Projects for various integrated development environments (IDE)
==============================================================

#### Included projects

The following projects are included with the lz4 distribution:
- `VS2010` - Visual Studio 2010 project (which also works well with Visual Studio 2012, 2013, 2015)


#### How to compile lz4 with Visual Studio

1. Install Visual Studio e.g. VS 2015 Community Edition (it's free).
2. Download the latest version of lz4 from https://github.com/lz4/lz4/releases
3. Decompress ZIP archive.
4. Go to decompressed directory then to `visual` then `VS2010` and open `lz4.sln`
5. Visual Studio will ask about converting VS2010 project to VS2015 and you should agree.
6. Change `Debug` to `Release` and if you have 64-bit Windows change also `Win32` to `x64`.
7. Press F7 on keyboard or select `BUILD` from the menu bar and choose `Build Solution`.
8. If compilation will be fine a compiled executable will be in `visual\VS2010\bin\x64_Release\lz4.exe`


#### Projects available within lz4.sln

The Visual Studio solution file `lz4.sln` contains many projects that will be compiled to the
`visual\VS2010\bin\$(Platform)_$(Configuration)\lz4.exe` directory. For example `lz4` set to `x64` and
`Release` will be compiled to `visual\VS2010\bin\x64_Release\lz4.exe`. The solution file contains the
following projects:

- `lz4` : Command Line Utility, supporting gzip-like arguments
- `datagen` : Synthetic and parametrable data generator, for tests
- `frametest` : Test tool that checks lz4frame integrity on target platform
- `fullbench`  : Precisely measure speed for each lz4 inner functions
- `fuzzer` : Test tool, to check lz4 integrity on target platform 
- `liblz4` : A static LZ4 library compiled to `liblz4_x86.lib` or `liblz4_x64.lib`
- `liblz4-dll` : A dynamic LZ4 library (DLL) compiled to `lz4_x86.dll` or `lz4_x64.dll` with the import library `lz4_x86.lib` or `lz4_x64.lib`
- `fullbench-dll` : The fullbench program compiled with the import library; the executable requires LZ4 DLL


#### Using LZ4 DLL with Microsoft Visual C++ project

1. Copy `lz4.h` into a directory found in the INCLUDE path list.
2. Copy the import library `lz4_x86.lib` or `lz4_x64.lib` into a directory found in the LIB path list.
3. Add `lz4_x86.lib` or `lz4_x64.lib` to your project.
4. Compile the project. The compiled executable requires `lz4_x86.dll` or `lz4_x64.dll`.