... it's simpler than going through compiler settings. It's also useful to see what it will look when finished (as a temporary test)...
If changing something as simple as what libraries you link against is a hassle, then pardon me for saying that
you are doing it wrong.
How the build is done should be managed by a proper build system like
SCons,
qmake or plain old
make or similar. If changing linked libraries is anything more than editing a single line in a plain-text build script (which is just as simple as (if not simpler than)) putting platform/compiler specific pragmas into source files, then
you are doing it wrong.
Just as an example; for my current project I use
SCons and changing what libraries I link against is just a matter of opening my SConstruct file in
my favorite editor and editing a single line:
env.Append(LIBS = ['sfml-window', 'sfml-system'])
- simple as that (and yes, you can use SCons on Windows with Visual Studio).
By the way, what do you mean by "It's also useful to see what it will look when finished (as a temporary test)"? That bit didn't make sense for me
at all.