Improve Visual Studio toolchain detection for Windows builds

Build/Agent/FwBuildEnvironment.psm1

@@ -14,6 +14,70 @@
 # VS Environment Functions
 # =============================================================================
 
+function Get-PreferredVcToolBinPath {
+    <#
+    .SYNOPSIS
+        Returns the preferred HostX64\x64 MSVC tool bin directory.
+    #>
+    if (-not $env:VCINSTALLDIR) {
+        return $null
+    }
+
+    $toolsRoot = Join-Path $env:VCINSTALLDIR 'Tools\MSVC'
+    if (-not (Test-Path $toolsRoot)) {
+        return $null
+    }
+
+    $versionSort = {
+        $parsedVersion = [version]'0.0'
+        $isVersion = [version]::TryParse($_.Name, [ref]$parsedVersion)
+        if ($isVersion) {
+            return $parsedVersion
+        }
+
+        return [version]'0.0'
+    }
+
+    $sortProperties = @(
+        @{ Expression = {
+                $parsedVersion = [version]'0.0'
+                [version]::TryParse($_.Name, [ref]$parsedVersion)
+            }; Descending = $true }
+        @{ Expression = $versionSort; Descending = $true }
+        @{ Expression = { $_.Name }; Descending = $true }
+    )
+
+    $preferred = Get-ChildItem -Path $toolsRoot -Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
+        Sort-Object -Property $sortProperties |
+        ForEach-Object { Join-Path $_.FullName 'bin\HostX64\x64' } |
+        Where-Object { Test-Path $_ } |
+        Select-Object -First 1
+
+    return $preferred
+}
+
+function Ensure-PreferredVcToolPath {
+    <#
+    .SYNOPSIS
+        Moves the preferred HostX64\x64 MSVC bin directory to the front of PATH.
+    #>
+    $preferred = Get-PreferredVcToolBinPath
+    if (-not $preferred) {
+        return
+    }
+
+    $pathEntries = @()
+    if (-not [string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($env:PATH)) {
+        $pathEntries = $env:PATH -split ';' | Where-Object { -not [string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($_) }
+    }
+
+    $filteredEntries = $pathEntries | Where-Object {
+        -not [string]::Equals($_.TrimEnd('\'), $preferred.TrimEnd('\'), [System.StringComparison]::OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+    }
+
+    $env:PATH = (@($preferred) + $filteredEntries) -join ';'
+}
+
 function Initialize-VsDevEnvironment {
     <#
     .SYNOPSIS
@@ -27,6 +91,7 @@ function Initialize-VsDevEnvironment {
     }
 
     if ($env:VCINSTALLDIR) {
+        Ensure-PreferredVcToolPath
         Write-Host '[OK] Visual Studio environment already initialized' -ForegroundColor Green
         return
     }
@@ -87,6 +152,8 @@ function Initialize-VsDevEnvironment {
         throw 'Visual Studio C++ environment not configured'
     }
 
+    Ensure-PreferredVcToolPath
+
     Write-Host '[OK] Visual Studio environment initialized successfully' -ForegroundColor Green
     Write-Host "   VCINSTALLDIR: $env:VCINSTALLDIR" -ForegroundColor Gray
 }

Build/Agent/Verify-FwDependencies.ps1

@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 .DESCRIPTION
     Checks for required tools and SDKs needed to build FieldWorks.
     Can be run locally for testing or called from GitHub Actions workflows.
+    By default, the script writes host output only and does not emit result objects.
+    Use -PassThru when a caller needs structured results returned on the pipeline.
 
     Expected dependencies (typically pre-installed on windows-latest):
     - Visual Studio 2022 with Desktop & C++ workloads
@@ -24,7 +26,8 @@
     If specified, prints the full per-dependency section headers and success details instead of the compact summary-only output.
 
