Still can not open project in MVSE2012. That's hard core that you just use command line tools. If someone can describe how they are opening and successfully using visual studio with SolveSpace that would help.
I typed perl -v in the command prompt and got:
This is perl, v5.10.1 (*) built for i686-cygwin-thread-multi-64int
Is that good enough or do I need to install the "GD module" what ever that is?

Thanks for the help. So working with Win7 64.
I was going to install windows sdk but apparently it's automatically installed with VS2012 and there are Visual Studio Tools from the start menu that give three command prompts:
Developer Command Prompt for VS2012
VS2012 x64 Cross Tool Command Prompt
VS2012 x86 Native Tool Command Prompt
I also read that if you have VS2010 installed it will not install and you have to uninstall VS2010 which I don't want to do. But if you want me to do it then ok.

I downloaded the latest project code from Gitorious.

Installed Perl by DWIN Perl hoping that it comes with GD and according to the DWIN tool:
Please type in a space-separated list of modules you want to find the installed versions for below.
> gd
The version of gd in C:/Dwimperl/perl/vendor/lib is 2.46
Press any key to exit.

Getting this error:
C:\Users\Skie\Documents\AndreyLibrary\Software\SolveSpace\MyCustomSolveSpace\MySS_1_1\solvespace-megaminds-solvespace>nmake -f Makefile.msvc

Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility Version 11.00.60610.1 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

perl png2c.pl icons.h icons-proto.h
Can't locate GD.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /usr/lib/perl5/5.10/i686-cygwin /usr/
lib/perl5/5.10 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.10/i686-cygwin /usr/lib/perl5/site_per
l/5.10 /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.10/i686-cygwin /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.
10 /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.10 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8 /usr/lib/perl5/v
endor_perl/5.8 .) at png2c.pl line 6.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at png2c.pl line 6.
NMAKE : fatal error U1077: '"C:\Program Files\Cygwin\bin\perl.EXE"' : return code '0x2'
Stop.

So I noticed it was using cygwin so that's not good but not sure what is happening and how to fix everything.

This is my PATH:
PATH on HPLaptop:
C:\Program Files\Python\;C:\Program Files (x86)\AMD APP\bin\x86_64;C:\Program Files (x86)\AMD APP\bin\x86;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static;C:\Program Files\Broadcom\Broadcom 802.11\Driver;C:\VXIPNP\WinNT\Bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Shared;c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files\proeWildfire 5.0\bin;C:\Program Files\proeWildfire 5.0\mech\bin;C:\Program Files\ptchelpWildfire 5.0\bin;C:\Program Files\PTC\Creo 1.0\Common Files\M010\mech\bin;C:\Program Files\Panda3D\Panda3D-1.8.0\python;C:\Program Files\Panda3D\Panda3D-1.8.0\bin;C:\Program Files\Cygwin\bin;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\Backburner\;C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime\QTSystem\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Binn\;C:\Dwimperl\perl\bin;C:\Dwimperl\perl\site\bin;C:\Dwimperl\c\bin;

So I deleted C:\Program Files\Cygwin\bin;
I think that will totally disable Cygwin but I don't know what else to do. Turns out it worked for nmake though.

So I ran the nmake and got:

C:\Users\Skie\Documents\AndreyLibrary\Software\SolveSpace\MyCustomSolveSpace\MyS
S_1_1\solvespace-megaminds-solvespace>nmake -f Makefile.msvc

Microsoft (R) Program Maintenance Utility Version 11.00.60610.1
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

perl png2c.pl icons.h icons-proto.h
rc /foobj\resource.res win32\resource.rc
Microsoft (R) Windows (R) Resource Compiler Version 6.2.9200.16384
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

