Difficulty using <Import> to modularize a Visual Studio project file - visual-studio

I'm attempting to modularize a Visual Studio project file, but it's not working. This is for Visual Studio 2008 with .Net 3.5.
Shown below, the first example works, but the second one does not. How can I make it work..?
I'm new to this topic and probably missing something. I first became aware of it while reading a 3rd-party blog, and then found it in the documentation too. I've googled for more help, but there's too much information for me to find a relevant answer.
The main project file:
...
<!-- main project file -->
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.VisualBasic.targets" />
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<Message Text="This is a message from the *.vbproj file."/> ... this works
</Target>
</Project>
...but if <Import> is used, with the same <Target> and <Message> in the imported file, it doesn't work. MSBuild seems to process everything correctly, but nothing happens...
The main project file:
...
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.VisualBasic.targets" />
<Import Project="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\CustomBuildEvents.targets" /> ... new tag
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<Message Text="This is a message from the *.vbproj file."/> ... this still works
</Target>
</Project>
The imported targets file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<Message Text="Hello from the imported file." Importance ="high"/> ... doesn't work
</Target>
</Project>
And the build output, with Verbosity set to Diagnostic:
### Halfway through the output, this is the only mention of the imported file. ###
None
CustomBuildEvents.targets ... custom file
My Project\Application.myapp
My Project\Settings.settings
### And then at the end, no mention of the imported file or its message. ###
Done building target "CoreBuild" in project "MsBuildCustomTargetTester.vbproj".
Target "AfterBuild" in file "C:\Visual Studio 2008\Solutions\MsBuildCustomTargetTester\MsBuildCustomTargetTester\MsBuildCustomTargetTester.vbproj":
Task "Message"
Hello from the *.vbproj file. ... message from main file
Done executing task "Message".
Done building target "AfterBuild" in project "MsBuildCustomTargetTester.vbproj".
Target "Build" in file "c:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Common.targets":
Building target "Build" completely.
No input files were specified.
Done building target "Build" in project "MsBuildCustomTargetTester.vbproj".
Done building project "MsBuildCustomTargetTester.vbproj".
Project Performance Summary:
109 ms C:\Visual Studio 2008\Solutions\MsBuildCustomTargetTester\MsBuildCustomTargetTester\MsBuildCustomTargetTester.vbproj 1 calls

The problem with AfterBuild is that it can only be defined once. So if you import it and then later in the project file define it again, the last definition wins and becomes the only definition.
To solve this you need to use the more advanced way to register events. Given that you are using Visual Studio 2008 (WHY?!), you need to use the more advanced syntax for your custom targets files:
<Project>
<!--
Redefines the original build order, includes the standard targets and
adds your new custom target to the end of the list.
-->
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDependsOn>
$(BuildDependsOn);
CustomTarget
</BuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<CustomTarget>
<!-- Imported after Build -->
<Message Text="Hello from the imported file." Importance ="high"/>
</CustomTarget>
</Project>
There are other ways to do this which were introduced in MsBuild 4 with the BeforeTargets and AfterTargets attributes on any target, but If I'm remembering correctly the above syntax should also work with the version of MsBuild that ships with Visual Studio 2008.
See also:
What is the difference between 'DependsOnTargets' and 'AfterTargets'?
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/msbuild/2006/02/10/how-to-add-custom-process-at-specific-points-during-build-method-2/

Related

Determine whether it's a build or rebuild in .cmd script called in prelink step inside Visual Studio

