I'm attempting to publish a ClickOnce Office Extension project (VS2010). By default the output folder of ClickOnce has a child folder (with each version of the binary files) named "Application Files." I need to change this to something without a space in the name, for example "AppFiles."
I haven't found any place in the docs where this is explained and the few answers I have found have said to use Mage to manually modify .VSTO file next to the bootstrap setup.exe. I'd like to avoid that if at all possible.
What is the best way to go about changing this?
I have tried a few different things. Instead of using the built in Microsoft.Common.props, In a copy of Microsoft.Common.targets I've modified the _DeploymentApplicationFolderName property inside the _CopyFilesToPublishFolder target to "Application_Files." Also in a copy of Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.targets, I've modified the Value of the ApplicationFilesFolderName property set inside InitializePublishProperties to "Application_Files."
Even after doing that, when I publish I get the following error:
Error 121 Publish failed with the following error: Could not find a part of the path '<path to output directory>\app.publish\Application Files\ProjectStats_1_0_0_15'.
I'm guessing the problem is this is happening when the copy from the output dir to the publish dir happens but I don't know. Either way, the output directory hierarchy seems fine and the VSTO refers to the proper path in the hierarchy for the relevant dlls. It's just the publish process fails.
It turns out there's no way to fix this and still use the Publish wizard in Visual Studio. After looking at the code for the Publish method in Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.Project.ClickOnceProvider.BuildManager class in the Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.Project.dll assembly, the directory name "Application Files" is hard coded. There is no way to automatically fix this from what I can tell.
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I have a solution where there is a dependency on 7zip's sfx. Out of desire to keep the entire solution (plus the sfx) managed and coordinated, I want to create a new project to house all the source files that is used by sfx, and when building, execute a command line that tells 7zip to build a sfx from the source files, and place into the output so that it can be then referenced by actual Visual Studio projects within the same solution.
I think I can figure the command line by using Build events and providing the appropriate macros to ensure that the 7zip's output is placed into the target folder with appropriate name so that it can be then correctly referenced by other VS projects. But what I am not sure about is what Visual Studio project I need to use or steps to take to tell Visual Studio that there isn't going to be any code to be compiled in this project and it just has to execute this script I give it.
The closest thing I can come up with is VS's Make project but I don't know if that is the right thing since this has nothing to do with Make at all.
So, what is the Visual Studio project template I need to use? If empty, then what configuration do I need to perform so that it won't try and look for some code files to compile but instead just execute scripts as part of the solution's build?
For now, it seems that using C++ Makefile Project works. I had to make few configurations:
1) I had to specify the project's "Configuration Type" as "Utility"
2) I used Pre-Build event and provided a command to invoke a batch file included in the project. The batch file then takes care of everything.
3) Normally, non C++ files are not considered for determining whether build is needed or if it's already up to date. To ensure that a new build is perform if the batch file or other key files are edited, I set the file's "File Type" to "MakeFile". Even though it isn't actually a Make file, it ensures that any edits made to the file will cause a new build.
The downsides I've found so far are:
1) C++ uses "Filters", not folders. Therefore, keeping the files in same directory structure is a big PITA. One can "include" files and get a one-to-one mapping between "Filters" and the actual directory structure on disk but it's annoying and tedious. Wish it was a C# project
2) I'm a bit wary about how it will detect new files or other changes for files that I didn't explicitly set to "MakeFile". I expect the source to be stable but I worry that when I realize I need a new file and add it, I might forget and not notice that the build is not correctly including the new file.
I'm not sure if this is the best method but this works for my purpose - having a project to manage external tools as part of bigger build process.
I would like to create a Build Definition inside TFS 2012 Express which will simply copy all files within my project source tree to another folder on my drive. Just to underline - I do not want the build output to go to another directory - I want the source files themselves to. The reason for this is I have IIS pointed at a specific folder, and I want the build to copy the latest asp and aspx files to the IIS hosted folder.
I am not sure of the intricacies of doing this, I did find : http://toadcode.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/copy-multiple-files-via-tfs-build.html articles like this but I simply need a more direct list of what I need to do from somebody who understands this area.
Basically - when the build is queued, all I want is to copy my project source files to another directory :). I think this can be done by editing some Build.xml file...but when making a build definition I dont seem to be given the freedom to do what I would like to!
I think what I am looking for to alter my DefaultTemplate.11.1.xaml file to alter the build process which will let me run this / or a batch file after the build process completes?
My TFS build process edit screen looks like this:
Using this post as a guide on how to start editing TFS Build Templates (or the Wrox TFS 2012 book), you need to make the following changes:
Locate the Copy to Drop Folder Activity:
Drag in a "CopyDirectory" activity under the "Drop Files to Drop Location" (from the Toolbox under Team Foundation Build Activities):
Goto the Properties Window for the new Activity and set Source and Destination as follows:
Destination: Path.Combine(BuildDetail.DropLocation, "MyOutputFolder")
Source: Path.Combine(SourcesDirectory, "MyFileFolder")
You may need to repeat this if you don't have all your files in one folder.
I actually put something together for TFS2010 and 2013 (not 2012, unfortunately) a few weeks ago that does exactly that. Basically, anything in the workspace you define for your build just gets shoved over to the drop location.