 .PARAMETER PassThru
-    If specified, returns the dependency result objects for scripting callers instead of writing them implicitly.
+    If specified, returns the dependency result objects for scripting callers.
+    Without -PassThru, the script is quiet-by-default and writes host output only.
 
 .EXAMPLE
     # Quick check
@@ -45,6 +48,9 @@
 .EXAMPLE
     # Capture structured results for automation
     $results = .\Build\Agent\Verify-FwDependencies.ps1 -IncludeOptional -PassThru
+
+.NOTES
+    Behavioral change: this script no longer emits dependency result objects unless -PassThru is specified.
 #>
 
 [CmdletBinding()]
@@ -217,7 +223,7 @@ $results += Test-Dependency -Name "WiX Toolset (v6 via NuGet)" -Required "Option
         throw "Installer project not found: $wixProj"
     }
 
-    [xml]$wixProjXml = Get-Content -LiteralPath $wixProj
+    [xml]$wixProjXml = Get-Content -LiteralPath $wixProj -Raw
     $projectNode = $wixProjXml.Project
     $hasWixSdk = $false
 

Build/Src/FwBuildTasks/Make.cs

@@ -111,6 +111,62 @@ protected override string ToolName
 			}
 		}
 
+		private static string FindVisualStudioToolPath(string vcInstallDir, string toolName)
+		{
+			if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(vcInstallDir) || !Directory.Exists(vcInstallDir))
+				return null;
+
+			string toolsRoot = Path.Combine(vcInstallDir, "Tools", "MSVC");
+			if (!Directory.Exists(toolsRoot))
+				return null;
+
+			string[] versionDirs = Directory.GetDirectories(toolsRoot);
+			Array.Sort(versionDirs, CompareVersionDirectories);
+
+			foreach (string versionDir in versionDirs)
+			{
+				string[] candidateDirs =
+				{
+					Path.Combine(versionDir, "bin", "Hostx64", "x64"),
+					Path.Combine(versionDir, "bin", "Hostx64", "x86"),
+					Path.Combine(versionDir, "bin", "Hostx86", "x86"),
+					Path.Combine(versionDir, "bin", "Hostx86", "x64")
+				};
+
+				foreach (string candidateDir in candidateDirs)
+				{
+					if (File.Exists(Path.Combine(candidateDir, toolName)))
+						return candidateDir;
+				}
+			}
+
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		private static int CompareVersionDirectories(string left, string right)
+		{
+			string leftName = Path.GetFileName(left);
+			string rightName = Path.GetFileName(right);
+
+			Version leftVersion;
+			Version rightVersion;
+			bool leftIsVersion = Version.TryParse(leftName, out leftVersion);
+			bool rightIsVersion = Version.TryParse(rightName, out rightVersion);
+
+			if (leftIsVersion && rightIsVersion)
+			{
+				int versionComparison = rightVersion.CompareTo(leftVersion);
+				if (versionComparison != 0)
+					return versionComparison;
+			}
+			else if (leftIsVersion != rightIsVersion)
+			{
+				return rightIsVersion.CompareTo(leftIsVersion);
+			}
+
+			return StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase.Compare(rightName, leftName);
+		}
+
 		private void CheckToolPath()
 		{
 			string path = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH");
@@ -140,7 +196,21 @@ private void CheckToolPath()
 			// Fall Back to the install directory (if VCINSTALLDIR is set)
 			if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(vcInstallDir))
 			{
-				ToolPath = Path.Combine(vcInstallDir, "bin");
+				string visualStudioToolPath = FindVisualStudioToolPath(vcInstallDir, ToolName);
+				if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(visualStudioToolPath))
+				{
+					ToolPath = visualStudioToolPath;
+					return;
+				}
+
+				string legacyToolPath = Path.Combine(vcInstallDir, "bin");
+				if (File.Exists(Path.Combine(legacyToolPath, ToolName)))
+				{
+					ToolPath = legacyToolPath;
+					return;
+				}
+
+				ToolPath = String.Empty;
 			}
 			else
 			{