I am trying to access the Foo Target's "VersionString" property from a PropertyGroup. Is there a way to do this?
<Target Name="Foo">
<ItemGroup>
<Assembly Include="Foo.exe" />
</ItemGroup>
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Framework.Assembly TaskAction="GetInfo"
NetAssembly="#(Assembly)">
<Output TaskParameter="OutputItems" ItemName="Info"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Framework.Assembly>
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Framework.TextString TaskAction="Substring"
OldString="%(Info.AssemblyVersion)" StartIndex="0" Count="5">
<Output PropertyName="VersionString" TaskParameter="NewString"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Framework.TextString>
</Target>
<PropertyGroup>
<FooVersion>
$(VersionString)
</FooVersion>
</PropertyGroup>
The property will only be avilable after the target and the specific task have run.
This means that you can only access it in property groups inside targets that run after the task creating the property was run. Your sample tries to access it from a static property group, which is evaluated before any targets are run, therefore the property is not set yet.
Related
My scenario is as follows.
I have a .targets file that does some stuff, for example,
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<!-- Some UsingTask here -->
<PropertyGroup>
<CustomProperty1>MyFirstValue</CustomProperty1>
<CustomProperty2>MySecondValue</CustomProperty2>
<Target Name="AfterResolveReferences">
<MSBuild Projects="MyProjectLocation\MyProject.csproj" Properties="CustomProperty1=$(CustomProperty1);CustomProperty2=$(CustomProperty2)" Targets="Rebuild" />
<Message Text="CodeGenerated = $(CodeGenerated)" />
</Target>
<Target Name="CodeGeneratedSpecificStuff" Condition="$(CodeGenerated) == 'true'">
<!-- Stuff happens -->
</Target>
<!-- More targets and bits and pieces -->
</Project>
And MyProject.csproj looks like this:
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" ToolsVersion="4.0">
<!-- Some property groups with some properties -->
<!-- Also Compile includes etc as expected in a .csproj file -->
<Target Name="BeforeBuild" DependsOnTargets="GenerateCode">
<ItemGroup Condition="$(CodeGenerated) == 'true'">
<Compile Include="MyGeneratedCode.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
<Target Name="GenerateCode">
<MyCodeGenerationCustomTask MyOperationalProperty="$(CustomProperty1)">
<Output TaskParameter="CodeGenerated" PropertyName="CodeGenerated" />
</MyCodeGenerationCustomTask>
</Target>
</Project>
I am trying to bubble the "CodeGenerated" property that comes from my MyCodeGenerationCustomTask in the .csproj file to get out into my .targets file.
So far I've tried:
Passing in the "CodeGenerated" property as empty at the MSBuild call in the .targets file.
Specifying an "Output" element under the MSBuild task (it doesn't work as the MSBuild task doesn't have a "CodeGenerated" property...)
I have also tried setting "Outputs" on both the "BeforeBuild" target and on the "Project" element in the .csproj file to "$(CodeGenerated)" (MSBuild didn't complain about the existence of the Outputs tag on the Project element, so I thought I might as well give it a go), but the value does not bubble up to the .targets file. In the .targets file I did also change the MSBuild task to look more like this:
<MSBuild Projects="MyProjectLocation\MyProject.csproj" Properties="CustomProperty1=$(CustomProperty1);CustomProperty2=$(CustomProperty2)" Targets="Rebuild">
<Output TaskParameter="TargetOutputs" PropertyName="CodeGenerated" />
</MSBuild>
But as I would expect this just contained the list of generated files from the MSBuild task.
Important to note is the code generation is working fine, and the CodeGenerated property within the .csproj file functions correctly and conditionally includes the cs file for compilation.
Is this possible? Am I just hitting my head against a brick wall? Or am I missing some MSBuild magic?
I really want to avoid checking the specific .cs location at every level above for its existence.
I'm having some trouble with a msbuild file.
I'd like the build to have three targets, executed in this order:
Cleanup: Cleans the output of a previous build
Build: The actual build
CopyFiles: A task that packages the output of the build for an easier deployment
Now the problem is: I want a property (ReleasePath) for the CopyFiles target to be explicitly set by the caller. Also, the caller shouldn't have to set the output path if only calling the Cleanup and Build tasks.
My first try has been:
<PropertyGroup>
<ReleasePath></ReleasePath>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="Initialize">
<Error Text="The ReleasePath property isn't defined" Condition="'$(ReleasePath)' == ''"/>
</Target>
<Target Name="CopyFiles" DependsOnTargets="Initialize">
</Target>
It works fine, but the Initialize target is executed right before CopyFiles, that is after Build. And the Buildtarget can take quite a long time to execute, so if something's wrong I'd like the user to be notified right away.
