Updating Assembly information with MSBuild failing - vb.net

All
i am trying to automatically update the assembly information of a project using AssemblyInfo task, before build however the target appears to do nothing (no failure/error) just no update/creation
Below is the build.proj file I am using (obviously some contents altered)
Can anyone help?
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project DefaultTargets="Build"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\MSBuildCommunityTasks\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.Targets"/>
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\AssemblyInfoTask\Microsoft.VersionNumber.targets"/>
<PropertyGroup>
<Major>1</Major>
<Minor>0</Minor>
<Build>0</Build>
<Revision>0</Revision>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDir>C:\svn\Infrastructure</BuildDir>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<SolutionsToBuild Include="Infrastructure.sln"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="Build" DependsOnTargets="ChangeDataAccessAssemblyInfo">
<RemoveDir Directories="$(BuildDir)\Builds" Condition="Exists('$(BuildDir)\Builds')" />
<MSBuild Projects="#(SolutionsToBuild)" Properties="Configuration=Debug" Targets="Rebuild" />
</Target>
<ItemGroup>
<TestAssemblies Include="Build\Logging\Logging.UnitTests.dll" />
</ItemGroup>
<!--<UsingTask TaskName="NUnit" AssemblyFile="$(teamcity_dotnet_nunitlauncher_msbuild_task)" />
<Target Name="Test" DependsOnTargets="Build">
<NUnit NUnitVersion="NUnit-2.4.6" Assemblies="#(TestAssemblies)" />
</Target>-->
<Target Name="ChangeDataAccessAssemblyInfo" >
<Message Text="Writing ChangeDataAccessAssemblyInfo file for 1"/>
<Message Text="Will update $(BuildDir)\DataAccess\My Project\AssemblyInfo.vb" />
<AssemblyInfo CodeLanguage="VB"
OutputFile="$(BuildDir)\DataAccess\My Project\AssemblyInfo_new.vb"
AssemblyTitle="Data Access Layer"
AssemblyDescription="Message1"
AssemblyCompany="http://somewebiste"
AssemblyProduct="the project"
AssemblyCopyright="Copyright notice"
ComVisible="true"
CLSCompliant="true"
Guid="hjhjhkoi-9898989"
AssemblyVersion="$(Major).$(Minor).1.1"
AssemblyFileVersion="$(Major).$(Minor).5.7"
Condition="$(Revision) != '0' "
ContinueOnError="false" />
<Message Text="Updated Assembly File Info"
ContinueOnError="false"/>
</Target>
</Project>

I think you are missing the specification of the AssemblyInfoFiles attribute on your AssemblyInfo task. Here's how it looks on a project I'm working on...
<Target Name="AfterGet">
<Message Text="In After Get"/>
<CreateItem Include="$(SolutionRoot)\Source\SomeProject\My Project\AssemblyInfo.vb">
<Output ItemName="AssemblyInfoFiles" TaskParameter="Include"/>
</CreateItem>
<Attrib Files="#(AssemblyInfoFiles)"
ReadOnly="false"/>
<AssemblyInfo AssemblyInfoFiles="#(AssemblyInfoFiles)"
AssemblyDescription="$(LabelName)">
</AssemblyInfo>
</Target>
What we're doing is first using to create a property that contains the name of the file we'll be updating. We have to do this via createItem because when we start the build the file doesn't exist (and that is when MSBuild evaluates the and definitions in your build file.
We then take the readonly bit off the file.
Finally we invoke the AssemblyInfo task passing it the file(s) to update and a custom assembly name that we want to give it (in this case we put the TFS build label into the Assembly Description field so that we can easily tell which team build the assembly came from.

Related

Add output or transfer data from child to parent project

I use msbuild in main.proj to build a project like this:
<MSBuild Projects="outs.proj" Targets="Build">
<Output ItemName="CustomOutputs" TaskParameter="TargetOutputs"/>
</MSBuild>
Inside outs.proj I have a custom Target, I need to add an output from this target to get .dll,.pdb,..., and .mycustomfiles
How can I send data from child project to parent project ?
Thanks in advance for your help.
I'd recommend you simply Import the dependant project, however the basic scenario you described can be achieved with Target's Outputs or Returns and corresponding Output's TargetOutputs although there are few caveats as it's designed for incremental builds and not as a data transfer object.
foo.build
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="Foo1">
<MSBuild Projects="bar.build">
<Output TaskParameter="TargetOutputs" ItemName="Bar" />
</MSBuild>
<Message Text="%(Bar.Identity)" />
</Target>
<Import Project="bar.build" />
<Target Name="Foo2" DependsOnTargets="Bar">
<Message Text="%(Bar.Identity)" />
</Target>
</Project>
bar.build
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="Bar" Outputs="#(Bar)">
<ItemGroup>
<Bar Include="**\*.dll" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
</Project>

