Long time ago I wrote about the convoluted build configuration automation model (EnvDTE/EnvDTE80) and its diagram. Since questions about this keep appearing in the MSDN VSX Forum, I am going to write some articles about how to get/modify/add solution/project configurations/platforms. 

The first one is about how to get the information of the Configuration Manager from a Visual  Studio add-in:

HOWTO: Get the solution configurations / platforms from a Visual Studio add-in
http://www.mztools.com/articles/2013/MZ2013005.aspx