Apparently bds.exe is returning an exit code of 0 in your case. To reproduce the problem outside of VBP:
1) Check the 'Log command-line...' checkbox on the Options tab of the Make Delphi action
2) Rebuild the step
3) Using Notepad or a text editor, create a batch file with the bds.exe command-line from the build log on the first line, followed by
echo %errorlevel%
on the second line, and run the batch file at a Command Prompt. It should return a non-zero exit code (errorlevel) if errors occurred. If not, you can open a support incident w/ CodeGear regarding the problem.
You may also be able to work around the problem by parsing the output for error conditions in the step's vbld_StepDone script event:
Code:
Sub vbld_StepDone()
If InStr(vbld_AllMacros()("LASTSTEP_OUTPUT"), "[C++ Error]") > 0 Then
Step.BuildStatus = vbldStepStatFailed
End If
End Sub
http://www.visualbuild.com/Manual/scriptevents.htm