Test if an MSBuild property constains a substring

I have a property in an MSBuild project which is a semicolon-separated-list of string values. How can I test if the list constains a particular value?
In the example listing below, I want the target DeployToServer only to be executed if the property $(DCC_Define) constains 'WebDeploy'.
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<DCC_Define>WebDeploy;DEBUG</DCC_Define>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="DeployToServer" Condition="$(DCC_Define) constains 'WebDeploy'">
<Message Text="Do something." />
</Target>
</Project>
I've used a bit of pseudo logic in the #Condition attribute to indicate what I mean. I am using a .NET framework version of 2.0.50727.3655; and MSBuild version of 3.4.30729.1 .
How can I achieve this? I don't have the luxury of being able to upgrade to MSBuild 4.
Well, since you can't use property function you have to get creative.
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<DCC_Define>WebDeploy;DEBUG;WebDeploy</DCC_Define>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="DeployToServer">
<CreateItem Include="$(DCC_Define)">
<Output TaskParameter="Include" ItemName="DCC_Define" />
</CreateItem>
<!-- Not required since MSBuild doesn't execute targets twice -->
<!-- <CreateProperty Value="True" Condition="%(DCC_Define.Identity) == WebDeploy">
<Output TaskParameter="Value" PropertyName="WebDeploy" />
</CreateProperty> -->
<CallTarget Targets="_DeployToServer" Condition="%(DCC_Define.Identity) == WebDeploy" />
</Target>
<Target Name="_DeployToServer">
<Message Text="Do something." />
</Target>
</Project>

MSBuild and creating ZIP files

Here is my build script:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\MSBuildCommunityTasks\MSBuild.Community.Tasks.Targets"/>
<PropertyGroup>
<!-- Path where the solution file is located (.sln) -->
<ProjectPath>W:\Demo</ProjectPath>
<!-- Location of compiled files -->
<DebugPath>W:\Demo\bin\Debug</DebugPath>
<ReleasePath>W:\Demo\bin\Release</ReleasePath>
<!-- Name of the solution to be compiled without the .sln extension --> <ProjectSolutionName>DemoTool</ProjectSolutionName>
<!-- Path where the nightly zip file will be copyd -->
<NightlyBuildPath>W:\Nightly_Builds\Demo</NightlyBuildPath>
<!-- Name of the nighly zip file (YYYYMMDD_NightlyZipName.zip, date added automatically) -->
<NightlyZipName>Demo</NightlyZipName>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<!-- All files and folders from ./bin/Debug or ./bin/Release what will be added to the nightly zip -->
<DebugApplicationFiles Include="$(DebugPath)\**\*.*" Exclude="$(DebugPath)\*vshost.exe*" />
<ReleaseApplicationFiles Include="$(ReleasePath)\**\*.*" Exclude="$(ReleasePath)\*vshost.exe*" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="DebugBuild">
<Message Text="Building $(ProjectSolutionName) Debug Build" />
<MSBuild Projects="$(ProjectPath)\$(ProjectSolutionName).sln" Targets="Clean" Properties="Configuration=Debug"/>
<MSBuild Projects="$(ProjectPath)\$(ProjectSolutionName).sln" Targets="Build" Properties="Configuration=Debug"/>
<Message Text="$(ProjectSolutionName) Debug Build Complete!" />
<CallTarget Targets="CreateNightlyZip" />
</Target>
<Target Name="CreateNightlyZip">
<PropertyGroup>
<StringDate>$([System.DateTime]::Now.ToString('yyyyMMdd'))</StringDate>
</PropertyGroup>
<MakeDir Directories="$(NightlyBuildPath)"/>
<Zip Files="#(DebugApplicationFiles)"
WorkingDirectory="$(DebugPath)"
ZipFileName="$(NightlyBuildPath)\$(StringDate)_$(NightlyZipName).zip"
ZipLevel="9" />
</Target>
</Project>
My script works perfectly, only there is one strange problem. When i build a project first time and there is no \bin\Debug folder and its created during the build, but the ZIP file still comes empty. Running the build script second time when the \bin\Debug folder is now in place with builded files then the file are added to the ZIP.
What could be the problem that running script first time the ZIP file is empty?
The problem is in the DebugApplicationFiles item collection. It is created before the build is invoked. Move the DebugApplicationFiles into CreateNightlyZip target. Update your script this way:
<Target Name="CreateNightlyZip">
<PropertyGroup>
<StringDate>$([System.DateTime]::Now.ToString('yyyyMMdd'))</StringDate>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<DebugApplicationFiles Include="$(DebugPath)\**\*.*" Exclude="$(DebugPath)\*vshost.exe*" />
</ItemGroup>
<MakeDir Directories="$(NightlyBuildPath)"/>
<Zip Files="#(DebugApplicationFiles)"
WorkingDirectory="$(DebugPath)"
ZipFileName="$(NightlyBuildPath)\$(StringDate)_$(NightlyZipName).zip"
ZipLevel="9" />
</Target>
If powershell 5.0 or greater is available, you could use powershell command directly.
<Target Name="Zip" BeforeTargets="AfterBuild">
<ItemGroup>
<ZipFiles Include="$(OutDir)release\file1.exe" />
<ZipFiles Include="$(OutDir)release\file2.exe" />
</ItemGroup>
<Exec Command="PowerShell -command Compress-Archive #(ZipFiles, ',') $(OutDir)release\zippedfiles.zip" />
</Target>
Should you wish to zip a whole folder for 'xcopy deploy', since MSBuild 15.8 there is a simple way - the ZipDirectory build task.
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="ZipOutputPath" AfterTargets="Build">
<ZipDirectory
SourceDirectory="$(OutputPath)"
DestinationFile="$(OutputPath)\..\$(AssemblyName).zip"
Overwrite=="true" />
</Target>
</Project>
[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/msbuild/zipdirectory-task?view=vs-2019

