Three issues with Visual Studio

Setup

Install this folder in: d:\workdir\pathlength

The resulting filenames are 271 and 273 characters respectively:

D:\workdir\pathlength\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname1\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname2\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname3\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname4\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname5\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname6\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname7\header.txt D:\workdir\pathlength\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname1\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname2\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname3\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname4\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname5\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname6\extraordinarilylongdirectoryname7\test2.params

Issue 1

test1.bat

This performs a compile where one of the header files has a total path length of 271 characters. The compile fails with:

main.cxx(1): fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'header.hxx': No such file or directory

Other references to same issue:

• https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/clexe-compiler-driver-cannot-handle-long-file-path/975889

Issue 2

test2.bat

This performs a compile where parameters are supplied via a params file. The params filepath has total length 273 characters. The compile fails:

cl : Command line error D8022 : cannot open 'extraordinarilylongdirectoryname1/extraordinarilylongdirectoryname2/extraordinarilylongdirectoryname3/extraordinarilylongdirectoryname4/extraordinarilylongdirectoryname5/extraordinarilylongdirectoryname6/extraordinarilylongdirectoryname7/test2.params'

Issue 3

This compiles a source file twice, in two separate subdirectories. All the deterministic command lines available are used.

• More on these flags: bazelbuild/bazel#9466

Issue 3.1: /experimental:deterministic is experimental

It comes with this warning, which is concerning for us to rely on in production:

Experimental features are provided as a preview of proposed language features,
and we're eager to hear about bugs and suggestions for improvements. However,
note that these experimental features are non-standard, provided as-is without
support, and subject to breaking changes or removal without notice. See
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=691081 for details.

Issue3.2: /d1trimfile option is not documented

We require this option for deterministic builds, but it is not documented and therefore presumably is not supported.

Issue3.3: /Brepro option is not documented

We require this option for deterministic builds, but it is not documented and therefore presumably is not supported.

Issue3.4: pdb files are not deterministic

test3.bat

Note that dep1/test3.pdb is different to dep2/test3.pdb