MSBuild 3.5
I have the following project structure:
trunk/MainSolution.sln
trunk/Build/MyBuild.Proj
trunk/Library/...
trunk/etc...
So far, I've been using the following property to find out the project root folder:
<RootFolder>$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\</RootFolder>
Everything was working great, until I tried using a copy task that relied on this path. It is not resolving correctly. I basically end up getting something like this which is not valid:
C:\Projects\MyProject\Trunk\Build\..\CodeAnalysis\myfile.xml
So basically, I need to get the full path for (MSBuildProjectDirectory)'s Parent.
Item metadata is your friend!
<Target Name="GetMSBuildProjectParentDirectory">
<!-- First you create the MSBuildProject Parent directory Item -->
<CreateItem Include="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\">
<Output ItemName="MSBuildProjectParentDirectory" TaskParameter="Include"/>
</CreateItem>
<!-- You can now retrieve its fullpath using Fullpath metadata -->
<Message Text="%(MSBuildProjectParentDirectory.Fullpath)"/>
<!-- Create a property based on parent fullpath-->
<CreateProperty Value="%(MSBuildProjectParentDirectory.Fullpath)">
<Output PropertyName="CodeFolder" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</CreateProperty>
</Target>
Nowadays with MSBuild 4.0 and above you don't want to use CreateItem or CreateProperty tasks anymore. What you are asking for can be solved easily with msbuild property functions:
<!-- Prints the parent directory's full path. -->
$([System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..'))
If you just want to read the parent directory's folder name you can combine the above statement with the GetFileName property function:
$([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName('$([System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..'))'))
A bit verbose but much better than the other answer as this works outside of targets and can be assigned to a property.
In case someone like me is still interested in this, here is how I did it in 2022 ^_^
<PropertyGroup>
<ParentFolderPath>$([System.IO.Directory]::GetParent($(MSBuildProjectDirectory)))</ParentFolderPath>
<ParentFolder>$([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName($(ParentFolderPath)))</ParentFolder>
...
</PropertyGroup>
I'm using this technique to auto-name the assemblies and default namespaces in the complex solutions.
<AssemblyName>$(ParentFolder).$(MSBuildProjectName)</AssemblyName>
<RootNamespace>$(ParentFolder).$(MSBuildProjectName.Replace(" ", "_"))</RootNamespace>
Related
I have a target like below. It needs to replace content of a file with new content. I have multiple files I am matching with ItemGroup.
I couldn't figure out a way to get this working.
Here is my target definition.
<ItemGroup>
<PRSetting Include="$(settings_root)\**\settings_config_*.xml">
<NewContent>$([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('%(Identity)')).Replace('[config.version]', '$(PR_Version)'))</NewContent>
</PRSetting>
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="PrepSettings" Inputs="#(PRSetting)"
Outputs="#(PRSetting->'$out\$Filename.xml')" >
<Message Text="%(PRSetting.Identity) new contents:" />
<Message Text="%(PRSetting.NewContent)"/>
</Target>
I hope I explained it right what I am trying to do. When the target is built, I am getting an error that the path to File::ReadFile() can't be empty string. I am using VS 2019. This is work in progress. I am yet to figure out how to save the new content in destination file.
Update
I have the Itemgroup outside. I updated the question. The reason it is outside is because the target inputs parameter needs it.
Try the following and see if it works:
<Target Name="PrepSettings">
<ItemGroup>
<PRSetting Include="$(settings_root)\**\settings_config_*.xml" />
<PRSetting>
<NewContent Condition="%(Identity) != ''">$([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('%(Identity)')).Replace('[config.version]', '$(PR_Version)'))</NewContent>
</PRSetting>
</ItemGroup>
<Message Text="#(PRSetting.Identity) new contents:" />
<Message Text="%(PRSetting.NewContent)"/>
</Target>
There are two changes:
There seems to be an issue with an Include that doesn't use an existing ItemGroup and metadata that is self-referencing. So, setting up PRSetting is split in two.
First, establish PRSetting with the Include.
Second, revisit to add the NewContent metadata item.
Add Condition="%(Identity) != ''" on the NewContent metadata.
I'm not able to fully test your exact scenario at present but I tested an analogue.
Here is my test analogue:
<Target Name="PrepSettings">
<ItemGroup>
<PRSetting Include="1;4;2;3"/>
<PRSetting>
<NewContent Condition="%(Identity) != ''">$([MSBuild]::Add('%(Identity)', '1'))</NewContent>
</PRSetting>
</ItemGroup>
<Message Text="PRSetting is #(PRSetting->'(%(Identity),%(NewContent))');" />
</Target>
The output is
PrepSettings:
PRSetting is (1,2);(4,5);(2,3);(3,4);
Regarding your code change to move the ItemGroup outside the target:
The technique of splitting the ItemGroup as written won't work, but if you are using VS2017 or later and working with .NET Core/.NET 5+ you can use Update.
