Minimize build time for large INT/GNT projects

I have an INT/GNT project in VC 6 (latest update) consisting of 78 cbl files. We all know that Visual Studio sometimes decides to make a rebuild even though it seems to the user that nothing has changed. And if you have a project with 78 files that will take about two minutes. But it is indeed strange that VS decides to make what seems to be a rebuild even if you make consecutive Runs.by pressing F10. Why is that?

I would say that this started to happen in VC 6. I can't remember it happened in VC 5.

If I set Build Action = None for all files except for the one I'm currently working with, the response is immediate, so that is one way to solve the problem.

You may wonder why I include files that I'm not currently working with, but it is for easy access. I used to work the same way in Net Express and there you could decide if you wanted to recompile the whole project or not. There is of course a similar option in VS, but again, sometimes VS decides to make a rebuild whether you like it or not.

I cannot seem to reproduce this behavior. I created a new int/gnt project and added 10 new programs to it. If I build the project for the first time or rebuild it then it recompiles all files but if I build the project or continuously press F10 to debug it then it only builds what has been changed since the last build and then launches the debugger.

Does this happen to you every time you run it in this manner?

I would suggest that you open up a support incident with Customer Support if this is occurring so that we can research the problem thoroughly.

Strange thing is that there is nothing that indicates a rebuild in the Output Window. If I press F10 this shows up immediately:

     1>------ Build started: Project: MallGmc, Configuration: Debug x64 ------

     1>  COBOL compile: 78 item(s) succeeded or up-to-date, 0 failed.

After 1 min 15 sec this shows up:

     1>  MallGmc -> H:\\VCUtveckling\\MallGmc\\MallGmc\\bin\\x64\\Debug\\

     ========== Build: 1 succeeded or up-to-date, 0 failed, 0 skipped ==========

And immediately after that the program starts.

Again, if I set Build Action = None for all files except one the program starts without delay. And as I also said, this didn't happen in VC 5.0.

I also tried and deleted the .vs, folder but that didn't help either.

In Visual Studio can you go to 

Tools -> Options... -> Projects and Solutions -> Build and Run

and set the 

MSBuild project build output verbosity  

to Diagnostic.

If you can then copy the output and add it as an attachment hopefully it will show what is being executed during the 1 min 15 delay.

Thanks,

Gael

Here it comes.

Thanks,

We will investigate and let you know.

Gael

 ,

I have been able to reproduce the problem and have raised a bug report for it. I assume that your H: drive containing your project is a network drive as I could only see the delay when using a network drive.

Ideally though, bugs in the product should be reported via the Support portal rather than via the Community site as they may not be spotted and dealt with on this site.

Gael

Is it possible for me to follow the progression for the bug, or will you update this thread when you have something to report?

 ,

I have been able to reproduce the problem and have raised a bug report for it. I assume that your H: drive containing your project is a network drive as I could only see the delay when using a network drive.

Ideally though, bugs in the product should be reported via the Support portal rather than via the Community site as they may not be spotted and dealt with on this site.

Gael

And, yes, H is a network drive.

Please open up a new support incident for this problem and place my name in the description so it ends up with me. I will then add the incident to the RPI so that they stay in sync and when a fix is available you will be notified.

Thanks.