How can a .cmd script run from within a Visual Studio (2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013 respectively) project's pre-link stage determine whether this is a full rebuild (Build.RebuildSolution/Build.RebuildOnlyProject) or "ordinary" build (Build.BuildSolution/Build.BuildOnlyProject)?
This is an external script (LuaJIT, if you must know) and I don't want to rebuild the library every single build of the project. Instead I'd like to limit the complete rebuild to situations where I choose exactly that option.
How can a .cmd script run from within a Visual Studio (2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013 respectively) project's pre-link stage determine whether this is a full rebuild ... or "ordinary" build ... ?
I do not know if the exact thing that you are asking can be done - perhaps someone else knows how to do it. I will, however, suggest an alternate approach.
My approach is to remove the build of the Lua library from the pre-link step to a separate Visual Studio NMake project. If you create an NMake project, you will be able to know which type of build (build or rebuild) is occurring.
Note that later versions of Visual Studio simply refer to the project type as "Make". For discussion purposes here, I will refer to the project type as "NMake". I believe this is just a naming difference, and that the underlying build project remains the same between the two versions.
As a simple test, I created two Visual Studio applications: 1) an NMake project that calls a batch file to create a static library, and 2) a console application that consumes the library from step 1.
The NMake Project
In Visual Studio, if you create a new NMake project, you will see a dialog that allows you to provide MS-DOS commands:
As you can see, there are commands for: Build, Clean, Rebuild, and others. I don't have a screen shot of the above dialog with my commands, but here is my NMake project's properties:
My Build command just checks for the existence of the output file (lua.lib). If it does not exist, then it calls the rebuild.bat batch file. My Rebuild command always calls the batch file. My Clean command just deletes the output. I am not really sure what the Output command is used for, but I just filled in the path to the build output (lua.lib).
Now if you do a build, the lua.lib file will only be created if it is not there. If it is already there, nothing is done. If you do a rebuild, then a new lua.lib file is created.
The Console Application
In my console application, I added a reference to the NMake project - this way the NMake project is built prior to the console application. Here is the console application's reference page:
I also added the lua.lib file as an input during the application's link stage:
When the console application is built (during a build), it will build the NMake project if needed, and use the output (lua.lib) during the linker stage. When the console application is rebuilt (during a rebuild), it will also rebuild the NMake project.
Other Thoughts
My screen shots above only show the debug version of the properties. Your projects will have to account for the release version. There probably is a VS macro to handle this, but I am not sure since it has been ages since I've done anything with C/ C++.
In my testing above I use a single build batch file for both the build and rebuild. Obviously, you could do the same or you could use different batch files.
It may be a bit of a hack, but in .csproj file there are sections
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
</Target>
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
</Target>
You can set an variable from BeforeBuild and retrieve it from cmd script. Later on reset this variable in AfterBuild and you should be good to go.
Ok, this is going to be a long one.
First of all - do not take my code 'as is' - it is terrible one with lots of hacks, I had no idea msbuild is so broken by default (it seems at work I have access to waaaay more commands that make life easier). And another thing - it seems vcxproj is broken at some poin - I was not able to integrate the way I wanted with only BeforeRebuild and AfterRebuild targets - I had to redefine hole Rebuild target (it is located in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Microsoft.Common.targets)
So, the idea is the following: when a Rebuild is happening we create an anchor. Then, during PreLink stage we execute cmd which is able to use created anchor. If the anchor is in place - we deal with Rebuild, if there is no anchor - it is a simple Build. After Rebuild is done - we delete the anchor.
modifications in vcxproj file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
....
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'" Label="Configuration">
....
<PreLinkEventUseInBuild>true</PreLinkEventUseInBuild>
....
</PropertyGroup>
....
<ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'">
.....
<PreLinkEvent>
<Command>D:\PreLink\b.cmd</Command>
</PreLinkEvent>
.....
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
.....
<Target Name="BeforeRebuild">
<Exec Command="echo 2 > D:\PreLink\2.txt" />
</Target>
<Target Name="AfterRebuild">
<Exec Command="del D:\PreLink\2.txt" />
</Target>
<!-- This was copied from MS file -->
<PropertyGroup>
<_ProjectDefaultTargets Condition="'$(MSBuildProjectDefaultTargets)' != ''">$(MSBuildProjectDefaultTargets)</_ProjectDefaultTargets>
<_ProjectDefaultTargets Condition="'$(MSBuildProjectDefaultTargets)' == ''">Build</_ProjectDefaultTargets>
<RebuildDependsOn>
BeforeRebuild;
Clean;
$(_ProjectDefaultTargets);
AfterRebuild;
</RebuildDependsOn>
<RebuildDependsOn Condition=" '$(MSBuildProjectDefaultTargets)' == 'Rebuild' " >
BeforeRebuild;
Clean;
Build;
AfterRebuild;
</RebuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target
Name="Rebuild"
Condition=" '$(_InvalidConfigurationWarning)' != 'true' "
DependsOnTargets="$(RebuildDependsOn)"
Returns="$(TargetPath)"/>
<!-- End of copy -->
</Project>
And the cmd looks like this:
if exist 2.txt (
echo Rebuild818181
) else (
echo Build12312312
)
The output from Output window:
1>Task "Exec" (TaskId:41)
1> Task Parameter:Command=D:\PreLink\b.cmd
1> :VCEnd (TaskId:41)
1> Build12312312 (TaskId:41)
Things to improve:
Use normal variables instead of external file (it seems MsBuild extension pack should do it)
Probably find a way to override only BeforeRebuild and AfterRebuild instead of the hole Rebuild part
It is much easier. Just add the following target to your build file or visual Studio Project
<Target Name="AfterRebuild">
<Message Text="AFTER REBUILD" Importance="High" />
<!--
Do whatever Needs to be done on Rebuild - as the message shows in VS Output
window it is only executed when an explicit rebuild is triggered
-->
</Target>
If you want a two step solution use this as a template:
<PropertyGroup>
<IsRebuild>false</IsRebuild>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="BeforeRebuild">
<Message Text="BEFORE REBUILD" Importance="High" />
<PropertyGroup>
<IsRebuild>true</IsRebuild>
</PropertyGroup>
</Target>
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<Message Text="BEFORE BUILD: IsRebuild: $(IsRebuild)" Importance="High" />
</Target>

