Vscode-cpptools: c_cpp_properties.json compilerPath doesn't seem to look at Windows PATH environment variable

[Wetmelon]

Type: LanguageService

Describe the bug

• OS and Version: Windows 10
• VS Code Version: 1.30.2
• C/C++ Extension Version: 0.21.0
• Other extensions you installed (and if the issue persists after disabling them):
• A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

Using just the .exe name of a compiler in compilerPath in c_cpp_properties.json causes it to fail. This has been happening since compilerPath was introduced. E.g. compilerPath: "g++"

Error in C/C++ Firmware Output window: Failed to query default include paths and defines for g++. WSL not detected

When I simply type g++ --version into a VSCode Powershell terminal, it works fine, so I have my PATH setup properly:

---

A more realistic example:
"compilerPath": "arm-none-eabi-g++ -mthumb -mcpu=cortex-m4 -mfpu=fpv4-sp-d16 -mfloat-abi=hard -specs=nosys.specs -specs=nano.specs -u _printf_float -u _scanf_float",

Failed to query default include paths and defines for arm-none-eabi-g++. WSL not detected

In Terminal: arm-none-eabi-g++ --version:

[sean-mcmanus]

This is currently "by design", but given that we're looking to improve the configuration experience for our next release, this would be one way to help with that.

[tdjastrzebski]

It seems adding env variable support will not break anything but in some cases will help a lot.
Example: on my computer I have 2 versions of Visual Studio and 20 (twenty) versions of cl.exe compiler. Managing this with single PATH variable is impractical. I have to use distinct environment variables to store paths to x86, x64, ARM current version to avoid hardcoding.
Also, current behavior is inconsistent with other config files (tasks, launch etc.).

[bobbrow]

We implemented this feature with PR #5965. It currently available in our 0.30.0-insiders3 which you can install by changing the C_Cpp.updateChannel setting to "Insiders".