I want to add a HeatDirecotry task to my wixproj in Visual Studio, but I need the Directory attribute - the source path - will be a variable - a preprocessor variable, so I can supply it dynamically.
Can anyone tell how can I do that?
Thanks!!!
Try the following
Unload your project and then add the below code in .wixproj file
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<HeatDirectory DirectoryRefId="INSTALLFOLDER"
OutputFile="Source.wxs"
Directory="C:\Users\aaa\Desktop\ComponentsFiles"
SuppressRootDirectory="true"
ToolPath="$(WixToolPath)" AutogenerateGuids="true"
ComponentGroupName="SourceComponentGroup"
PreprocessorVariable="var.SourcePath">
</HeatDirectory>
</Target>
and then reload the project. Add the following file for the preprocessor variable inside the buils tag of the project properties
SourcePath=C:\Users\aaa\Desktop\ComponentsFiles
Related
When I use msbuild to build a solution containing multiple projects, can I pass a property on the command line in a way that the property will only be used for one of the projects?
That means, can I say that -p:Foo=42 shall be used for Project1, but not for Project2?
MSBuild cannot specify a property for one of the project by the solution file(msbuild xxx\xxx.sln) easily and only targets can be specified. Or you have to type multiple msbuild command line to specify to the related csproj file to enable that changed property like msbuild Project1.csproj -t:build -p:xxx=xxx, msbuild Project2.csproj -t:build. However, it is too complex and inconvenient.
So I recommend that you could use msbuild script to get what you want.
1) create a file called build.proj file:
<Project>
<ItemGroup>
<!--add all the projects from the solution and remove the any project you want to modify the foo property-->
<MostProjectFile Include="**\*.csproj;**\*.vcxproj" Exclude="**\Project1.csproj" />
<!--add any projects you want to modify the foo value-->
<SpecialProjectFile Include="**\Project1.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="Build">
<!--build the most projects and remove the project which you want to change foo property-->
<MSBuild Projects="#(MostProjectFile)" Targets="Build" Properties="Configuration=Debug"/>
<!--build any projects that wants to modify the foo property separately-->
<MSBuild Projects="#(SpecialProjectFile)" Targets="Build" Properties="Configuration=Debug;Foo=42"/>
</Target>
</Project>
2) if you want to change the foo property again, you can just modify the build.proj based on your needs.
Run msbuild xxx\build.proj -t:Build to build it.
I need project to be built into folder:
\bin\Debug 1.0.3.4
Where 1.0.3.4 is a current building assembly version specified in assembly: AssemblyVersion attribute.
I tried using different variables like $(AssemblyVersion), GetAssemblyIdentity task but had no luck.. I'm not so good at using MSBuild.
A quick and dirty solution to this is to, after the build, use GetAssemblyIdentity to extract the version info and then move the $(TargetFile) to the appropriate directory.
This assumes you don't have any dependencies going on. Otherwise, you'll need to modify the $(TargetPath), $(TargetName), and $(TargetExt) or go with the "proper" way of doing it - modifying $(OutputPath) dynamically.
<Target Name="AfterBuild" AfterTargets="Build">
<GetAssemblyIdentity AssemblyFiles="$(TargetPath)">
<Output TaskParameter="Assemblies" ItemName="AssemblyIdentity"/>
</GetAssemblyIdentity>
<PropertyGroup>
<Version>#(AssemblyIdentity->'%(Version)')</Version>
</PropertyGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="$(TargetPath)" DestinationFolder="$(OutDir)$(Version)" />
</Target>
The proper way would be to modify $(OutDir) aka $(OutputPath), but that would involve things like modifying the AssemblyVersion.cs file (or more complexly, a copy of it injected automatically into the build chain).
You could also instead parse the version from the AssemblyVersion.cs file.
I use the _PublishedApplications to generate the structure in the TFS Build Server. After this, I use the <HeatDirectory> in the WiX project to correctly harvest the content of _PublishedApplications folder. But my problem is the order during build.
If I use the <HeatDirectory> inside <Target Name="BeforeBuild"> it doesn't include the binaries copied to the _PublishedApplications, as the harvesting is executed before the publish (file copy).
