Target runs even if dependency target condition false - msbuild

Question

I was surprised that a target runs even if the target it's after (via AfterTargets) does not:
<Target Name="StepOne" AfterTargets="PostBuildEvent" Condition="false">
<Message Text="StepOne" Importance="high"/>
</Target>
<Target Name="StepTwo" AfterTargets="StepOne">
<Message Text="StepTwo" Importance="high"/>
</Target>
Output:
1>StepTwo
Any way to make a chain of targets that stops when one of them has a false condition? Adding DependsOnTargets="StepOne" didn't help. CallTarget works but then properties aren't shared with subsequent targets, which I want.

Answer 1

MSBuild creates a dependency graph of all of the targets. The targets will then be invoked in order. Conditions don't change the dependency graph and conditions are not checked until the target is invoked.
The chain of targets doesn't stop because one of the targets has a false condition.
But a target can set properties that are used in the conditions of other targets. For example:
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" TreatAsLocalProperty="IsStepOneEnabled">
<PropertyGroup>
<!-- IsStepOneEnabled: default to true if not set; normalize to true|false -->
<IsStepOneEnabled Condition="'$(IsStepOneEnabled)' == ''">true</IsStepOneEnabled>
<IsStepOneEnabled Condition="'$(IsStepOneEnabled)' != 'true'">false</IsStepOneEnabled>
<!-- IsStepOne: initilize to false -->
<IsStepOne>false</IsStepOne>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="Test">
<Message Text="Test" />
<Message Text="Step One will be run." Condition="$(IsStepOneEnabled)"/>
</Target>
<Target Name="StepOne" AfterTargets="Test" Condition="$(IsStepOneEnabled)">
<PropertyGroup>
<IsStepOne>true</IsStepOne>
</PropertyGroup>
<Message Text="StepOne" />
</Target>
<Target Name="StepTwo" AfterTargets="StepOne" Condition="$(IsStepOne)">
<Message Text="StepTwo" />
</Target>
</Project>
Save this in a file named test.proj and run it as with the command:
msbuild test2.proj
and the output will be:
Test:
Test
Step One will be run.
StepOne:
StepOne
StepTwo:
StepTwo
Run it with the command:
msbuild test2.proj /p:IsStepOneEnabled=false
and the output will be:
Test:
Test