /W3
 /GR
 /MD
 /Zc:forScope
 /Zc:wchar_t
 /wd4675
 /EHs
 /FIC:/boost_1_44_0/sxs_header.h
 -c

-DBOOST_ALL_NO_LIB=1

-DBOOST_THREAD_BUILD_LIB=1

-DNDEBUG

"-I."

compile-c-c++ bin.v2\libs\thread\build\msvc-8.0\release\link-static\threading-multi\win32\thread.obj

    call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\vcvarsall.bat" x86 >nul
cl /Zm800 -nologo @"bin.v2\libs\thread\build\msvc-8.0\release\link-static\threading-multi\win32\thread.objp"

thread.cpp

Which you can verify by creating a test app that uses something that requires boost to link, then checking its manifest file in the intermediates directory.

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes'?>
<assembly xmlns='urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1' manifestVersion='1.0'>
  <dependency>
    <dependentAssembly>
      <assemblyIdentity type='win32' name='Microsoft.VC80.CRT' version='8.0.50727.762' processorArchitecture='x86' publicKeyToken='1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b' />
    </dependentAssembly>
  </dependency>
</assembly>

You should only see the one assemblyIdentity with the correct version, otherwise you'll usually have a couple with higher numbers.