How to extract compilation args for each compilation unit in a vcxproj?

Question

I'm trying to get the compilation args for each compilation unit so I can create the "compilation_commands.json" for my vcxproj that can be used with clang's libTooling.

The libTooling tutorial suggests using a CompilationDatabase to provide the compilation args for all the cpp files in a project. The tutorial shows that CMake can generate the compilation_commands.json for CMake based projects.

Since clang can be put into "MSVC mode" via clang.exe --driver-mode=cl or clang-cl.exe my thought was if I could get the compilation args for each cpp file in my VS2012 project I can create the compilation_commands.json for a vcxproj.

However I'm having trouble finding APIs in the VS2012 SDK that walks a vcxproj and retrieves the compilation args for each compilation unit. Can someone point me towards the right APIs?

Answer 1

I know this is really old, but the question is still relevant, so for those still looking for an answer, I managed to finally do this recently using this little VS extension.

Just install it and a new 'Sourcetrail' menu will appear, with a 'Create Compilation Database' entry (I found Intellisense needs to be enabled for it to be clickable). That will let you customize what to include and generate a compile_commands.json that you can use with other clang-based tools, etc.