Visual Studio 2010 external tool args empty

Trying to use arguments for external tools within the custom build option in VS2010 but they seem to be empty, specifically:

c:\oracle\ora10g1\bin\proc $(ProjDir)\$(ItemFilename).pc

Fails with:

PCC-F-02101, Unable to open input file: ".pc"

1>C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\Microsoft.开发者_运维问答CppCommon.targets(151,5): error MSB6006: "cmd.exe" exited with code 1.

Yet file exists and hardcoded reference compiles.

Try enclosing the macros in double-quotes...

c:\oracle\ora10g1\bin\proc "$(ProjDir)\$(ItemFilename).pc"

I suspect your problem is the embeded spaces in the final path.

OK - I figured it out - there is a "macro" button in the dialog for specifying the custom build arguments - it has the correct definitions.

here's what works:

c:\oracle\ora10g1\bin\proc $(ProjectDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)

I believe that the doco that referenced "Arguments for External Tools" is either incorrect or they don't consider args used within the custom build dialog to be feeding an external tool.