NANT CSC Build Failure: References Missing? - msbuild

Question

I have the following NANT CSC target for building winexe:
<csc target="winexe" output="${Deploy.dir}\VMIS.exe" debug="${debug}">
<sources>
<include name="${App.dir}\**\*.cs" />
<include name="${Build.dir}\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
<exclude name="${App.dir}\**\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
</sources>
<references refid="Lib.fileset">
</references>
...
</csc>
The following is the failure message:
D:\..\myClass.cs(9,17): error CS0234: The type or namespace name 'Reporting'
does not exist in the namespace 'Microsoft' (are you missing an assembly
reference?)
In myClass.cs, I have this using reference:
using Microsoft.ReportViewer.WinForms;
There is no problem to build my app in VS, but I could not build from NANT. I think that I may miss reference to Microsoft.ReportViewer.WinForms.dll in NANT build. Not sure how I can include this dll in my bin for NANT?
I have tried to modify csc target's references:
<csc ...>
...
<references refid="Lib.fileset">
<include name="Microsoft.ReportViewer.Common.dll" />
<include name="Microsoft.ReportViewer.WinForms.dll" />
</references>
...
</csc>
Still not working. Should I use COPY target to copy all the dll files from bin to $(build.dir)?
Updates: I found that those Microsoft.ReportViewer.xx.dll files in project references are not copy to local. How can I simulate copy to local in NANT for those two dll files? I guess that may resolve the issue since NANT is a build app in console and does not have knowledge about references in global cache.

Answer 1

NAnt is configured with the default set of DLLs for the .NET framework, and knows where those DLLs reside (e.g. C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319). When you include non-framework assemblies, whether they are yours or a 3rd party, you can include them, but use the full path of the DLL:
<include name="C:\Common\ThirdParty.dll" />
You can also use variables:
<property name="common.directory" value="C:\Common" />
...
<csc ...>
...
<references>
<inclde name="${common.directory}\ThirdParty.dll" />
</references>
</csc>

Answer 2

Recommended:
Use MSBuild in your NAnt script(s) to build your application.
FYI: Visual Studio uses MSBuild to compile and build your solution and projects.
<!-- Verify the right target framework -->
<property name="MSBuildPath" value="C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\MSBuild.exe" />
<target name="Build">
<exec program="${MSBuildPath}">
<arg line='"${SolutionFile}"' />
<arg value="/target:Rebuild" />
<arg value="/verbosity:normal" />
<arg value="/nologo" />
</exec>
</target>
Possibility:
Copy references/files locally (i.e. using copy task). Or similarly use full paths in the include name.
Not recommended:
Use NAnt's "solution" task, or NAntContrib's "msbuild" task.
This would simplify the msbuild call but would tie you into older versions of msbuild/VS solution/project files. Newer VS solution/project files would not be supported readily.
Hope it helps.