Custom libraries

I'm making a little mess while creating custom libraries.

I'm using Visual Studio 2019.

I have some libraries that I'm going to use in lots of projects, so I created an external folder called lib in which I put header files (declarations) and .cpp files (definitions).

In .cpp files I included every relative header using #include "name.h" and the same into every main.cpp in which I should use them.

But the problem is: how does the complier find .cpp libraries if I never call them?

So I discovered that I can right click on every single solution and >Add>Existing Project>H:\C++\lib\name.cpp

But this is a bit frustrating to do in every project for every library that I want to include, since I already #include headers so I can't see why should I include libraries too.

So the question is: is there a way to set another default folder in which Visual Studio could go to search for definitions like Standard Libraries or should I copy-past each .cpp into my solution to include it automatically?

I don't understand why I can't find any solution onlinebacause it should be a very common problem!

This might help...
Walkthrough: Creating and Using a Static Library (C++) | Microsoft Docs

Thank you! It helped a lot.

Is there a way to set two different default directories for repositories and static libraries?

Edit: it doesn't work.

I include the static library into the solution but I get these errors:

Code:

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Error    LNK1120    1    1 unresolved externals
Error    LNK2019    1    unresolved external symbol "unsigned short __cdecl method1(class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > const &,unsigned short)" (?method1@@YAGABV?$basic_string@DU?$char_traits@D@std@@V?$allocator@D@2@@std@@G@Z) referenced in function _main

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That sounds like either you didn't generate the static library file correctly, or you didn't link to it correctly. What exactly were the steps you took?

I created the project in an external folder dedicated to libraries.

I compiled .cpp and .h files without deleting pch.cpp.

I built the library in Build>Build Solution.

I added the project to the main file solution (right click on solution>Add>Existing Project).

I entered my libraries folder in Project>Properties>Common Properties>Debug Source Files.

I wrote #include "name.h" in my main file.


I also tried to create another project in the standard repository folder but it doesn't work anyway!

Solved! :wink:

After two hours I realized that I didn't link the projects adding a reference (right click on project>Add>Reference>Projects>name)

Quote:

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Is there a way to set two different default directories for repositories and static libraries?

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If you could help me in this I can close the thread.

I mean, when I create a new project or search for an existing one Visual Studio always sends me to the default repos path, but it would be smarter dividing libraries from console projects.