Meaning of $(OutDir)

Question

I was looking in the properties of my visual studio project and saw the following:

$(OutDir)\$(ProjectName).exe 

I was curious how does visual studio know the value of outdir and how can i see this value. Moreover, which language is this, eg C#, python? In other words, what language is $(OutDir)\$(ProjectName).exe written in

Answer 1

$(OutDir) is a Visual Studio Build Property Macro.

You can see the values of macros using the Macros >> button in many Properties dialogs.

For instance, in Properties->General->Output Directory, click the dropdown in the value text box, choose Edit..., and in the resulting dialog, click the Macros >> button. This will give you a list of all the macros and their current values.

$(OutputDir) should be set to the output directory for the current configuration, e.g. $(SolutionDir)/$(Configuration)\.

Note that your Windows environment variables are imported as Build Property macros in your project, so in the marco list you'll see, e.g. $(Path), $(HOME), $(TEMP).

Answer 2

These macros are documented by Microsoft in the topic Macros for Build Commands and Properties. (That link is for Visual Studio 2015.)