D.7 Visual Basic Compiler (vbc.exe)

Table D-7 shows some of the common uses of the Visual Basic compiler.

Table D-7. Visual Basic compiler common uses

Option	Description
/debug	With this option, the compiler will emit debugging information in the output file.
/define:symbol or / d:symbol	Use this option to define preprocessor symbols.
/help or /?	This option shows the command-line help for the Visual Basic compiler.
/keycontainer:keycontainer	keycontainer specifies the key container that contains the key pair for signing the assembly. See sn.exe for information on generating the key container.
/keyfile:keyfile	keyfile specifies the key file that contains the key pair for signing the assembly. See sn.exe for information on generating the key file.
/main:classname	If there is more than one Main entry in different classes, you will have to specify the Main entry in which class you want the entry point of the application.
/out:filename	This option represents the output filename.
optionexplicit[+/-]	Turn on or off optionexplicit to enforce explicit or implicit declaration of variables. The default setting is on.
optionstrict[+/-]	Turn on or off optionstrict to disallow or allow casting with truncation. The default setting is on.
/reference:libname or /r:libname	This option allows single or multiple libraries be included with this compilation. For multiple libraries to be included, use a semicolon as the delimiter.
/target:exe|library|winexe|module or /t:exe|library|winexe|module	This option allows you to specify the type of the output: exe for console executables, library for DLLs, and winexe for Windows Form applications. When you set the target to module, the compiler outputs binary for the module but not a .NET assembly. Modules can be added to a .NET assembly later.