Wix: HarvestDirectory target for multiple directories - msbuild

I'm trying to harvest different folders in my *.wixproj file. But HeatDirectory task is only harvesting last HarvestDirectory target. What I'm missing here?
Here is my code segment:
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="Components.wxs">
<Link>Components.wxs</Link>
</Compile>
<Compile Include="Product.wxs" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<HarvestDirectory Include="$(SolutionDir)\WebApplication2\bin\$(Configuration)">
<AutogenerateGuids>true</AutogenerateGuids>
<ComponentGroupName>SimpleWebAppGroup</ComponentGroupName>
<DirectoryRefId>INSTALLFOLDER</DirectoryRefId>
<SuppressCom>true</SuppressCom>
<SuppressRegistry>true</SuppressRegistry>
<PreprocessorVariable>var.SourceDir</PreprocessorVariable>
<Visible>false</Visible>
</HarvestDirectory>
<HarvestDirectory Include="D:\testing\TTSVN\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\Common\TortoiseOverlays">
<AutogenerateGuids>true</AutogenerateGuids>
<ComponentGroupName>SVNOverLays</ComponentGroupName>
<DirectoryRefId>PROGFILES</DirectoryRefId>
<SuppressCom>true</SuppressCom>
<SuppressRegistry>true</SuppressRegistry>
<PreprocessorVariable>var.SourceDir</PreprocessorVariable>
<Visible>false</Visible>
</HarvestDirectory>
</ItemGroup>
<Import Project="$(WixTargetsPath)" />
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<HeatDirectory NoLogo="$(HarvestDirectoryNoLogo)"
SuppressAllWarnings="$(HarvestDirectorySuppressAllWarnings)"
SuppressSpecificWarnings="$(HarvestDirectorySuppressSpecificWarnings)"
ToolPath="$(WixToolPath)"
TreatWarningsAsErrors="$(HarvestDirectoryTreatWarningsAsErrors)" TreatSpecificWarningsAsErrors="$(HarvestDirectoryTreatSpecificWarningsAsErrors)"
VerboseOutput="$(HarvestDirectoryVerboseOutput)"
AutogenerateGuids="$(HarvestDirectoryAutogenerateGuids)"
GenerateGuidsNow="$(HarvestDirectoryGenerateGuidsNow)"
OutputFile="Components.wxs"
SuppressFragments="$(HarvestDirectorySuppressFragments)"
SuppressUniqueIds="true"
Transforms="%(HarvestDirectory.Transforms)"
Directory="#(HarvestDirectory)"
ComponentGroupName="%(HarvestDirectory.ComponentGroupName)"
DirectoryRefId="%(HarvestDirectory.DirectoryRefId)"
KeepEmptyDirectories="false"
PreprocessorVariable="%(HarvestDirectory.PreprocessorVariable)"
SuppressCom="%(HarvestDirectory.SuppressCom)"
SuppressRegistry="%(HarvestDirectory.SuppressRegistry)"
SuppressRootDirectory="$(HarvestDirectorySuppressRootDirectory)"
>
</HeatDirectory>
</Target>
If I omit HeatDirectory task, it would definitely not updating Component.wxs. I didn't find any example showing the use of HarvestDirectory with HeatDirectory task. While Wix documentation shows that HarvestDirectory target passes HarvestDirectory items to the HeatDirectory task to generate authoring from a file.
Any help would be really appreciated.

I dropped HarvestDirectory items and now using two HeatDirectory tasks, while generating two separate wxs files, while linking in Compile. This solved the problem....