cl /W3 /nologo /MT /D_DEBUG /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_
WARNINGS /I. /Iextlib /Zi /EHs /D_WIN32_WINNT=0x500 /DISOLATION_AWARE_ENABLED /D
_WIN32_IE=0x500 /DWIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN /DWIN32 -DHAVE_SPACEWARE_INPUT /c /Foobj\
.\bsp.cpp .\clipboard.cpp .\confscreen.cpp .\constraint.cpp .\constrainteq.cpp .
\describescreen.cpp .\draw.cpp .\drawconstraint.cpp .\drawentity.cpp .\entity.cp
p .\export.cpp .\exportstep.cpp .\exportvector.cpp .\expr.cpp .\file.cpp .\gener
ate.cpp .\glhelper.cpp .\graphicswin.cpp .\group.cpp .\groupmesh.cpp .\mesh.cpp
.\modify.cpp .\mouse.cpp .\polygon.cpp .\request.cpp .\solvespace.cpp .\style.cp
p .\system.cpp .\textscreens.cpp .\textwin.cpp .\toolbar.cpp .\ttf.cpp .\undored
o.cpp .\util.cpp .\view.cpp
bsp.cpp
clipboard.cpp
confscreen.cpp
constraint.cpp
constrainteq.cpp
describescreen.cpp
draw.cpp
drawconstraint.cpp
drawentity.cpp
entity.cpp
export.cpp
exportstep.cpp
exportvector.cpp
expr.cpp
file.cpp
generate.cpp
glhelper.cpp
graphicswin.cpp
group.cpp
groupmesh.cpp
Generating Code...
Compiling...
mesh.cpp
modify.cpp
mouse.cpp
.\mouse.cpp(992) : warning C4101: 'e' : unreferenced local variable
polygon.cpp
request.cpp
solvespace.cpp
style.cpp
system.cpp
textscreens.cpp
textwin.cpp
toolbar.cpp
ttf.cpp
undoredo.cpp
util.cpp
view.cpp
Generating Code...
cl /W3 /nologo /MT /D_DEBUG /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_
WARNINGS /I. /Iextlib /Zi /EHs /D_WIN32_WINNT=0x500 /DISOLATION_AWARE_ENABLED /D
_WIN32_IE=0x500 /DWIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN /DWIN32 -DHAVE_SPACEWARE_INPUT /c /Foobj\
srf\boolean.cpp srf\curve.cpp srf\merge.cpp srf\ratpoly.cpp srf\raycast.cpp srf\
surface.cpp srf\surfinter.cpp srf\triangulate.cpp
boolean.cpp
curve.cpp
merge.cpp
ratpoly.cpp
raycast.cpp
surface.cpp
surfinter.cpp
triangulate.cpp
Generating Code...
cl /W3 /nologo /MT /D_DEBUG /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_
WARNINGS /I. /Iextlib /Zi /EHs /D_WIN32_WINNT=0x500 /DISOLATION_AWARE_ENABLED /D
_WIN32_IE=0x500 /DWIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN /DWIN32 -DHAVE_SPACEWARE_INPUT /c /Foobj\
win32\freeze.cpp win32\w32main.cpp win32\w32util.cpp
freeze.cpp
w32main.cpp
w32util.cpp
Generating Code...
cl /D_WIN32_WINNT=0x500 /DISOLATION_AWARE_ENABLED /D_WIN32_IE=0x500 /DWI
N32_LEAN_AND_MEAN /DWIN32 -DHAVE_SPACEWARE_INPUT /W3 /nologo /MT /D_DEBUG /D_CRT
_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE /D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS /I. /Iextlib /Zi /EHs /Feobj\solv
espace.exe obj\bsp.obj obj\clipboard.obj obj\confscreen.obj obj\constraint.ob
j obj\constrainteq.obj obj\describescreen.obj obj\draw.obj obj\drawconstrain
t.obj obj\drawentity.obj obj\entity.obj obj\export.obj obj\exportstep.obj o
bj\exportvector.obj obj\expr.obj obj\file.obj obj\generate.obj obj\glhelper.
obj obj\graphicswin.obj obj\group.obj obj\groupmesh.obj obj\mesh.obj obj\mo
dify.obj obj\mouse.obj obj\polygon.obj obj\request.obj obj\solvespace.obj o
bj\style.obj obj\system.obj obj\textscreens.obj obj\textwin.obj obj\toolbar.
obj obj\ttf.obj obj\undoredo.obj obj\util.obj obj\view.obj obj\boolean.obj
obj\curve.obj obj\merge.obj obj\ratpoly.obj obj\raycast.obj obj\surface.obj
obj\surfinter.obj obj\triangulate.obj obj\freeze.obj obj\w32main.obj obj\w32
util.obj obj\resource.res user32.lib gdi32.lib comctl32.lib advapi32.lib shell32
.lib opengl32.lib glu32.lib extlib\libpng.lib extlib\zlib.lib extlib\si\siapp.l
ib
editbin /nologo /STACK:8388608 obj\solvespace.exe

1 file(s) copied.
solvespace.exe

C:\Users\Skie\Documents\AndreyLibrary\Software\SolveSpace\MyCustomSolveSpace\MyS
S_1_1\solvespace-megaminds-solvespace>

I ran the solvespace.exe and it seems to work.
Um now I feel stupid to ask but I still can only open single files and not a project in VS2012 and I have a command prompt but no idea what to do next to start working with the project.

