Intellisense ignoring content of file when using "unity build" file structure

Question

Intellisense ignoring content of file when using "unity build" file structure

jibbmn 1

Hi there. I have been using the "unity build" file structure outlined in this video: https://youtu.be/PJmpOhk9GXw?t=660 (relevant content at about 11:00).
This has been working fine for a year or two now, but this week it has suddenly started causing issues, I started experiencing this problem after updating visual studio 2022 to the most recent version.
The program still compiles and runs as expected, but intellisense is throwing up errors any time I reference something declared in a separate file.
Additionally, this problem is present on another machine I tested the small example on, and someone else has recently commented on the video about experiencing seemingly the same issue, so I'm fairly confident it's a wider problem than just my machine.

I've created a small example that demonstrates the problem I'm facing.

Main file:

#include <iostream>  
int a = 15;  
#include "file1.cpp"  
  
int main()  
{  
	std::cout << b;  
}

file1.cpp:

int b = a;

The file structure: (file1.cpp is excluded from the build so that it does not get compiled individually)

The error from intellisense:

Again this file structure was working perfectly until recently, and I've been banging my head trying to solve what the problem is.
The program still compiles and runs correctly, I've tried all the standard solutions to a broken intellisense (e.g. deleting the .suo files) but it seems to be a deeper issue than that.
I use this file structure in several projects so I'd appreciate help in solving it, refactoring everything to a more standard build model isn't something I want to do.

Thanks in advance.

Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,436 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-12-19T07:48:55.117+00:00
Hi @jibbmn ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. I tried to reproduce this issue, but I failed(I didn’t see the error). Just to confirm if I missed some steps or missed installing something, please kindly check my steps:

Update and use VS 2022 currently 17.4.3.

File > New > Project > search and find Empty Project(C++), choose to create a new empty c++ project.

right-click the project > Add > New Items > C++ File (.cpp). Do the same and add two .cpp files.

Add the codes into them and exclude the file1.cpp file from project > check if the error appears.
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-19T11:19:05.923+00:00

Thank you for the response.
To verify it's not a problem with my computer, I just did a completely clean install on my laptop with all the default settings for c++ on the latest version of visual studio 2022 and it still experiences the same error. I'm not sure what would be causing it to not happen on your end.
Viorel 122.5K Reputation points

2022-12-19T16:21:54.67+00:00

I think that IntelliSense is right: the a is undefined at that point inside the examined file1 file.

Maybe you should write an IntelliSense-friendly code considering an usual approach, based on header (.h) and source (.cpp) files.
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-19T16:31:10.16+00:00

The original project I encounter the problems in does use standard header and source files, this was just a reduced example to demonstrate what the issue is.
In the original project, I have several classes that are defined in their own files (header/source). However, intellisense insists they don't exist whenever I'm working on a different file, and ignores other includes that it will have access to such as vector or std libraries.

The fact that it was working until only a week or so ago, and that the program still compiles and builds just fine is the really confusing part to me. (i.e. intellisense up until recently correctly understood that these classes are defined in other files, and at the point the subfile is included into the main file they have been defined and are valid)
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-19T16:53:07.513+00:00
For clarity, here's an example that more closely follows the behaviour of my program, but encounters intellisense errors.
Main file:

#include <iostream> #include "file1.cpp" #include "file2.cpp" int main() { Point p = { 3,5 }; print(p); }

file1.cpp:

struct Point { int x; int y; };

file2.cpp:

void print(Point p) { std::cout << p.x; std::cout << " "; std::cout << p.y; std::cout << "\n"; }

As before, file1.cpp and file2.cpp are marked as excluded from build.

So I have a struct defined in file1, then this struct is used in the main file and in a function in file2. The main file has no errors and works as expected. However file2 has intellisense errors around the use of Point and references to std::cout, despite running and giving the expected output just fine.
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,436 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-12-21T10:00:38.27+00:00

Hi @jibbmn ,

I was tested in Win 11 instead of Win 10 OS, I’m not sure if some installed(auto installed) Windows Updates cause this issue. Is it possible for you to try to update Windows, or check if there’s any update error listed in Settings > Windows Update?
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-21T12:52:17.027+00:00

That might be part of it? I'm running Windows 10, I'm on the latest version with no updates pending or errors. I noticed that the SDK autoselected by Visual Studio when selecting the C++ package says "Windows 11 SDK", I had a go at changing it to the Windows 10 one but it doesn't seem to have changed anything.
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,436 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-12-22T10:23:25.7+00:00

Hi @jibbmn ,

I think I can reproduce this issue today. I have also confirmed that it still works in VS 2019. Do you still remember the detailed VS 2022 version which worked? The VS IntelliSense for C/C++ has been improved these days. Please kindly check if the release notes explain the corresponding behavior. BTW, I will report your feedback.
Viorel 122.5K Reputation points

2022-12-22T10:29:06.493+00:00

In my opinion, if the errors are displayed inside the Main file, then there is problem of IntelliSense.

