README-visualc.md



Using SDL with Microsoft Visual C++

by Lion Kimbro with additions by James Turk
You can either use the precompiled libraries from the SDL web site, or you can build SDL
yourself.

Building SDL


To build SDL, your machine must, at a minimum, have the DirectX9.0c SDK installed. It may or may not be retrievable from
the Microsoft website, so you might need to locate it online.
Editor's note: I've been able to successfully build SDL using Visual Studio 2019 without the DX9.0c SDK


Open the Visual Studio solution file at ./VisualC/SDL.sln.


Your IDE will likely prompt you to upgrade this solution file to whatever later version of the IDE you're using. In the Retarget Projects dialog,
all of the affected project files should be checked allowing you to use the latest Windows SDK Version you have installed, along with
the Platform Toolset.


If you choose NOT to upgrade to use the latest Windows SDK Version or Platform Toolset, then you'll need the Visual Studio 2010 Platform Toolset.

Build the .dll and .lib files by right clicking on each project in turn (Projects are listed in the Workspace
panel in the FileView tab), and selecting Build.

You may get a few warnings, but you should not get any errors.
Later, we will refer to the following .lib and .dll files that have just been generated:


./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2.dll or ./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2.dll


./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2.lib or ./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2.lib


./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2main.lib or ./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2main.lib