FTP Credentials for MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Communication.Ftp - msbuild

Question

In my AfterBuild script I use the following method to upload the files to the deployment server:
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Communication.Ftp
TaskAction="UploadFiles"
Host="localhost"
FileNames="$(SomeFolder)\$(FileToUpload)"
UserName="myUserName"
UserPassword="myPassword"
RemoteDirectoryName="/" />
How can I load these credentials from a text file or an external source? What are the alternatives? I don't want to hard-code ftp credentials into my cproj files.
I used GranadaCoders method to answer my own question:
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadAttribute" File="$(FTP_Credentials_File)" XPath="/parameters/setParameter[#name='host']/#value">
<Output PropertyName="FtpHost" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadAttribute" File="$(FTP_Credentials_File)" XPath="/parameters/setParameter[#name='username']/#value">
<Output PropertyName="FtpUserName" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadAttribute" File="$(FTP_Credentials_File)" XPath="/parameters/setParameter[#name='password']/#value">
<Output PropertyName="FtpPassword" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>
<Message Text="Attempting to uploade $(GeneratedZipFile) to $(FtpHost) as read from $(FTP_Credentials_File) ..." Importance="high" />
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Communication.Ftp TaskAction="UploadFiles" Condition="Exists('$(FTP_Credentials_File)')" Host="$(FtpHost)" FileNames="$(PublicFolderToDropZip)\$(GeneratedZipFile)" UserName="$(FtpUserName)" UserPassword="$(FtpPassword)" RemoteDirectoryName="/" />

Answer 1

Put the values in an external xml file.
Read the values from the xml file into a variable.
Parameters.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<parameters>
<setParameter name="LineNumber1" value="PeanutsAreCool" />
<setParameter name="LineNumber2" value="" />
</parameters>
MyMsbuild_MsBuildExtensions.proj
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" DefaultTargets="AllTargetsWrapped">
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\ExtensionPack\4.0\MSBuild.ExtensionPack.tasks"/>
<PropertyGroup>
<!-- Always declare some kind of "base directory" and then work off of that in the majority of cases -->
<WorkingCheckout>.</WorkingCheckout>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="AllTargetsWrapped">
<CallTarget Targets="ReadXmlPeekValue" />
</Target>
<Target Name="ReadXmlPeekValue">
<!-- ReadAttribute -->
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadAttribute" File="$(WorkingCheckout)\Parameters.xml" XPath="/parameters/setParameter[#name='LineNumber1']/#value">
<Output PropertyName="MyValue1" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>
<Message Text="MyValue1 = $(MyValue1)"/>
</Target>
</Project>
OR
MyMsbuild_WithCommunityTasks.proj
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" DefaultTargets="AllTargetsWrapped">
<!--
<UsingTask AssemblyFile="$(ProgramFiles)\MSBuild\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.dll" TaskName="Version"/>
-->
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\MSBuildCommunityTasks\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.Targets" />
<PropertyGroup>
<!-- Always declare some kind of "base directory" and then work off of that in the majority of cases -->
<WorkingCheckout>.</WorkingCheckout>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="AllTargetsWrapped">
<CallTarget Targets="ReadXmlPeekValue" />
</Target>
<Target Name="ReadXmlPeekValue">
<!-- you do not need a namespace for this example, but I left it in for future reference -->
<XmlPeek Namespaces="<Namespace Prefix='peanutNamespace' Uri='http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003'/>"
XmlInputPath=".\Parameters.xml"
Query="/parameters/setParameter[#name='LineNumber1']/#value">
<Output TaskParameter="Result" ItemName="Peeked" />
</XmlPeek>
<Message Text="#(Peeked)"/>
<XmlPeek Namespaces="<Namespace Prefix='peanutNamespace' Uri='http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003'/>"
XmlInputPath=".\Parameters.xml"
Query="/parameters/setParameter[#name='LineNumber1']/#value">
<Output TaskParameter="Result" PropertyName="PeekedSingle" />
</XmlPeek>
<Message Text="PeekedSingle = $(PeekedSingle) "/>
</Target>
</Project>
EDIT:
You can add some basic error checking for the values.
See URL here:
http://tutorials.csharp-online.net/MSBuild:_By_Example%E2%80%94Dealing_with_MSBuild_Errors
Short example.. note the condition..and how it checks for an empty string.
<Error Text="Unable to connect to webserver" Code="Deploy" Condition=" '$(WebURL)' == '' "/>