How do I see a C/C++ source file after preprocessing in Visual Studio?

Question

Let's say I have a source file with many preprocessor directives. Is it possible to see how it looks after the preprocessor is done with it?

Answer 1

cl.exe, the command line interface to Microsoft Visual C++, has three different options for outputting the preprocessed file (hence the inconsistency in the previous responses about Visual C++):

• /E: preprocess to stdout (similar to GCC's -E option)
• /P: preprocess to file
• /EP: preprocess to stdout without #line directives

If you want to preprocess to a file without #line directives, combine the /P and /EP options.