How do I use an MSBuild file from Visual Studio 2012?

I have a simple MSBuild file that I'm learning with.
Here it is:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Clean" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup Label="Globals">
<ProjectGuid>{D5A16164-962E-4A6D-9382-240F31AB6C50}</ProjectGuid>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="Clean">
<ItemGroup>
<BinFiles Include="bin\*.*" />
<fff Include="f\*.*" />
</ItemGroup>
<Delete Files="#(BinFiles)" />
<Delete Files="#(fff)" />
</Target>
</Project>
Now I want to include this in a Visual Studio solution and be able to run the "clean" target from Visual Studio 2012. I tried naming it testproject.msbuildproj like the internet seems to suggest "works", but it doesn't work. When I run the clean command I just get "unexpected error".
If I rename the project to testproject.csproj, it does some unintuitive things like creating compilation directories, but it does actually run my clean command properly. However, this is undesireable because it creates obj and bin/x86/debug type directories. It also looks goofy in Visual Studio because it still gives the References drop down.
How can I use just a plain vanilla MSBuild project from Visual Studio without random errors or false assumptions?
Note I only am having a problem with this from Visual Studio. Using msbuild from the command line it works perfectly
Visual Studio creates bin / obj folders when it opens csproj file. When you click Build / Rebuild / Clean it just uses appropriate targets from the project file.
You cannot stop VS from creating these folders, but you can ask it to create them in say temp folder by setting appropriate properties - refer this MSDN article for details.
So the steps are to rename your project to csproj, and add the following lines into project:
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputPath>$(Temp)\bin</OutputPath>
<IntermediateOutputPath>$(Temp)\obj</IntermediateOutputPath>
</PropertyGroup>
I usually use a bit different approach to work with MSBUILD files from VS:
I use regular csproj file with removed Import ... CSharp.targets part as pure container for my Build projects.
I add actual build files with targets and logic, and all properties, necessary artifacts like XSLT etc using "Include into project", so I can manage hierarchy and change any file from within VS.Net.
I redefine Build / Rebuild targets in csproj file for whatever I need, for example Build may contain minimum output, and while rebuild diagnostic one.
Like this:
<Target Name="Build">
<Exec Command="%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\msbuild.exe Builds\build.proj /t:Build /v:m" />
</Target>
<Target Name="Rebuild">
<Exec Command="%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\msbuild.exe Builds\build.proj /t:Build /v:d" />
</Target>

msbuild not working properly with tfs 2010 and importet Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.targets