As shown in the question, the Outputs attribute has syntax errors. I assume Outputs="#(PRSetting->'$(OutputPath)\%(Filename).xml')" (or something close) is intended.
As shown in the question, the Outputs attribute will never be satisfied because PrepSettings doesn't create the files. I assume PrepSettings as shown is not complete.
Here is the simple code which I am using. Which gets all the folders in the directory and then give me the Folder name.
<TestProjectFolderPath Include="$([System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories(`$(SolutionDir)`,`*.Tests`))" />
<TestProjectFolderNames Include="#(TestProjectFolderPath->'$([System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName(`$([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName(`%(Identity)`))`)',' ')" />
But in TestProjectFolderNames [System.IO.Path] functions are not getting evaluated and returned as just string eg:
$([System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName(C:\Some.Unit.Tests)))
I need help to understand the correct syntax to get this working.
Using property functions on Item Metadata while transforming an Item is not supported I think (maybe it is in the latest MSBuild version but I cannot test that right now). As a workaround add new Metadata yourself and because it acts like a Property things work out ok for recent MSBuild versions:
<ItemGroup>
<TestProjectFolderPath Include="$([System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories(`$(SolutionDir)`,`*.Tests`))" />
<TestProjectFolderPath>
<FolderName>$([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName(`%(Identity)`))</FolderName>
</TestProjectFolderPath>
</ItemGroup>
<Message Text="#(TestProjectFolderPath->'%(FolderName)', ' ')" />
edit see comments, according to Sherry for older MSBuild versions the equivalent Item code is:
<TestProjectFolderPath Include="$([System.IO.Directory]::GetDirectories($(SolutionDir),*.Tests))">
<FolderName>$([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName(%(Identity)))</FolderName>
</TestProjectFolderPath>
I left out GetDirectoryName because it makes little sense calling that on the result of GetFileName.
I have the following definitions in my working msbuild project...
<MSBuild
Projects="$(MSBuildProjectFile)"
Condition="'#(FilesToCompile)' != ''"
Targets="buildcpp"
Properties="CPPFILE=%(FilesToCompile.FullPath);OBJFILE=$(ObjectFolder)\%(FilesToCompile.Filename).doj;IncludeDirs=$(IncludeDirs)"
/>
...followed by the definition of the target.
Notice how the definition of the target contains a call to another target compilecpp...
<Target Name="buildcpp">
<PropertyGroup>
<CompileDefines Condition="'$(PreprocessorDefinitions)' != ''">-D$(PreprocessorDefinitions.Replace(";"," -D"))</CompileDefines>
</PropertyGroup>
<Exec
EchoOff="true"
StandardOutputImportance="low"
StandardErrorImportance="low"
IgnoreExitCode="true"
ConsoleToMSBuild="true"
Command='
"$(CompilerExe)" ^
$(HWProcessor) ^
$(IncludeDirs) ^
$(CompilerOptions) ^
$(CompileDefines) ^
"$(CPPFILE)" ^
-MM
'>
<Output TaskParameter="ConsoleOutput" PropertyName="output_cppdeps"/>
<Output TaskParameter="ExitCode" PropertyName="exitcode_cppdeps"/>
</Exec>
<MSBuild
Projects="$(MSBuildProjectFile)"
Condition="'$(exitcode_cppdeps)' == '0'"
Targets="compilecpp"
Properties="INPUTFILES=$(BuildCppDeps)"
/>
</Target>
...which uses the property $(OBJFILE) even though it was never passed in by the caller
<Target Name="compilecpp" Inputs="$(INPUTFILES)" Outputs="$(OBJFILE)">
<Message Importance="high" Text="$(CPPFILE): Compiling..."/>
...
QUESTION
Since this msbuild works, I can infer that $(OBJFILE) is accessible; why is it accessible? What are the scope rules for properties?
When using the <MSBuild> task, this performs a new msbuild run similar to running msbuild.exe with arguments. In particular, passing in properties is similar to passing /p:PropName=Value arguments - it defines new "global properties" for this run.
During this inner build, the property is still there and accessible by additional inner builds (buildcpp -> compilecpp) unless overwritten. So OBJFILE is only accessible in compilecpp because it was defined as global property for a parent msbuild run. If compilecpp was somehow invoked directly, the property would not be defined (assuming it not set somewhere else). When you want to stop forwarding a global property, you'd need to use the MSBuild task's RemoveProperties parameter. So if you set RemoveProperties="OBJFILE", then it won't be pased on.