Related

How to copy contentFiles of NuGet package references via MSBuild Copy task

We have several repositories and each one has its own .editorconfig. Obviously, these are not synced, which is why I would like to distribute the .editorconfig from our framework solution (along with other files) via NuGet package to all our repositories/solutions and copy it via a simple Copy build Task to the solution directory.
I attempted to do the following:
Create a project "EditorConfigDistribution", which is supposed to contain the master .editorconfig file.
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
...
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>
<NoDefaultExcludes>true</NoDefaultExcludes>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include=".editorconfig">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
<Pack>true</Pack>
<PackageCopyToOutput>false</PackageCopyToOutput>
<PackagePath>contentFiles\any\any\content</PackagePath>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
This all works as expected and I do get the desired .editorconfig file in my project from the other solutions and it is referenced as shortcut in a folder content/.editorconfig (see EditorConfigConsumer Project Structure).
The file is only a reference to C:\Users\<user>\.nuget\packages\editorconfigdistribution\1.0.0\contentFiles\any\any\content\.editorconfig.
Now, I want to copy that .editorconfig file via build task:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
...
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="EditorConfigDistribution" Version="1.0.0">
</PackageReference>
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="CopyEditorConfig" BeforeTargets="BeforeBuild">
<ItemGroup>
<EditorConfigFileToCopy Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\content\.editorconfig" />
</ItemGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="#(EditorConfigFileToCopy)" DestinationFolder="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\.." SkipUnchangedFiles="true" UseHardlinksIfPossible="false" />
</Target>
</Project>
However, I do get the following error:
Error MSB3030: Could not copy the file "C:\Users\weberma9\source\repos\<some_path>\EditorConfigConsumer\content\.editorconfig" because it was not found. (20, 5)
I can understand that the file (since it is a shortcut) cannot be found, but I just cannot figure out a way to reference that shortcut correctly in my build task.
What do I need to change in that line <EditorConfigFileToCopy Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\content\.editorconfig" />?
Of course, if you have better approaches to my general problem - I'm glad to hear about it.
I was able to find a solution for my problem:
I not only provide the .editorconfig, but also the Copy-Build task via my EditorConfigDistribution project, which looks like this now:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>
<NoDefaultExcludes>true</NoDefaultExcludes>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<None Include="..\..\.editorconfig">
<Link>Rules\.editorconfig</Link>
<Pack>true</Pack>
<PackageCopyToOutput>false</PackageCopyToOutput>
<PackagePath>Rules\</PackagePath>
</None>
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<None Include="build\**">
<Pack>true</Pack>
<PackageCopyToOutput>false</PackageCopyToOutput>
<PackagePath>build\</PackagePath>
</None>
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
The .props file is straightforward and due to the convention that <package_id>.props and <package_id>.target are added to projects that consume the package (see Include MSBuild props and targets in a package), it will always be executed before 'BeforeBuild'.
EditorConfigDistribution.props (placed in build folder):
<Project>
<Target Name="CopyEditorConfig" BeforeTargets="BeforeBuild">
<ItemGroup>
<EditorConfigFilesToCopy Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\Rules\.editorconfig" />
</ItemGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="#(EditorConfigFilesToCopy)" DestinationFolder="$(SolutionDir).." SkipUnchangedFiles="true" UseHardlinksIfPossible="false" />
</Target>
</Project>

MSBuild well-known item metadata and NuGet pack

I am trying to add custom files to a specific NuGet package (basically I need all output files included in the NuGet package since it serves as a tool for Chocolatey).
After some searching, I found this potential fix:
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>$(TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput);GetToolsPackageFiles</TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="GetToolsPackageFiles">
<ItemGroup>
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="$(OutputPath)\**\*.dll" />
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="$(OutputPath)\**\*.exe" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
Unfortunately, this won't work correctly for subdirectories, so I tried this:
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>$(TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput);GetToolsPackageFiles</TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="GetToolsPackageFiles">
<ItemGroup>
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="$(OutputPath)\**\*.dll">
<TargetPath>$([MSBuild]::MakeRelative('$(OutputPath)', %(FullPath)))</TargetPath>
</BuildOutputInPackage>
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="$(OutputPath)\**\*.exe">
<TargetPath>$([MSBuild]::MakeRelative('$(OutputPath)', %(FullPath)))</TargetPath>
</BuildOutputInPackage>
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
According to the docs, I should be able to use %(FullPath), but I am getting this error:
error MSB4184: The expression "[MSBuild]::MakeRelative(C:\Sour
ce\RepositoryCleaner\output\Release\RepositoryCleaner\netcoreapp3.1\, '')" cannot be evaluated. Parameter "path" cannot have zero length.
[C:\Source\RepositoryCleaner\src\RepositoryCleaner\RepositoryCleaner.csproj]
Any idea why the well-known items don't seem to work in this scenario?
Got a fix by specifying the item group outside the target and then using that instead.
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>$(TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput);GetToolsPackageFiles</TargetsForTfmSpecificBuildOutput>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ToolDllFiles Include="$(OutputPath)\**\*.dll" />
<ToolExeFiles Include="$(OutputPath)\**\*.exe" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="GetToolsPackageFiles">
<ItemGroup>
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="#(ToolDllFiles)">
<TargetPath>$([MSBuild]::MakeRelative('$(OutputPath)', %(ToolDllFiles.FullPath)))</TargetPath>
</BuildOutputInPackage>
<BuildOutputInPackage Include="#(ToolExeFiles)">
<TargetPath>$([MSBuild]::MakeRelative('$(OutputPath)', %(ToolExeFiles.FullPath)))</TargetPath>
</BuildOutputInPackage>
</ItemGroup>
</Target>