Using MSBuild to buld a solution (.sln) with many projects in how can I make each project build into its own folder?

I am trying to create a simple build process for a quite complex (many projects) vs2010 solution.
I wish for a folder structure such as this
-Build
-Proj1
-proj1.exe
-proj1.dll
-Proj2
-proj2.exe
-proj2.dll
......
-Projn
-projn.exe
-projn.dll
What I am getting from my attempts below is
-Build
-proj1.exe
-proj1.dll
-proj2.exe
-proj2.dll
-projn.exe
-projn.dll
I currently have this as a .proj file. (see below)
This builds things fine, however it puts everything in the "build" folder that I specify. I want each project to be in its own seperate folder within that 'build' folder. How can I achive this?
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildOutputDir>C:\Projects\BuildScripts\Build</BuildOutputDir>
<SolutionToCompile>PathToSolution.sln</SolutionToCompile>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="Clean">
<RemoveDir Directories="$(BuildOutputDir)" />
</Target>
<Target Name="Compile">
<MakeDir Directories="$(BuildOutputDir)" />
<MSBuild Projects="$(SolutionToCompile)"
properties = "OutputPath=$(BuildOutputDir)" Targets="Rebuild" />
</Target>
<Target Name="Build" DependsOnTargets="Clean;Compile">
<Message Text="Clean, Compile"/>
</Target>
</Project>
I call the .proj with a simple bat
"%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe" /nologo externalBuild.proj /m:2 %*
pause
I have also tried a more complex version (copy and paste!) that looks more like it should work, but still puts things in a single folder.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project DefaultTargets="BuildAll" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectsToBuild Include="path to solution folder\**\*proj" Exclude="$(MSBuildProjectFile)"/>
</ItemGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration>CI</Configuration>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="CoreBuild">
<MSBuild Projects ="#(ProjectsToBuild)"
ContinueOnError ="false"
Properties="Configuration=$(Configuration)">
<Output ItemName="OutputFiles" TaskParameter="TargetOutputs"/>
</MSBuild>
</Target>
<PropertyGroup>
<DestFolder>Build\</DestFolder>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="CopyFiles">
<Copy SourceFiles="#(OutputFiles)"
DestinationFiles="#(OutputFiles->'$(DestFolder)%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)')" />
</Target>
<Target Name="CleanAll">
<!-- Delete any files this process may have created from a previous execution -->
<CreateItem Include="$(DestFolder)\**\*exe;$(DestFolder)\**\*dll">
<Output ItemName="GeneratedFiles" TaskParameter="Include"/>
</CreateItem>
<Delete Files="#(GeneratedFiles)"/>
<MSBuild Projects="#(ProjectsToBuild)" Targets="Clean" Properties="Configuration=$(Configuration);"/>
</Target>
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildAllDependsOn>CleanAll;CoreBuild;CopyFiles</BuildAllDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="BuildAll" DependsOnTargets="$(BuildAllDependsOn)"/>
</Project>
Using devenv.com to build from the command line will do what you want. It will use the output directories specified in the project files. This is what we're using, because at the moment we don't need more control over the build mechanism.