Fyi, in .NET Core projects, RemoveProperties is used to not forward a RuntimeIdentifier from a self-contained apps to referenced projects, which may not be able to build with this property set (due to missing restore information).
For more information, read the properties documentation - especially the section about global properties - and the MSBuild Task documentation (important part is the description for the Properties parameter). However, the fact that global properties are passed on isn't explicitly documented (though implied by the RemoveProperties).
Update: the documentation for global properties was updated to describe this behavior:
Global properties are also forwarded to child projects unless the
RemoveProperties attribute of the MSBuild task is used to specify the
list of proerties not to forward.
I read a build number from my TFS Team build which looks like "AB-1.2.3.4-CDE-REV.1". I want to edit this number and remove the last decimal point and make it look like "AB-1.2.3.4-CDE-REV1".
Usually when you want to manipulate strings in msbuild you're looking to use Property Functions. In the documentation of those you'll read you can use String functions so next up is figuring out which methods of System.String you need. In this case: LastIndexOf and Remove should do the trick:
<!-- BuildNumber property is fetched elsewhere -->
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildNumber>AB-1.2.3.4-CDE-REV.1</BuildNumber>
</BuildNumber>
<Target Name="ManipulateBuildNumber">
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildNumber>$(BuildNumber.Remove($(BuildNumber.LastIndexOf('.')),1))</BuildNumber>
</PropertyGroup>
<Message Text="New build number is $(BuildNumber)" />
</Target>
Thanks for the solution stijn. It works. I had figured out another lame and crude way of doing it.
<BuildNumber>AB-1.2.3.4-CDE-REV.1</BuildNumber>
<Part1>$(BuildNumber.Split('.')[0])</Part1>
<Part2>$(BuildNumber.Split('.')[1])</Part2>
<Part3>$(BuildNumber.Split('.')[2])</Part3>
<Part4>$(BuildNumber.Split('.')[3])</Part4>
<Part5>$(BuildNumber.Split('.')[4])</Part5>
<BuildNumber>$(Part1).$(Part2).$(Part3).$(Part4)$(Part5)</BuildNumber>
I tried to have a condition on a Target tag, but resulted with the error:
target has a reference to item metadata. References
to item metadata are not allowed in target conditions unless they are part of an item transform.
So i found this work around:
How to add item transform to VS2012 .proj msbuild file
and tried to implement it, but i can't figure up what i am doing wrong because it's not working as expected.
<CallTarget Targets="CopyOldWebConfigJs" />
<Target Name="CopyOldWebConfigJs"
Inputs="#(ContentFiltered)"
Outputs="%(Identity).Dummy"
DependsOnTargets="webConfigJsCase">
<Message Text="web.config.js Case" />
</Target>
<!-- New target to pre-filter list -->
<Target Name="webConfigJsCase"
Inputs="#(FileToPublish)"
Outputs="%(Identity).Dummy">
<ItemGroup>
<ContentFiltered Condition="$([System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex]::IsMatch('%(FileToPublish.Filename)%(FileToPublish.Extension)', 'web.config.js'))" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
I thought that Inputs="#(ContentFiltered)" will contain the lines that DependsOnTargets="webConfigJsCase" find.
But when i run it , i am getting this message: Skipping target "CopyOldWebConfigJs" because it has no inputs.
I know for a fact that the regex work, and it do find a filename_ext that equals web.config.js so it return True
What do i do or understand wrong?
In <ItemGroup><Item/></ItemGroup>, no change will be made to the Item item because no action was specified. If you want to add entries to the item, you must specify Include="".
The <Item/> documentation describes the various attributes for item elements inside of an <ItemGroup/>. Note that at the top-level of an MSBuild file, directly under the <Project/> element, you would use the attributes Include and Exclude while in a <Target/> you would use the attributes Include and Remove. Not including any attributes at all is nonsensical and—as far as I know—no different than simply deleting the entire line. I am surprised MSBuild doesn’t throw an error or warning this is almost certainly a mistake and not intentional.
The Inputs and Outputs attributes on your <Target Name="webConfigJsCase"/> are unnecessary. In fact, they slow MSBuild down by making it loop over the target unnecessarily. You can filter just in the <Item/> like this:
<Target Name="webConfigJsCase">
<ItemGroup>
<ContentFiltered Condition="'%(FileToPublish.Filename)%(FileToPublish.Extension)' == 'web.config.js'" Include="#(FileToPublish)" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
Additionally, I assume that you intended your regular expression to match web.config.js but not match webaconfigbjs. You don’t need to use an advanced feature like Regular Expressions here because MSBuild’s built-in condition operators already support simple string comparison. If fixed the condition above to be more readable.