Intel® Fortran Compiler 17.0 Developer Guide and Reference
A configuration contains settings that define the final binary output file that you create within a project. It specifies the type of application to build, the platform on which it is to run, and the tool settings to use when building.
When you create a new project, Visual Studio* automatically creates the following configurations:
| Configuration | Description |
|---|---|
Debug configuration |
By default, the debug configuration sets project options to include the debugging information in the debug configuration. It also turns off optimizations. Before you can debug an application, you must build a debug configuration for the project. |
Release (Retail) configuration |
The release configuration does not include the debugging information, and it uses any optimizations that you have chosen. |
Use the Visual Studio* Configuration Manager to select:
Release or Debug configuration for the active solution.
Release or Debug configuration for any project within the active solution.
Target platform for each project.
Multiple configurations allow extending the scope of a project while maintaining a consistent source code base from which to work. The default configuration is the Debug configuration. To add, change, or delete a configuration, select Build > Configuration Manager from the main menu or use the drop-down box on the main menu bar. Only one configuration can be active at one time. Configurations can be used for the whole solution or for specific projects in the solution.
When you build your project, the currently selected configuration is built, as follows:
If you selected the debug configuration, a directory called Debug contains the output files created by the build for the debug version of your project.
If you selected the release configuration, a directory called Release contains the output files created by the build for the release version of your project.
(You can change the output directory using the General category in Project > Properties.)
A configuration has the following characteristics:
Configuration type: specifies the type of Fortran application to build.
Build options: specifies the build options, which include the compiler and linker options.
By default, the Debug configuration sets project options to include debug symbol information and turns off optimizations. Before you can debug an application, you must build a debug configuration for the project. Although debug and release configurations usually use the same set of source files, the project setting information usually differs. For example, the default debug configuration supplies full debug information and no optimizations, whereas the default release configuration supplies minimal debug information and full optimizations.
To make configuration changes for your project:
The platform type sets options required specifically for the selected platform, such as options that the compiler uses for the source files, the libraries that the linker uses for the platform, defined constants, and so on.
In addition to the default Debug and Release configurations, you can also define new configurations within your project. These configurations may use the existing source files in your project, the existing project settings, or other characteristics of existing configurations.