i'm stuck with extending my msbuild project file and tfs 2010. What i want to achieve is to automatically generate the documentation for my source code after the build. I searched the web and found out, that the file Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.targets defines a lot of customizable targets for either desktop- or team-build. One of them is the GenerateDocumentation-Target which i want to use. The Problem i have is, that despite i imported this file, the overloaded targets are not invoked by msbuild. The header of my vcxproj-File looks as follows:
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
after this i include the team build targets file with the statement
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\TeamBuild\Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.targets"/>
At the very end of this project file i tried to overload some targets as suggested in the TeamFoundation target file:
<Target Name="GenerateDocumentation">
<Message Text="GenerateDocumentation invoked" Importance="high"/>
</Target>
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<Message Text="BeforeBuild invoked" Importance="high" />
</Target>
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<Message Text="AfterBuild invoked" Importance="high" />
</Target>
but except the AfterBuild-Target neither the GenerateDocumentation nor BeforeBuild target is called for a local build nor a build with the build server. Am i'm missing something? Is the DefaultTarget="Build" correct? I tried to change this to DefaultTarget="DesktopBuild" but then calling msbuild resulted in a variety of errors (MSB4018). In the project file the target file $(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets is imported too. When removing this import, the GenerateDocumentation target is called, but not the other ones (including ResourceCompile which i need too). Can i use both of them somehow?
Thanks in advance...
what about adding this at the end of your build task...
<CallTarget Targets="GenerateDocumentation"></CallTarget>
</Target>

Build doesn't work from VisualStudio, but is ok from msbuild

From a brand new console application template in visual studio, I edited the .csproj to build another project like this:
...
<Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<MSBuild Projects=".\other.mproj"/>
</Target>
...
Where other.mproj is:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" DefaultTargets="Build">
<Target Name="Build">
<Message Text="kikou" />
</Target>
</Project>
After a while I discovered that modifying the content of other.mproj (for instance, by introducing errors or changing text kikou to something else) would not be taken into account unless unloading/reloading the project in visual studio.
Building from the command line with 'msbuild myproj.csproj' immediatly detect changes in 'other.mproj'. So it all looks like visual studio is working from a cached version of other.mproj file.
Why is visual studio caching this other script (which is even not included to the project), and how can I solve this issue ?
Update: I also tried this UseHostCompilerIfAvailable, it doesn't work.
NB1: I didn't add other.mproj as a project reference in the .csproj because it is not a .NET project at all (it just creates resources files for the .csproj from other inputs before the build)
NB2: I'm using VS2010 (10.0.10219.1SP1Rel + MSBuild 4.0.30319.1)
Visual Studio caches all MSBuild files, this is done for performance reasons. You will not be able to have an MSBuild only way around this. It may be possible to achieve this via a VS add-in but I'm not 100% sure of that.

How can I use a single Visual Studio solution to build both x86 and x64 at the same time?