Here's a link to the blog post where you can download them:
http://www.incyclesoftware.com/2014/06/deploying-uncompiled-resources-release-management/
For the record, I strongly recommend against using a build process template to deploy software. Don't try to overextend the build... its job is taking stuff from source control and compiling/packaging it for deployment. Use a real release management solution to actually handle deploying software.
Add a bat file to your source folder. within the batch file add an xcopy %1*.* TargetLocation.
Add an invoke process activity to your workflow, somewhere near the end. call the bat file and pass it the SourcesDirectory.
I have two projects in one Visual Studio 2008 solution. I'd like to use the primary output from one of the projects as an embedded resource in the other, but for the life of me I can't find any way to accomplish this.
If I simply add the output file as a resource, then it doesn't seem to change when its source project is rebuilt. I even have the project dependencies/build order set up properly and this does not seem to help.
Anyone have any hints for me?
Thanks!
the best option is to "reference" the other project as if it were a class library.
that way you make sure the whole references tree is copied to your output dir.
When you add an existing file to a project, Visual Studio copies the file into the project's directory.
Any subsequent changes to the original file are ignored.
There are two workarounds:
Add a post-build action to the first project that copies its output file to the second project, and edit the dependencies so that the first project is always built first.
Add the output file to the second project as a link (Click the down arrow next to the Add button in the open dialog).
This will reference the file from its original location without making any copies.
Set the output directory of the project that generates the resource to point to the resource directory in the project that uses it.
If that's not possible for some reason, use a post-build command (also available in the project settings) to copy the file there.
I am using iBatis.NET in a very simple test project (VS 2008). When I run the suite and the Mapper is instantiated a FileNotFoundException pops up on opening SqlMap.config. The path where iBatis.NET looks for this file is "the current TestResults folder \ Out". Naturally, the file isn't copied there so the Mapper constructor fails.
I must completely misunderstand what is going on because I have been unable to find any information on SO or the web at large to indicate how I could remedy the problem. I did run across a couple of situations unrelated to iBatis.NET where the solution suggested to the user was to set "Enable Deployment" to "off" in the .testrunconfig file to force VS to run the tests from bin\Debug.
However, before I go down that avenue I am curious to know what others have done when using iBatis.NET in a test project. I have the unpleasant feeling that the resolution is trivial.
By default iBATIS.NET will look in the current directory for the map config file. As you say, the file is not there. The quickest way to solve your particular problem is to instruct Visual Studio to copy the SqlMap.config file to the output folder as part of building the project.
To do this, in the Solution Explorer, right-click on the SqlMap.config file and select Properties. In the property palette, look for Copy to Output Folder and select Copy If Newer.
Unless I misunderstand your situation, I believe this will work.
I developed an application that depends on a DLL file. When I debug my application, the applicationwould complain that:
"This application has failed to start because xxx.dll was not found."
So I have to copy the DLL file into the same directory as my .vcproj file.
Is there a way to set the project to look for the DLL file in (preferably) some relative path or (not preferred) some absolute path?
Similar concept to how we set include and library path in the project settings.
I mean when I debug my application (hitting F5) the above error would pop up.
Go to project properties (Alt+F7)
Under Debugging, look to the right
There's an Environment field.
Add your relative path there (relative to vcproj folder) i.e. ..\some-framework\lib by appending PATH=%PATH%;$(ProjectDir)\some-framework\lib or prepending to the path PATH=C:\some-framework\lib;%PATH%
Hit F5 (debug) again and it should work.
Go through project properties -> Reference Paths
Then add folder with DLL's
The search path that the loader uses when you call LoadLibrary() can be altered by using the SetDllDirectory() function. So you could just call this and add the path to your dependency before you load it.
See also DLL Search Order.
Another possibility would be to set the Working Directory under the debugging options to be the directory that has that DLL.
Edit: I was going to mention using a batch file to start Visual Studio (and set the PATH variable in the batch file). So then did a bit of searching and see that this exact same question was asked not long ago in this post. The answer suggests the batch file option as well as project settings that apparently may do the job (I did not test it).
In your Project properties(Right click on project, click on property button) ▶ Configuration Properties ▶ Build Events ▶ Post Build Events ▶ Command Line.
Edit and add one instruction to command line.
for example copy botan.dll from source path to location where is being executed the program.
copy /Y "$(SolutionDir)ProjectDirs\x64\Botan\lib\botan.dll" "$(TargetDir)"
I had the same problem and my problem had nothing to do with paths. One of my dll-s was written in c++ and it turnes out that if your visual studio doesn't know how to open a dll file it will say that it did not find it. What i did was locate which dll it did not find, than searched for that dll in my directories and opened it in a separate visual studio window. When trying to navigate through Solution explorer of that project, visual studio said that it cannot show what is inside and that i need some extra extensions, so that it can open those files. Surely enough, after installing the recomended extension (in my case something to do with c++) the
"This application has failed to start because xxx.dll was not found."
error miraculously dissapeared.
I know this question had been answered years ago, but for those like me who needed to change where the debugger starts the application, change the command property under Project Properties -> Debugging.