You can compile the command line flags into your test executable if you want by using the GTEST_FLAG
macro (see Running Test Programs: Advanced Options)
So for example, in your case you could do:
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
::testing::GTEST_FLAG(filter) = "simpleTest.test1";
::testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
RUN_ALL_TESTS();
}
However, hardcoding test filters like this is normally undesirable, since you need to recompile every time you want to change the filter.
As far as passing the flags at run-time via Visual Studio, I guess you know that you can just add --gtest_filter=simpleTest.test1
to the Command Arguments in the "Debugging" option of your target's Property Pages?