How do I set a path in Visual Studio?

Question

How do I set a path for DLL files to be searched in Visual Studio for a particular project alone?

Now I am setting it in the environment path variable, but I would like better control over this.

Answer 1

Search MSDN for "How to: Set Environment Variables for Projects". (It's Project>Properties>Configuration Properties>Debugging "Environment" and "Merge Environment" properties for those who are in a rush.)

The syntax is NAME=VALUE and macros can be used (for example, $(OutDir)).

For example, to prepend C:\Windows\Temp to the PATH:

PATH=C:\WINDOWS\Temp;%PATH% 

Similarly, to append $(TargetDir)\DLLS to the PATH:

PATH=%PATH%;$(TargetDir)\DLLS 

Answer 2

You have a couple of options:

• You can add the path to the DLLs to the Executable files settings under Tools > Options > Projects and Solutions > VC++ Directories (but only for building, for executing or debugging here)
• You can add them in your global PATH environment variable
• You can start Visual Studio using a batch file as I described here and manipulate the path in that one
• You can copy the DLLs into the executable file's directory :-)