MSBuild: Add additional files to compile without altering the project file

After looking around I can't find a simple answer to this problem.
I am trying to create an MSBuild file to allow me to easily use SpecFlow and NUnit within Visual Studio 2010 express.
The file below is not complete this is just a proof of concept and it needs to be made more generic.
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDependsOn>
BuildSolution;
SpecFlow;
BuildProject;
NUnit;
</BuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<Solution>C:\Users\Craig\Documents\My Dropbox\Cells\Cells.sln</Solution>
<CSProject>C:\Users\Craig\Documents\My Dropbox\Cells\Configuration\Configuration.csproj</CSProject>
<DLL>C:\Users\Craig\Documents\My Dropbox\Cells\Configuration\bin\Debug\Configuration.dll</DLL>
<CSFile>C:\Users\Craig\Documents\My Dropbox\Cells\Configuration\SpecFlowFeature1.feature.cs</CSFile>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="Build" DependsOnTargets="$(BuildDependsOn)">
<Message Text="Build Started" Importance="high" />
<Message Text="Build Ended" Importance="high" />
</Target>
<Target Name="BuildSolution">
<Message Text="BuildSolution Started" Importance="high" />
<MSBuild Projects="$(Solution)" Properties="Configuration=Debug" />
<Message Text="BuildSolution Ended" Importance="high" />
</Target>
<Target Name="SpecFlow">
<Message Text="SpecFlow Started" Importance="high" />
<Exec Command='SpecFlow generateall "$(CSProject)"' />
<Message Text="SpecFlow Ended" Importance="high" />
</Target>
<Target Name="BuildProject">
<Message Text="BuildProject Started" Importance="high" />
<MSBuild Projects="$(CSProject)" Properties="Configuration=Debug" />
<Message Text="BuildProject Ended" Importance="high" />
</Target>
<Target Name="NUnit">
<Message Text="NUnit Started" Importance="high" />
<Exec Command='NUnit /run "$(DLL)"' />
<Message Text="NUnit Ended" Importance="high" />
</Target>
</Project>
The SpecFlow Task looks in the .csproj file and creates a SpecFlowFeature1.feature.cs.
I need to include this file when building the .csproj so that NUnit can use it.
I know I could modify (either directly or on a copy) the .csproj file to include the generated file but I'd prefer to avoid this.
My question is: Is there a way to use the MSBuild Task to build the project file and tell it to include an additional file to include in the build?
Thank you.
I found no way of doing it without editing the project file.
So I made an MSBuild file to:
Copy the project files
Run the copies through SpecFlow
Add the new .cs files to the copied projects
Compile the projects
Debug Run each of the compiled DLLs through NUnit
Clean up - Delete the copied projects
I've blogged about how to use it here:
http://learntdd.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/using-specflow-and-nunit-on-visual-studio-2010-express/
(It's version 1, I'd like to improve the script)
I couldn't think of any way to achieve without any modification to the .csproj file.
The approach I'd suggest would look like this.
In your .csproj you Import a container target file
...
<Import Project="SpecFlow.target" />
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
...
just above the CSharp.targets.
Specflow.targets would look like this
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="#(Compile)" />
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
so it doesn't harm while building the project from VS.
You could then use the Output of your SpecFlow Exec and add it to the SpecFlow.targets file
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="#(Compile)" />
<Compile Include="SpecFlowFeature1.feature.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
...
and clean SpecFlow.targets after building your .csproj.