So basically, is there a way to run the Initialize target at the beginning, but only if CopyFiles is included in the targets?
I also thought of putting Initialize in the InitialTargets attribute of the project, then put a condition to execute this target only if CopyFiles is selected, but to my surprise I couldn't find a property containing the list of targets selected by the caller.
I think the easiest way to accomplish your goal would be to use a Property to toggle CopyFiles rather than the list of targets passed in. If you always add CopyFiles to the AfterBuild target but condition it on a property like "ShouldCopyFiles" then you could also conditionalize the DependsOnTargets of Build:
<PropertyGroup>
<ShouldCopyFiles Condition="'$(ShouldCopyFiles)'==''">false</ShouldCopyFiles>
<ReleasePath></ReleasePath>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDependsOn>
BeforeBuild;
CoreBuild;
AfterBuild;
CopyFiles;
</BuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(ShouldCopyFiles)'=='true'">
<BeforeBuildDependsOn>
Initialize;
</BeforeBuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="Initialize" Condition="'$(ShouldCopyFiles)'=='true'">CheckStuff
</Target>
<Target Name="Build" DependsOnTargets="$(BuildDependsOn)"/>
<Target Name="CoreBuild">YourBuildStuff</Target>
<Target Name="BeforeBuild" DependsOnTargets="$(BeforeBuildDependsOn)"/>
<Target Name="AfterBuild" />
<Target Name="CopyFiles" Condition="'$(ShouldCopyFiles)'=='true'">
CopyStuff
</Target>
At this point you could call MSBuild like this:
msbuild my.proj /targets:Clean;Build /p:ShouldCopyFiles=true
and that would toggle it on.
I have a project file that is using a property $(source) such as :
<ItemGroup>
<ZipFiles Include="$(Source)\**\*.*" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="Package">
<Zip Files="#(ZipFiles)" ZipFileName="ZipOutputFullPath" />
</Target>
Now, I'm using this project file in a second project file and I need to copy some zip files into a folder that I construct based on some other parameters and I need to pass in that folder as $(source) to imported project, how can I do this? I'm referencing the imported target like this:
<Target Name="PrepareDropAndPackage" DependsOnTargets="PrepareDrop;Package">
<Message Text="Finishes preparing drop and packaging." />
</Target>
So basically I need to somehow pass in $(source) to Package target.
Thanks,
You need to update $(Source) property before calling the PrepareDropAndPackage target or to change $(Source) property inside that target like this:
<Target Name="PrepareDropAndPackage" DependsOnTargets="PrepareDrop">
<PropertyGroup>
<!-- :)) -->
<Source>C:\Windows<Source>
</PropertyGroup>
<CallTarget Targets="Package">
<Message Text="Finishes preparing drop and packaging." />
</Target>
How to specify additional assembly reference paths for the MSBuild tasks?
I have following script so far, but can't figure out how to specify additional search paths.
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectsToBuild Include="..\Main\Main.sln" />
</ItemGroup>
<!-- The follwing paths should be added to reference search paths for the build tasks -->
<ItemGroup>
<MyAddRefPath Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\..\Build\Lib1" />
<MyAddRefPath Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\..\Build\Lib2" />
</ItemGroup>
<MSBuild
Projects="#(ProjectsToBuild)"
Properties="Configuration=Debug;OutputPath=$(BuildOutputPath)">
</MSBuild>
UPDATE:
Please show one complete working script which invokes original project, such as an SLN with multiple additional reference paths.
No suggestions on how to improve the project structure please.
I know how to build a good structure, but now it's the task of building an existing piece of crap.
I have finaly figured out how to do it:
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectsToBuild Include="ConsoleApplication1\ConsoleApplication1.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<AdditionalReferencePaths Include="..\Build\ClassLibrary1" />
<AdditionalReferencePaths Include="..\Build\ClassLibrary2" />
</ItemGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildOutputPath>..\Build\ConsoleApplication1</BuildOutputPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="MainBuild">
<PropertyGroup>
<AdditionalReferencePathsProp>#(AdditionalReferencePaths)</AdditionalReferencePathsProp>
</PropertyGroup>
<MSBuild
Projects="ConsoleApplication1\ConsoleApplication1.csproj"
Properties="ReferencePath=$(AdditionalReferencePathsProp);OutputPath=$(BuildOutputPath)"
>
</MSBuild>
</Target>
The property you want to modify is AssemblySearchPaths. See the ResolveAssemblyReference task more information.
