warning MSB8012 : make sure that $(OutDir), $(TargetName) and $(TargetExt) property values match the value specified in %(Link.OutputFile)

Question

I am getting the following error when building my code.

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\MSBuild\\Microsoft.Cpp\\v4.0\\Microsoft.CppBuild.targets(990,5):

Answer 1

I managed to fix a similar issue by editing the vcxproj file manually.

The OutDir and TargetName settings were at the bottom of the project file.

   ...
      <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'">
        <OutDir>$(OUTPUT_DIRECTORY)\</OutDir>
        <IntDir>$(ProjectDir)\$(Configuration)\$(ProjectName)\</IntDir>
        <TargetName>$(ProjectName)</TargetName>
      </PropertyGroup>
   </Project>

Moving the block above the ClCompile block solved the issue.

Answer 2

I solved this by comparing the project to a very similar project that was working properly. All of the settings in the project properties matched but I found the following extra lines in the vcxproj file of the malfunctioning project:

<Lib>
   <OutputFile>.\MCtlDrvX.lib</OutputFile>
</Lib>

I deleted them and the message went away and the output went to the directory specified in the project settings.