"Run VS Code outside the Developer Command Prompt" instructions in documentation do not work

[cncz42]

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes/No
Yes

• VS Code Version: 1.61.2
• OS Version: Windows 11 Pro 22000.258

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create c++ code and install msvc as specified in this documentation
2. Amend tasks.json according to this section
3. Hit ctrl+shift+b
4. Code doesn't compile, showing the error:
   'C:/Program' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. The terminal process "cmd.exe /C "C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Community/Common7/Tools/VsDevCmd.bat" && cl.exe /Zi /EHsc /Fe: "c:\Users\cncz4\OneDrive\Code Projects\CppTest\test.exe" "c:\Users\cncz4\OneDrive\Code Projects\CppTest\test.cpp"" terminated with exit code: 1.
   It does compile correctly when run out of a developer command prompt and the bat is in the right path, so either there's an obscure configuration error on my end or that documented tasks.json edit is wrong/out of date.

[cncz42]

Neglected to mention this can be fixed by replacing line 10 of the example with:
"C:\\Program^ Files^ ^(x86^)\\Microsoft^ Visual^ Studio\\2019\\Community\\Common7\\Tools\\VsDevCmd.bat",
There's probably a better looking fix though

[alexr00]

I'm not able to reproduce this issue. Did you copy the entire tasks.json from step 2?

[cncz42]

Apologies for the late reply, the tasks.json is copied in it's entirety, I even tested the same scenario on a 2nd computer with the same spacing issue appearing.

[alexr00]

Can you share all your VS Code settings?

[cncz42]

Settings are pretty basic but sure:
https://gist.github.com/cncz42/218f7219feec35ed25eb392a1bc6fce6

[sdsong616]

I met the same issue too.
OS: Windows 10 Professional Edition (Simplified Chinese) 19044.1387
Vs Code version: 1.62.3
Repro steps are same as @cncz42 's, but "C:\Program^ Files^ ^(x86^)\Microsoft^ Visual^ Studio\2019\Community\Common7\Tools\VsDevCmd.bat" doesn't work for me.

[alexr00]

I still can't reproduce this when I copy verbatim from https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/config-msvc#_run-vs-code-outside-the-developer-command-prompt.

If you make a mistake while copying then you could see the described error. Note that the line in question has \" in it:

[
    "\"C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Community/Common7/Tools/VsDevCmd.bat\"", // this is correct
    "C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Community/Common7/Tools/VsDevCmd.bat" // this is incorrect
]

[drakmaniso]

I have the same issue ("'C:/Program' is not recognized as an internal or external command"). The path I use does contain \":

	"windows": {
		"options": {
			"shell": {
				"executable": "cmd.exe",
				"args": [
					"/C",
					// The path to VsDevCmd.bat depends on the version of Visual Studio you have installed.
					"\"C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/BuildTools/Common7/Tools/VsDevCmd.bat\"",
					"&&"
				]
			}
		}
	},

The workaround proposed by @cncz42 doesn't work for me. Typing cmd /C "C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/BuildTools/Common7/Tools/VsDevCmd.bat" directly in a terminal works correctly.

[Guyutongxue]

I ran into this problem too. But eventually found out that I had misspelled the path. If the text in quotes passed into cmd /C is not an executable file or script, then the pair of quotes will not be preserved.

---

EDIT: Also notice that, the command field of the build task must be a single cl.exe without absolute path.

[drakmaniso]

Unfortunately, in my case, the path is correct, and corresponds to the actual script. The exact same path works if copy-pasted into a terminal.
The other parts of the build task are probably correct too, since the task works if vscode is started from a developper command prompt.