<Target Name="AddToSearchPaths">
<CreateProperty Value="x:\path\to\assemblies;$(AssemblySearchPaths)">
<Output PropertyName="AssemblySearchPaths" TaskParameter="Value" />
</CreateProperty>
</Target>
Making use of item groups, as in your example, it would look like:
<Target Name="AddToSearchPaths">
<CreateProperty Value="#(MyAddRefPath);$(AssemblySearchPaths)">
<Output PropertyName="AssemblySearchPaths" TaskParameter="Value" />
</CreateProperty>
</Target>
Looking in %WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Microsoft.Common.targets, you can see that the ResolveAssemblyReference Task is executed as part of the ResolveAssemblyReferences target. Thus, you want the newly added target to modify the AssemblySearchPaths property before ResolveAssemblyReferences is executed.
You've stated that you want to be able to modify the assembly search paths without modifying the project files directly. In order to accomplish that requirement you need to set an environment variable that will override the AssemblySearchPaths. With this technique you will need to provide every assembly reference path used by all the projects in the solutions. (Modifying the projects or copies of the projects would be easier. See final comments.)
One technique is to create a batch file that runs your script at sets the environment variable:
set AssemblySearchPaths="C:\Tacos;C:\Burritos;C:\Chalupas"
msbuild whatever.msbuild
Another way is to define a PropertyGroup in your custom msbuild file (otherwise known as the "hook" needed to make this work):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectsToBuild Include="..\Main\Main.sln" />
</ItemGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<AssemblySearchPaths>$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\..\Build\Lib1;$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\..\Build\Lib2</AssemblySearchPaths>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="Build">
<MSBuild Projects="#(ProjectsToBuild)" Properties="AssemblySearchPaths=$(AssemblySearchPaths);Configuration=Debug;OutputPath=$(OutputPath)" />
</Target>
</Project>
Now if it were me, and for whatever unexplained reason I couldn't modify the project files to include the updated references that I am going to build with, I would make copies of the project files, load them into the IDE, and correct the references in my copies. Synching the projects becomes a simple diff/merge operation which is automatic with modern tools like mercurial (heck I'm sure clearcase could manage it too).
...and remember that you don't need to use a target for this, you can use project-scoped properties or items, as...
<ItemGroup>
<MyAddRefPath Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\..\Build\Lib1" />
<MyAddRefPath Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\..\Build\Lib2" />
</ItemGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<MyAddRefPath>$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\..\Build\Lib3</MyAddRefPath>
<!-- add in the property path -->
<AssemblySearchPaths>$(MyAddRefPath);$(AssemblySearchPaths)</AssemblySearchPaths>
<!-- add in the item paths -->
<AssemblySearchPaths>#(MyAddRefPath);$(AssemblySearchPaths)</AssemblySearchPaths>
</PropertyGroup>
...and if you do need to do this in a target to pick up paths from a dynamically populated item group, use inline properties, not the CreateProperty task (if you are not stuck in v2.0)
<Target Name="AddToSearchPaths">
<PropertyGroup>
<!-- add in the item paths -->
<AssemblySearchPaths>#(MyDynamicAddRefPath);$(AssemblySearchPaths)</AssemblySearchPaths>
</PropertyGroup>
</Target>
Is there a way to get the Name of the currently running Target in MSBuild?
MSBuild does not provide a property (or other mechanism) that provides the name of the current executing target.
If you are thinking in terms of languages and frameworks that expose a stack trace at runtime, MSBuild has nothing equivalent to that.
If you are debugging and trying to visualize the order of target invocation, one trick is to define your own property and successively add values to it as a breadcrumb trail.
e.g.
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="A" DependsOnTargets="B">
<PropertyGroup>
<Trace>$(Trace);A</Trace>
</PropertyGroup>
<Message Text="$(Trace)" />
</Target>
<Target Name="B" DependsOnTargets="C">
<PropertyGroup>
<Trace>$(Trace);B</Trace>
</PropertyGroup>
</Target>
<Target Name="C">
<PropertyGroup>
<Trace>$(Trace);C</Trace>
</PropertyGroup>
</Target>
</Project>
In the example, each PropertyGroup in each target is hard-coding a value that is added to the $(Trace) property.
Running this MSBuild file with verbosity set to normal will produce the output:
;C;B;A
It might be nice to have a generic snippet of code that could be pasted unchanged into each target but currently that's not possible.
You are probably looking for the $(MSBuildProjectFile) but "Target" is kind of vague.