I've got an x86 Visual Studio solution with many project files in it. Some of the DLL files are designed to work as plug-ins to other applications on a user's system.
We're expanding some of the DLL files to be able to support 64-bit applications. I'd like to set up the solution/projects so that just hitting "Build" will build both the x86 and x64 versions of those DLL
files. The solution contains both C++ and C# projects.
I realize that "Batch Build" is capable of building both, though it would be more convenient if developers could just click the same button as they have previously and have all of the output DLL files generated.
Here are a couple of the modifications that I've tried to a test project, but that I haven't gotten to work:
I've tried modifying the <Target Name="AfterBuild"> to try:
<Target Name="AfterBuild" Condition=" '$(Platform)' == 'x86' ">
<PropertyGroup>
<Platform>x64</Platform>
<PlatformTarget>x64</PlatformTarget>
</PropertyGroup>
<CallTarget Targets="Build"/>
</Target>
But that results in the following error:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Common.targets(565,5): error MSB4006: There is a circular dependency in the target dependency graph involving target "Build".
I think my conditions will prevent infinite recursion, but I understand how MSBuild could not see it that way.
I've also tried:
<Project DefaultTargets="MyBuild86;MyBuild64" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" ToolsVersion="3.5">
...
<Target Name="MyBuild86">
<PropertyGroup>
<Platform>x86</Platform>
<PlatformTarget>x86</PlatformTarget>
</PropertyGroup>
<CallTarget Targets="Build"/>
</Target>
<Target Name="MyBuild64">
<PropertyGroup>
<Platform>x64</Platform>
<PlatformTarget>x64</PlatformTarget>
</PropertyGroup>
<CallTarget Targets="Build"/>
</Target>
But my DefaultTargets appears to be ignored from within the Visual Studio IDE.
Last, I've tried creating a separate project that imports the first project:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="3.5" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
<Platform>x64</Platform>
<PlatformTarget>x64</PlatformTarget>
<ProductVersion>9.0.30729</ProductVersion>
<SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
<OutputPath>..\$(Configuration)\x64\</OutputPath>
<ProjectGuid>{A885CAC3-2BBE-4808-B470-5B8D482CFF0A}</ProjectGuid>
</PropertyGroup>
<Import Project="BuildTest.csproj" />
</Project>
And this so far has shown the most promise. However, Visual Studio seems to ignore my OutputPath setting from this new project and instead outputs the EXE/DLL file to the path specified in the original project. There isn't any PropertyGroup block that I can see that is being executed in the original project to override this, so I'm not sure what's happening.
We do something similar to build core assemblies for .NET Compact Framework.
Try this:
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<MSBuild Condition=" '$(Platform)' == 'x86' " Projects="$(MSBuildProjectFile)" Properties="Platform=x64;PlatFormTarget=x64" RunEachTargetSeparately="true" />
</Target>
Importing a project in such manner works for me in Visual Studio 2010:
TestProject64.vcxproj
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Import Project="TestProject.vcxproj" />
<ItemGroup Label="ProjectConfigurations">
<ProjectConfiguration Include="Release|x64">
<Configuration>Release</Configuration>
<Platform>x64</Platform>
</ProjectConfiguration>
</ItemGroup>
<PropertyGroup Label="Globals">
<ProjectGuid>{B7D61F1C-B413-4768-8BDB-31FD464AD053}</ProjectGuid>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>
TestProject64.vcxproj.filters
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Import Project="TestProject.vcxproj.filters" />
</Project>
TestProject.vcxproj has two configurations defined inside: Release|x86 and Release|x64. As you can see, TestProject64.vcxproj has only the Release|x64 configuration. Defining of at least one configuration in TestProject64.vcxproj is necessary, otherwise Visual Studio will not be able to add TestProject64.vcxproj to a solution.
Now it's possible to include both TestProject.vcxproj and TestProject64.vcxproj to the same solution and build Release|x86 and Release|x64 at the same time.
I think the best way of doing this is to invoke MSBuild from the command line. It shouldn't need editing of MSBuild files. Just run
msbuild myproj.sln /p:Configuration="Debug|Win32"
msbuild myproj.sln /p:Configuration="Debug|x64"
I assume that if a developer is using Visual Studio then they'll only be generating the DLL files so they can debug with them, and that you have a separate build process if you're actually deploying the DLL files.
For C++, and if it's a project whose files/settings don't change often, one way to do it is create two projects within the solution, with both projects referring to the same source files. Then, in x64 builds, set one project to build 64-bit and the other 32-bit. (In x86 builds, set one as 32-bit and turn off the other.)
We've been using this for a while and it works fine.
Of course, you have to be careful that any changes you make to one are also made to its copy. i.e. if you add/remove a file or change its build setting, you have to do it in two places. Source-code changes still only need to be done once, because there's still only one copy of each source file.
And, of course, you may decide that doing this is more complex/risky than switching away from using the IDE. In our case it's worked really well, though.
You are not going to be able to do this with the UI of Visual Studio. For this you will need to hack the MSBuild files.
Try this link from MSDN for MSBuild Overview
I would suggest to create a dummy C++ Makefile project and then invoke MSBuild twice from it:
msbuild myproj.sln /p:Configuration="Debug|Win32"
msbuild myproj.sln /p:Configuration="Debug|x64"
Perhaps I've missed the point of this discussion.
Using Visual Studio, go to menu Build → Configuration Manager. In the Active Solution Platform drop down, select "New...", and a New Solution Platform dialog appears. Select x64 and accept the default Copy From. Close the dialog and the Configuration Manager.
Now open menu Build → Batch Build. Check those configurations you want to build and build them. You will find the x64 build executables separate from the Win32 executable files.
You can verify that these are what was intended by right clicking on the executable files, selecting Properties, and select the Compatibility tab. In the dropdown window you can check to see what operating systems the executable file can be run in.
Obviously, there may be some other tweaking you might have to do to get all the output files in their proper places, but this method seem somewhat simpler than fooling with build than those described above.
I ran into this problem with a project running in Visual Studio 2008 (on Windows XP) (32-bit) and also Visual Studio 2010 (on Windows 7) (64-bit).
The solution I used was to use the $(PROGRAMFILES) variable. It resolved correctly on both machines.

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