First of all, UE4 APIs has a lot of tools build in, including XML parser
So search UE4 first before trying something else, in UE4 everything should work on all paltfroms that UE4 supports so you won’t have compatibility issues using them. 2nd you indeed need to configure build script to external library
Keep in mind UE4 use VS only for compiler it has own build system, VS project file is just for text editing in VS and when you hit build it runs UnrealBuildTool, which does not need VS on to work.