Can Visual Studio put timestamps in the build log?

Question

In the build log I'd like to the start and end time of each project's compilation. Is there any way to get VS to do this?

Answer 1

For VC++ builds you can enable build timing. Go to Tools->Options->Projects and Solutions->VC++ Project settings and choose the option for 'Build Timing'

Answer 2

Other option is to increase level of MSBuild verbosity.

Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> Build and Run -> 

Set MSBuild project build output verbosity to Normal. That will give you output like this:

------ Build started: MyProject, Configuration: Debug x86 ------
Build started 24/03/2014 08:46:18.
...
Build succeeded.

Time Elapsed 00:00:05.18

Answer 3

A new way I found is to call the Time command in the post event Pre and Post-build event command line:

TIME /T

Answer 4

Not without modifying the actual project file (using a text editor) to add calls in to the MSBuild script targets.