If I change the target to BeforeCompile the compilation doesn't succeed because there is no file in first place. Here is the code for the WiX project (the relevant part of it):
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="Product.wxs" />
<Compile Include="Autogenerated.wxs" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\SimpleProject\SimpleProject.csproj">
<Name>SimpleProject</Name>
<Project>{GUID}</Project>
<Private>True</Private>
<DoNotHarvest>True</DoNotHarvest>
<RefProjectOutputGroups>Binaries</RefProjectOutputGroups>
<RefTargetDir>INSTALLFOLDER</RefTargetDir>
</ProjectReference>
</ItemGroup>
<Import Project="$(WixTargetsPath)" />
<Target Name="BeforeCompile">
<HeatDirectory OutputFile="Autogenerated.wxs" Directory="$(Sources)"
PreprocessorVariable="var.SimpleProject.TargetDir"
AutogenerateGuids="true" SuppressRegistry="true"
ToolPath="$(WixToolPath)" DirectoryRefId="INSTALLFOLDER"
ComponentGroupName="ComponentGroup_Core"
SuppressRootDirectory="true" />
</Target>
Question
How can I execute the harvesting after the binaries are copied to _PublishedApplications?
I build my solution using the following command:
msbuild SimpleInstaller.sln /p:OutDir=C:\Temp\Output\ /v:diag > C:\Temp\Log.txt
This will output all log to a text file. You can use the MSBuild logger instead.
Then I found when you build a C# project, the target Compile in file Microsoft.Common.targets is invoked. This target has an attribute DependsOnTarget which contains a reference to target BeforeCompile.
I can override this target BeforeCompile in my own C# project, just by adding the following code at the end of it (file .csproj):
...
<Target Name="BeforeCompile">
<!-- custom action. -->
</Target>
</Project>
But the problem is my WiX project cannot override the BeforeCompile target because this target isn't defined for WiX projects. You can check this in the wix2010.targets file. The target Compile only has dependence upon targets PrepareForBuild, ResolveWixExtensionReferences and GenerateCompileWithObjectPath.
My solution was to identify an alternative to BeforeCompile which is the Harvest target. My WiX project (.wixproj) has the following target now:
<Target Name="Harvest">
<HeatDirectory OutputFile="Autogenerated.wxs" Directory="$(Sources)"
PreprocessorVariable="var.SimpleProject.TargetDir"
AutogenerateGuids="true" SuppressRegistry="true"
ToolPath="$(WixToolPath)" DirectoryRefId="INSTALLFOLDER"
ComponentGroupName="ComponentGroup_Core"
SuppressRootDirectory="true" />
</Target>
All this problem occurred because my first project in the solution was the WiX project and only then I added the C# projects. For this reason the BeforeBuild was being executed before everything else.
Another solution to solve this issue is to edit the solution file (.sln) and move the WiX project declaration in the beginning of the solution file to the end of all project declarations (not the end of the solution file). Then the BeforeBuild of the WiX project will be executed after the _PublishedApplications folder is created by the C# project.
This manual edit is required because if you change the Project Build Order you are actually changing the project references (at least in the solution file), but the target BeforeBuild is called anyway before the ResolveProjectReferences which is the responsible for invoking the build of any references.
This is the project declaration that should be after all others:
Project("GUID") = "SimpleInstaller", "SimpleInstaller\SimpleInstaller.wixproj", "GUID"
EndProject
My recommendation is still to use Harvest target as it is independent of any changes in the solution file.
The first thing you need to do is add a project reference from your installer project to your application project. This will force the application to build and be available for your installer project.
You can verify the build sequence of the projects if you right click your solution under VisualStudio and click the "Project Build Order...", if you need to change the order you need to configure the Project dependencies.
Then do something like this in your installer project:
<PropertyGroup>
<RootDir>{PATH TO _PublishedApplications FOLDER}</RootDir>
<HarvestDirectoryNoLogo>true</HarvestDirectoryNoLogo>
<HarvestDirectorySuppressAllWarnings>false</HarvestDirectorySuppressAllWarnings>
<HarvestDirectoryTreatWarningsAsErrors>false</HarvestDirectoryTreatWarningsAsErrors>
<HarvestDirectoryTreatSpecificWarningsAsErrors>
</HarvestDirectoryTreatSpecificWarningsAsErrors>
<HarvestDirectoryVerboseOutput>false</HarvestDirectoryVerboseOutput>
<HarvestDirectoryAutogenerateGuids>false</HarvestDirectoryAutogenerateGuids>
<HarvestDirectoryGenerateGuidsNow>true</HarvestDirectoryGenerateGuidsNow>
<HarvestDirectorySuppressFragments>true</HarvestDirectorySuppressFragments>
<HarvestDirectorySuppressUniqueIds>false</HarvestDirectorySuppressUniqueIds>
</PropertyGroup>
<Import Project="$(WixTargetsPath)" />
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<ItemGroup>