Ah great! I was not sure. So how do you personally work with the files? You just open them up in like Notepad++ or ?? and just rack it out with no help or anything!? Wow how is that possible to remember code and to figure out stuff you don't know? Really curious how the pro's like you work.
Now for me I really need all the help and the easiest way to code. So just to be clear it does not matter that my VS2012 can not build the program. I just open each file and edit them and then when I need to build to see if my changes worked I run nmake -f Makefile.msvc again and open the solvespace.exe instead of Debug > Start Debugging (F5).

I have been doing research on how to best work with the code in VS and it's very confusing and most of the info is about old versions of VS working with makefiles. So some guys say make a new project and rebuild everything into a new solution. But what I am concerned with is when you make changes to the master code how do I easily merge that. Other guys say to create a new project in VS with the Makefile project option. Not sure about the problems I will face but I will get more functionality like coding hints from VS which is a major thing for me. Here are some links:
http://stackoverflow.com/quest...-under-visual-studio-2005?rq=1
http://stackoverflow.com/quest...akefiles-in-visual-studio?rq=1
http://stackoverflow.com/quest...dio-c-that-has-makefile-o?rq=1
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/txcwa2xx.aspx

I get stuck when creating a Makefile project on the Application Settings. The options are:
Build command line:
Preprocessor definitions:
Clean commands:
Include search path:
Rebuild command line:
Forced included files:
Output (for debugging):
CLR Assembly search path:
Forced using .NET assemblies:

Explained here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/a4w8ya3w.aspx

Best guesses to try what should go in each?

I was downloading the project, and just to get started Id like to compile, and as Andrey said, It seem pretty complicated.
Could you provide a step by step summary of how to compile to get up and running please.

I have successfully created a Visual Studio project for SolveSpace 2.0. It includes the project and solution files needed to build and debug SolveSpace using Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 or 2013.

You will also need to install perl on your machine. I used Strawberry Perl for Windows and it seems to work fine.

I have not extensively tested this yet.

All zipped up, it's about 13 MB, so too large to attach here. I will try to get it published on my web site when I can find my own log-in credentials (d'oh!), which will probably be this evening. Google Mail prevents me from sending it as an attachment because of all the prohibited file extensions (it is truly executable content).

If anyone is interested in getting started on their own SolveSpace experiments, this should make it a bit easier.

@yugami: Yes, deleting the .SDF file (which can be regenerated) sheds ~80% of the ZIP file size.

I have attached the whole project here, which remains a 'makefile' project under Visual Studio.

One correction: This project does NOT compile under Microsoft Visual Studio Express for Desktop 2013. I'm still trying to figure that one out. Works great under the 2012 version.

I have sucessfully made a clone of the solvespace project. It compiles using both Visual Studio 2013 and CodeBlocks with the integrated MingW. I found the sourcecode for the libraries and have compiled them as well.
It would be good to collect the various solutions so people can get up and running in no time and contribute with improvements. Personally I found the biggest hurdle is to set up an integrated development environment to be able to debug and understand the program. More documentation would also be good.
It's really a good program base that Jonathan have developed, but it needs a lot of improvements to keep up with the giant cad programs.
What do you think?

I think the next step for Visual Studio users is to convert it from a 'makefile project' to a proper VS project

Or one could create a script that translates the usual way the core developer does it to another way. Why assume the core developer needs to change their ways?

I spent some time to get it installed in a windows VM on linux. I will
probably spend some time and get it to compile with GCC soon and drop that.

There is no one way to do things.

John Griessen
Austin TX engineer

The provided solution files muck up the standard git repository format.

Attached are modified files that build with the default repository. Just checkout the git source and drop these into the main directory (the one with Makefile.msvc)

Hi Yugami, could you elaborate a bit on "muck up.."
With joined forces we could organize the files like in the project:http://sourceforge.net/p/win32...code/HEAD/tree/new%20projects/

In that project there is a folder with all possible compilers to keep everyone happy.

For expert programmers its not a problem but for the occasional programmer (like myself) it's convenient to find turnkey solutions. It took me quite some time to get running with VS2013 and CodeBlocks. I'd be happy to contribute with a couple of things.