Just call CreateProcess, for example (using msbuild 4):
#include <windows.h>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
bool RunMsBuild( const char* args )
{
STARTUPINFO startupInfo;
PROCESS_INFORMATION procInfo;
memset( &startupInfo, 0, sizeof( startupInfo ) );
memset( &procInfo, 0, sizeof( procInfo ) );
std::string cmdLine( "C:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\v4.0.30319\\MSBuild.exe " );
cmdLine += args;
if( !CreateProcessA( 0, const_cast< char* >( cmdLine.c_str() ),
0, 0, FALSE, 0, 0, 0, &startupInfo, &procInfo ) )
return false;
WaitForSingleObject( procInfo.hProcess, INFINITE );
DWORD dwExitCode;
GetExitCodeProcess( procInfo.hProcess, &dwExitCode );
CloseHandle( procInfo.hProcess );
CloseHandle( procInfo.hThread );
return dwExitCode == 0;
}
int main()
{
if( RunMsBuild( "full\\path\\to\\ptojectfile /t:Build" ) )
std::cout << "ok";
else
std::cout << "not ok";
std::endl;
}