<HarvestDirectory Include="$(RootDir)">
<Transforms>
</Transforms>
<ComponentGroupName>MyComponent</ComponentGroupName>
<DirectoryRefId>WebSiteRoot</DirectoryRefId>
<PreprocessorVariable>var.RootDir</PreprocessorVariable>
<SuppressCom>false</SuppressCom>
<SuppressRegistry>false</SuppressRegistry>
<SuppressRootDirectory>true</SuppressRootDirectory>
<KeepEmptyDirectories>true</KeepEmptyDirectories>
</HarvestDirectory>
</ItemGroup>
<HeatDirectory
NoLogo="$(HarvestDirectoryNoLogo)"
SuppressAllWarnings="$(HarvestDirectorySuppressAllWarnings)"
SuppressSpecificWarnings="$(HarvestDirectorySuppressSpecificWarnings)"
ToolPath="$(WixToolPath)"
TreatWarningsAsErrors="$(HarvestDirectoryTreatWarningsAsErrors)"
TreatSpecificWarningsAsErrors="$(HarvestDirectoryTreatSpecificWarningsAsErrors)"
VerboseOutput="$(HarvestDirectoryVerboseOutput)"
AutogenerateGuids="$(HarvestDirectoryAutogenerateGuids)"
GenerateGuidsNow="$(HarvestDirectoryGenerateGuidsNow)"
OutputFile="$(IntermediateOutputPath)_%(HarvestDirectory.Filename)_dir.wxs"
SuppressFragments="$(HarvestDirectorySuppressFragments)"
SuppressUniqueIds="$(HarvestDirectorySuppressUniqueIds)"
Transforms="%(HarvestDirectory.Transforms)"
Directory="#(HarvestDirectory)"
ComponentGroupName="%(HarvestDirectory.ComponentGroupName)"
DirectoryRefId="%(HarvestDirectory.DirectoryRefId)"
KeepEmptyDirectories="%(HarvestDirectory.KeepEmptyDirectories)"
PreprocessorVariable="%(HarvestDirectory.PreprocessorVariable)"
SuppressCom="%(HarvestDirectory.SuppressCom)"
SuppressRootDirectory="%(HarvestDirectory.SuppressRootDirectory)"
SuppressRegistry="%(HarvestDirectory.SuppressRegistry)" />
</Target>
</Project>
I generated this code based on the documentation of the HeatDirectory Task and I use it in real projects.
Can someone please point me to a reference about target hooks in MSBuild?
I'm looking for something that will let me define targets to run before and after a specified target. I know this can be done using the DependsOnTargets property but I've seen references to using target hooks and I'd like to explore that area.
Thanks,
Zain
A good list of built-in overridable build process hooks can be found here. For custom targets, the only thing I can think of is to use either the DependsOnTarget attribute (like you mentioned) or the BeforeTargets/AfterTargets attribute (like #Ritch Melton mentioned.) Be careful, the BeforeTargets/AfterTargets are only available in MSBuild 4.0
If you understand the idea behind DependsOnTargets then open up the Microsoft.Common.targets file in the .Net SDK directory (C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5). That file defines the build process for the MSBuild task and .Net projects created by Visual Studio. Look for tags called BeforeXXXX, and AfterXXXX. BeforeBuild and AfterBuild are referenced in the default.csproj file - Snippet:
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
<!-- To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets below and uncomment it. Other similar extension points exist, see Microsoft.Common.targets.
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
</Target>
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
</Target>
-->
</Project>
There are others, like Clean, Rebuild, etc..
Define a Target (or Targets) to execute inside those Target elements, like this (Creates a directory, or list of directories based on the value in the Directories Property:
<Target Name="CreateDir">
<MakeDir Directories="D:\Dogs.txt"/>
</Target>
Then include those Targets in the BeforeXXX Target:
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
<Target Name="BeforeBuild" BeforeTargets="CreateDir">
</Target>
</Project>
I am using heat.exe to genrate file listing, I need to replace File/#Source="SourceDir"
so I am passing -var and directory name , but those variable are defined in my .wxi file
How can I include .wxi file in the heat generated wxs file . as this file will be generated each time i make a build.
Why replace SourceDir?
You can just pass in additional base folders to light with the -b switch and for all references of SourceDir, WiX will look in the base folders you've specified. Makes it easy to move things around between machines and only have to update a parameter in your build system, rather than editing an include file.
An update for wix 3.7, when you use HeatDirectory task in your wixproj instead of running heat.exe, you can PreprocessorVariable to set the SourceDir.
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<HeatDirectory Directory="..\distribution"
PreprocessorVariable="myVar" <--- your variable name
OutputFile="HeatGeneratedFileList.wxs"
ComponentGroupName="HeatGenerated"
DirectoryRefId="INSTALLFOLDER"
AutogenerateGuids="true"
ToolPath="$(WixToolPath)"
SuppressFragments="true"
SuppressRegistry="true"/>
</Target>
More detail:
http://wix.sourceforge.net/manual-wix3/msbuild_task_reference_heatdirectory.htm
WIX HeatDirectory Task - Setting the preprocessorVariable