MSBuild reference assembly not being included in build

I can build my project with the following command...
csc /reference:lib\Newtonsoft.Json.dll SomeSourceFile.cs
... but when I use this command...
msbuild MyProject.csproj
... with the following .csproj file my .dll reference isn't included. Any thoughts?
<PropertyGroup>
<AssemblyName>MyAssemblyName</AssemblyName>
<OutputPath>bin\</OutputPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="SomeSourceFile.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json">
<HintPath>lib\Newtonsoft.Json.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="Build">
<MakeDir Directories="$(OutputPath)" Condition="!Exists('$(OutputPath)')" />
<Csc Sources="#(Compile)" OutputAssembly="$(OutputPath)$(AssemblyName).exe" />
</Target>
You didn't get your Reference group hooked up to the Csc task. Also the references the way you specified could not be used directly inside the task. Tasks that ship with MSBuild include ResolveAssemblyReference, that is able to transform short assembly name and search hints into file paths. You can see how it is used inside c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Microsoft.Common.targets.
Without ResolveAssemblyReference, the simplest thing that you can do is to write it like this:
<PropertyGroup>
<AssemblyName>MyAssemblyName</AssemblyName>
<OutputPath>bin\</OutputPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="SomeSourceFile.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="lib\Newtonsoft.Json.dll" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="Build">
<MakeDir Directories="$(OutputPath)" Condition="!Exists('$(OutputPath)')" />
<Csc Sources="#(Compile)" References="#(Reference)" OutputAssembly="$(OutputPath)$(AssemblyName).exe" />
</Target>
Notice that Reference item specifies direct path to the referenced assembly.
What you've done is to overload the default Build target typically imported via Microsoft.CSharp.targets. In the default Build target, it takes the item array #(Compile), in which your .cs source files are resident, and also the #(Reference) array, among other things, and composites the proper call to the C# compiler. You've done no such thing in your own minimal Build target, which effectivly ignores the declaration of #(Reference) and only supplies #(Compile) to the Csc task.
Try adding the References="#(References)" attribute to the Csc task.

Additional paths in msbuild script

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>

How can I change AssemblyProduct, AssemblyTitle using MSBuild?

