Visual Basic Language Reference
Visual Basic Compiler Options Listed by Category
The Visual Basic command-line compiler is provided as an alternative to compiling programs from within the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE). The following is a list of the Visual Basic command-line compiler options sorted by functional category.
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/nologo
|
Suppresses compiler banner information.
|
/utf8output
|
Displays compiler output using UTF-8 encoding.
|
/verbose
|
Outputs extra information during compilation.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/filealign
|
Specifies where to align the sections of the output file.
|
/optimize
|
Enables/disables optimizations.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/doc
|
Process documentation comments to an XML file.
|
/netcf
|
Sets the compiler to target the .NET Compact Framework.
|
/out
|
Specifies an output file.
|
/target
|
Specifies the format of the output.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/addmodule
|
Causes the compiler to make all type information from the specified file(s) available to the project you are currently compiling.
|
/delaysign
|
Specifies whether the assembly will be fully or partially signed.
|
/imports
|
Imports a namespace from a specified assembly.
|
/keycontainer
|
Specifies a key container name for a key pair to give an assembly a strong name.
|
/keyfile
|
Specifies a file containing a key or key pair to give an assembly a strong name.
|
/libpath
|
Specifies the location of assemblies referenced by the /reference option.
|
/reference
|
Imports metadata from an assembly.
|
/moduleassemblyname
|
Specifies the name of the assembly that a module will be a part of.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/bugreport
|
Creates a file that contains information that makes it easy to report a bug.
|
/debug
|
Produces debugging information.
|
/nowarn
|
Suppresses the compiler's ability to generate warnings.
|
/quiet
|
Prevents the compiler from displaying code for syntax-related errors and warnings.
|
/removeintchecks
|
Disables integer overflow checking.
|
/warnaserror
|
Promotes warnings to errors.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/?
|
Displays the compiler options. This command is the same as specifying the /help option. No compilation occurs.
|
/help
|
Displays the compiler options. This command is the same as specifying the /? option. No compilation occurs.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/optionexplicit
|
Enforces explicit declaration of variables.
|
/optionstrict
|
Enforces strict type semantics.
|
/optioncompare
|
Specifies whether string comparisons should be binary or use locale-specific text semantics.
|
/optioninfer
|
Enables the use of local type inference in variable declarations.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/define
|
Defines symbols for conditional compilation.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
/linkresource
|
Creates a link to a managed resource.
|
/resource
|
Embeds a managed resource in an assembly.
|
/win32icon
|
Inserts an .ico file into the output file.
|
/win32resource
|
Inserts a Win32 resource into the output file.
|
Option
|
Purpose
|
|---|
@ (Specify Response File)
|
Specifies a response file.
|
/baseaddress
|
Specifies the base address of a DLL.
|
/codepage
|
Specifies the code page to use for all source code files in the compilation.
|
/errorreport
|
Specifies how the Visual Basic compiler should report internal compiler errors.
|
/main
|
Specifies the class that contains the Sub Main procedure to use at startup.
|
/noconfig
|
Do not compile with Vbc.rsp
|
/nostdlib
|
Causes the compiler not to reference the standard libraries.
|
/nowin32manifest
|
Instructs the compiler not to embed any application manifest into the executable file.
|
/platform
|
Specifies the processor platform the compiler targets for the output file.
|
/recurse
|
Searches subdirectories for source files to compile.
|
/rootnamespace
|
Specifies a namespace for all type declarations.
|
/sdkpath
|
Specifies the location of Mscorlib.dll and Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll.
|
/vbruntime
|
Specifies that the compiler should compile without a reference to the Visual Basic Runtime Library, or with a reference to a specific runtime library.
|
/win32manifest
|
Identifies a user-defined Win32 application manifest file to be embedded into a project's portable executable (PE) file.
|
Concepts
Reference