Struggling to build on Window 11 - "invalid version specification" for Visual Studio

[HughMacdonald]

Hi,

I'm currently trying to build OpenRV on Windows, and have hit an issue.

I have installed the following build tools in VS:

• MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools (v14.39-17.9)(Out of Support)
• MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools (v14.40-17.10)
• MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools (v14.42-17.12)
• MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools (v14.44-17.14)

I have edited Microsoft.VCToolsVersion.v143.default.props to change line 5 to:

<VCToolsVersion Condition = "'$(VCToolsVersion)' == ''" >14.40.33807</VCToolsVersion>

If I look in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC, I see the following:

• 14.39.33519
• 14.40.33807
• 14.42.34433
• 14.44.35207

When I run rvcfg, I get the following:

$ rvcfg
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:66 (PROJECT):
  Generator

    Visual Studio 17 2022

  given toolset and version specification

    v143,version=14.40

  contains an invalid version specification.


-- The CXX compiler identification is MSVC 19.40.33820.0
-- The C compiler identification is MSVC 19.40.33820.0
-- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.40.33807/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe
CMake Error at D:/dev/Misc/OpenRV/_build/CMakeFiles/CMakeScratch/TryCompile-wadi31/CMakeLists.txt:4 (project):
  Generator

    Visual Studio 17 2022

  given toolset and version specification

    v143,version=14.40

  contains an invalid version specification.


CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.27/Modules/CMakeTestCXXCompiler.cmake:49 (try_compile):
  Failed to configure test project build system.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:66 (PROJECT)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!

Any idea what I've missed here? I feel like I've been pretty thorough in following the steps. I know that some of the build documentation is out of date, as I noticed that the Qt installer screenshots don't match the current installer.

Thanks

[cedrik-fuoco-adsk]

Hi @HughMacdonald!

For Qt install, I think it got an update recently which changed the whole UI.

I don't think it would change much, but you could try to not modify the props file since we are specifying it in the CMake command. The documentation need to be updated to reflect that.

Quick question, which version of CMake are you using?

It seems like CMake does not like the v143,version=14.40 (syntax wise) option passed to it - which is odd since I've been using that for a while now.

[HughMacdonald]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm using CMake 3.27.6, which matches what the documentation specifies.

I've changed the props file back to what it was before (14.42.34433) and tried running rvcfg again

My output is similar, except that now it lists a different version:

$ rvcfg
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:66 (PROJECT):
  Generator

    Visual Studio 17 2022

  given toolset and version specification

    v143,version=14.40

  contains an invalid version specification.


-- The CXX compiler identification is MSVC 19.42.34443.0
-- The C compiler identification is MSVC 19.42.34443.0
-- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.42.34433/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe
CMake Error at D:/dev/Misc/OpenRV/_build/CMakeFiles/CMakeScratch/TryCompile-p2zwfy/CMakeLists.txt:4 (project):
  Generator

    Visual Studio 17 2022

  given toolset and version specification

    v143,version=14.40

  contains an invalid version specification.


CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.27/Modules/CMakeTestCXXCompiler.cmake:49 (try_compile):
  Failed to configure test project build system.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:66 (PROJECT)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!

[HughMacdonald]

Ah - so I just updated CMake to the latest version (4.0.2), and ran rvcfg again, and it seems to be working now (or at least is getting past the place where it got stuck before)

[cedrik-fuoco-adsk]

The issue with CMake 4 is that it is causing other issues and note that OpenRV will not build with 14.41 or 14.42 (unless they fixed something). You have to make sure that it is using 14.40.X. Based on your previous response, it seems like you will need to modify the props file again.

CMake 4 broke a lot of open source build, and I would recommend you to set an environment variable (current workaround for CMake 4) to prevent some errors down the line:

Note: Make sure to delete the _build folder to do a clean build.

export CMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5
rvcfg

Otherwise, you will hit issues later in the build.

[HughMacdonald]

ah - okay - I'll roll back to the very latest CMake 3 then (3.31.7) and give it another go.

Thanks

[HughMacdonald]

Installing 3.31.7 and using the env var that you suggested seems to have done a good job.

rvcfg worked fine, and I'm building the dependencies now.

Thanks

[HughMacdonald]

For the sake of having an answer on here (apologies for treating multiple answers as a thread), here's what worked for me:

• Upgrading CMake to 3.31.7 (not to 4.X)
• Setting the CMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM env var to 3.5

Thanks @cedrik-fuoco-adsk - I'm going to answer this and close this out.

[cedrik-fuoco-adsk]

Note that CMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM exist only for CMake 4.

Therefore, using CMake 3.31.X is the solution.