I have an MSBuild script which compiles my existing solution but I'd like to change some properties of one of the projects within the solution at compile-time, including but not limited to AssemblyProduct and AssemblyTitle.
Here's a snippet of my build script:
<Target Name="Compile" >
<MSBuild Projects="..\MySolution.sln"
Properties="Configuration=MyReleaseConfig;Platform=x86" />
</Target>
I've got one main executable and several DLLs that are compiled. I am aware of the MSBuild Extension Pack and I suspect it might help me to get to where I need to be, although I'm not sure how to proceed.
Can I selectively change AssemblyInfo properties at build time?
You're on the right track with the MSBuild Extension Pack.
I find the easiest way to conditionally generate the assembly details at build time is to add an "AssemblyVersion" target directly to my .csproj file(s) that require an updated AssemblyInfo file. You can add the target directly to each csproj file that requires an updated AssemblyInfo file, or as I prefer to do it, create a custom targets file with the AssemblyVersion target and have each csproj file include your custom targets file.
Either way you likely want to use the MSBuild Extension Pack or the MSBuild Community Tasks to use their respective AssemblyInfo task.
Here's some code from our build scripts:
<!-- Import the AssemblyInfo task -->
<Import Project="$(MSBuildCommunityTasksPath)\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.Targets"/>
<!-- Overriding the Microsoft.CSharp.targets target dependency chain -->
<!-- Call our custom AssemblyVersion target before build, even from VS -->
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDependsOn>
AssemblyVersion;
$(BuildDependsOn)
</BuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<AssemblyVersionFiles Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="AssemblyVersion"
Inputs="#(AssemblyVersionFiles)"
Outputs="UpdatedAssemblyVersionFiles">
<Attrib Files="%(AssemblyVersionFiles.FullPath)"
Normal="true"/>
<AssemblyInfo
CodeLanguage="CS"
OutputFile="%(AssemblyVersionFiles.FullPath)"
AssemblyCompany="$(CompanyName)"
AssemblyCopyright="Copyright $(CompanyName), All rights reserved."
AssemblyVersion="$(Version)"
AssemblyFileVersion="$(Version)">
<Output TaskParameter="OutputFile"
ItemName="UpdatedAssemblyVersionFiles"/>
</AssemblyInfo>
</Target>
Sneal's answer was very helpful, but I'd like to show what I actually ended up doing. Instead of editing csproj files (there are several) I instead added tasks to my build script. Here's a snippet:
<PropertyGroup>
<ProductName>MyApp</ProductName>
<CompanyName>MyCompany</CompanyName>
<Major>1</Major>
<Minor>0</Minor>
<Build>0</Build>
<Revision>0</Revision>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<AssemblyVersionFiles Include="..\MyMainProject\Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="AssemblyVersionMAIN" Inputs="#(AssemblyVersionFiles)" Outputs="UpdatedAssemblyVersionFiles">
<Attrib Files="%(AssemblyVersionFiles.FullPath)" Normal="true"/>
<AssemblyInfo
CodeLanguage="CS"
OutputFile="%(AssemblyVersionFiles.FullPath)"
AssemblyProduct="$(ProductName)"
AssemblyTitle="$(ProductName)"
AssemblyCompany="$(CompanyName)"
AssemblyCopyright="© $(CompanyName) 2010"
AssemblyVersion="$(Major).$(Minor).$(Build).$(Revision)"
AssemblyFileVersion="$(Major).$(Minor).$(Build).$(Revision)"
AssemblyInformationalVersion="$(Major).$(Minor).$(Build).$(Revision)">
<Output TaskParameter="OutputFile" ItemName="UpdatedAssemblyVersionFiles"/>
</AssemblyInfo>
</Target>
<Target Name="Compile" DependsOnTargets="AssemblyVersionMAIN">
<MSBuild Projects="..\MySolution.sln"
Properties="Configuration=Release;Platform=x86;Optimize=true" />
</Target>
Then, I can override my variables from the command line, or a batch script, like so:
set MAJ=1
set MIN=2
set BLD=3
set REV=4
msbuild buildScript.xml /t:Compile /p:Major=%MAJ% /p:Minor=%MIN% /p:Build=%BLD% /p:Revision=%REV%
<Target Name="SetVersion">
<ItemGroup>
<AssemblyInfoFiles Include="$(TargetDir)\**\AssemblyInfo.cs"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Message Text="change the Version number for:"/>
<Message Text="%(AssemblyInfoFiles.FullPath)"/>
<MSbuild.ExtensionPack.Framework.AssemblyInfo
AssemblyInfoFiles="#(AssemblyInfoFiles)"
AssemblyTitle="newTitle"
AssemblyMajorVersion="2"
AssemblyMinorVersion="0"/>
</Target>