But if the errors are displayed inside the file2.cpp according to original description, then it is not a problem of IntelliSense.
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-22T13:32:53.75+00:00

Thanks for the help, unfortunately I don't remember what my previous version of VS 2022 was. The rollback option gives 17.4.2, but I don't think I'd updated visual studio for a while so it may be earlier than that. I know I first installed VS 2022 on May 6th 2022 so it's definitely not earlier than 17.0.9.
I don't see anything in the release notes that seems relevant to my specific problem, but I may have missed it.
Thank you for the report.

Your answer

Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,436 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-12-19T07:48:55.117+00:00

Hi @jibbmn ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. I tried to reproduce this issue, but I failed(I didn’t see the error). Just to confirm if I missed some steps or missed installing something, please kindly check my steps:

Update and use VS 2022 currently 17.4.3.

File > New > Project > search and find Empty Project(C++), choose to create a new empty c++ project.

right-click the project > Add > New Items > C++ File (.cpp). Do the same and add two .cpp files.

Add the codes into them and exclude the file1.cpp file from project > check if the error appears.
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-19T11:19:05.923+00:00

Thank you for the response.
To verify it's not a problem with my computer, I just did a completely clean install on my laptop with all the default settings for c++ on the latest version of visual studio 2022 and it still experiences the same error. I'm not sure what would be causing it to not happen on your end.
Viorel 122.5K Reputation points

2022-12-19T16:21:54.67+00:00

I think that IntelliSense is right: the a is undefined at that point inside the examined file1 file.

Maybe you should write an IntelliSense-friendly code considering an usual approach, based on header (.h) and source (.cpp) files.
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-19T16:31:10.16+00:00

The original project I encounter the problems in does use standard header and source files, this was just a reduced example to demonstrate what the issue is.
In the original project, I have several classes that are defined in their own files (header/source). However, intellisense insists they don't exist whenever I'm working on a different file, and ignores other includes that it will have access to such as vector or std libraries.

The fact that it was working until only a week or so ago, and that the program still compiles and builds just fine is the really confusing part to me. (i.e. intellisense up until recently correctly understood that these classes are defined in other files, and at the point the subfile is included into the main file they have been defined and are valid)
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-19T16:53:07.513+00:00

For clarity, here's an example that more closely follows the behaviour of my program, but encounters intellisense errors.
Main file:

#include <iostream> #include "file1.cpp" #include "file2.cpp" int main() { Point p = { 3,5 }; print(p); }

file1.cpp:

struct Point { int x; int y; };

file2.cpp:

void print(Point p) { std::cout << p.x; std::cout << " "; std::cout << p.y; std::cout << "\n"; }

As before, file1.cpp and file2.cpp are marked as excluded from build.

So I have a struct defined in file1, then this struct is used in the main file and in a function in file2. The main file has no errors and works as expected. However file2 has intellisense errors around the use of Point and references to std::cout, despite running and giving the expected output just fine.
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,436 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-12-21T10:00:38.27+00:00

Hi @jibbmn ,

I was tested in Win 11 instead of Win 10 OS, I’m not sure if some installed(auto installed) Windows Updates cause this issue. Is it possible for you to try to update Windows, or check if there’s any update error listed in Settings > Windows Update?
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-21T12:52:17.027+00:00

That might be part of it? I'm running Windows 10, I'm on the latest version with no updates pending or errors. I noticed that the SDK autoselected by Visual Studio when selecting the C++ package says "Windows 11 SDK", I had a go at changing it to the Windows 10 one but it doesn't seem to have changed anything.
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 34,436 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-12-22T10:23:25.7+00:00

Hi @jibbmn ,

I think I can reproduce this issue today. I have also confirmed that it still works in VS 2019. Do you still remember the detailed VS 2022 version which worked? The VS IntelliSense for C/C++ has been improved these days. Please kindly check if the release notes explain the corresponding behavior. BTW, I will report your feedback.
Viorel 122.5K Reputation points

2022-12-22T10:29:06.493+00:00

In my opinion, if the errors are displayed inside the Main file, then there is problem of IntelliSense.

But if the errors are displayed inside the file2.cpp according to original description, then it is not a problem of IntelliSense.
jibbmn 1 Reputation point

2022-12-22T13:32:53.75+00:00

Thanks for the help, unfortunately I don't remember what my previous version of VS 2022 was. The rollback option gives 17.4.2, but I don't think I'd updated visual studio for a while so it may be earlier than that. I know I first installed VS 2022 on May 6th 2022 so it's definitely not earlier than 17.0.9.
I don't see anything in the release notes that seems relevant to my specific problem, but I may have missed it.
Thank you for the report.

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Intellisense ignoring content of file when using "unity build" file structure

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