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.
Every compiler option is available in two forms: -option and /option. The documentation only shows the -option form.
Compiler output
| Option |
Purpose |
| -nologo |
Suppresses compiler banner information. |
| -utf8output |
Displays compiler output using UTF-8 encoding. |
| -verbose |
Outputs extra information during compilation. |
-modulename:<string> |
Specify the name of the source module |
| -preferreduilang |
Specify a language for compiler output. |
Optimization
| Option |
Purpose |
| -filealign |
Specifies where to align the sections of the output file. |
| -optimize |
Enables/disables optimizations. |
Output files
| Option |
Purpose |
| -doc |
Process documentation comments to an XML file. |
| -deterministic |
Causes the compiler to output an assembly whose binary content is identical across compilations if inputs are identical. |
| -netcf |
Sets the compiler to target the .NET Compact Framework. |
| -out |
Specifies an output file. |
| -refonly |
Outputs only a reference assembly. |
| -refout |
Specifies the output path of a reference assembly. |
| -target |
Specifies the format of the output. |
.NET assemblies
| 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. |
-analyzer |
Run the analyzers from this assembly (Short form: -a) |
-additionalfile |
Names additional files that don't directly affect code generation but may be used by analyzers for producing errors or warnings. |
Debugging/error checking
| 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. |
-ruleset:<file> |
Specify a ruleset file that disables specific diagnostics. |
Help
| 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. |
Language
| Option |
Purpose |
| -langversion |
Specify language version: 9|9.0|10|10.0|11|11.0. |
| -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. |
Preprocessor
| Option |
Purpose |
| -define |
Defines symbols for conditional compilation. |
Resources
| 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. |
Miscellaneous
| 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. |
| -highentropyva |
Tells the Windows kernel whether a particular executable supports high entropy Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR). |
| -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. |
-parallel[+|-] |
Specifies whether to use concurrent build (+). |
-checksumalgorithm:<alg> |
Specify the algorithm for calculating the source file checksum stored in PDB. Supported values are: SHA1 (default) or SHA256.
Due to collision problems with SHA1, Microsoft recommends SHA256 or better. |
See also
