Visual Studio 2015 - define preprocessor variable with git branch and git commit

Question

I'm working with C++ in Visual Studio 2015 and using Git as source control. I'm writing a multi-platform application and would like my application to include the Git branch and the commit it was built from.

On platforms other than Visual Studio I put the following lines in my makefile:

GIT_CUR_COMMIT := $(shell git rev-parse --verify HEAD)
GIT_CUR_BRANCH := $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
DEPS += -DGIT_COMMIT=\"$(GIT_CUR_COMMIT)\" -DGIT_BRANCH=\"$(GIT_CUR_BRANCH)\"

And then in my application I have code to read these preprocessor variables and expose them programmatically:

std::string getGitCommit()
{
    #ifdef GIT_COMMIT
    return GIT_COMMIT;
    #endif
    return "unavailable";
}

std::string getGitBranch()
{
    #ifdef GIT_BRANCH
    return GIT_BRANCH;
    #endif
    return "unavailable";   
}

But in Visual Studio there are no makefiles. How can I define these two variables (GIT_CUR_COMMIT and GIT_CUR_BRANCH) at compile time and achieve the same behavior?

Answer 1

Probably - you can do it exactly same way in VS - But I feel the following procedure would be a lot easier to implement

In the project properties select the "Build Events" / "Pre-Build Event"

Add following commands to the Command Line

echo | set /p dummyName=#define GIT_CUR_COMMIT >  gitparams.h
git rev-parse --verify HEAD >>  gitparams.h

echo | set /p dummyName=#define GIT_BRANCH >>  gitparams.h
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD >>  gitparams.h

This should generate the following header file (gitparams.h) each time you compile your project

#define GIT_CUR_COMMIT 8a6b3f147fababda57ddd39262df5aa83bc853c4
#define GIT_BRANCH master

Make sure you add it to .gitignore

And in your code you can use

#include "gitparams.h"

#define ADD_QUOTES_HELPER(s) #s
#define ADD_QUOTES(s) ADD_QUOTES_HELPER(s)

std::string getGitCommit()
{
#ifdef GIT_CURR_COMMIT
    return ADD_QUOTES(GIT_CURR_COMMIT);
#endif
    return "unavailable";
}