I have created a msbuild task that minifies and combines javascript and css files that is triggered when my visual studio project is built.
This task adds the minified and combined files to the file system.
However I would like that they automatically be added into the visual studio project. Is this possible and if so, how can I achieve this?
I would recommend against doing this inside the default "Build" target of your project file -- IMO the Build target should be pristine and should do nothing but compile/build the project itself. It also can create headaches depending upon how and when your builds execute in your build lifecycle.
Instead, create a new MSBuild target in your build file which performs this addition for you. I hope you have a main build file outside your Visual Studio project -- this will make everything much easier. Since your CSProj file is just a simple XML (MSBuild) file, it's easy enough to write your own custom task which modified the project to add whatever files you like to it.
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In Visual Studio 2010 through 2013, by default (eg. When I create a new Console Application) new solutions output their compiled executable into Solution name/Project name/bin/Debug/. I want them to be output into Solution name/Debug/, and likewise for all other build configurations like "Release".
I can do this by manually going into properties of each project, going to the Build tab, changing Output path from bin\Debug to ..\Debug. I must repeat this for every project and every build configuration.
After dozens of solutions, I'm a bit sick of doing this tedious task by hand every time. Is there a way to change the default output path?
A solution that works for Visual Studio 2013 is sufficient.
This property is defined in each Visual Studio Project Template
So, for example, the C# Console Application template is located in
\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates\CSharp\Windows\1033\ConsoleApplication\consoleapplication.csproj
The csproj is an XML file that you can edit at your will. The build output directory is define like this (for each configuration):
...
<OutputPath>bin\Debug\</OutputPath>
...
<OutputPath>bin\Release\</OutputPath>
...
If you change this file, it will change all your future new C# Console Application projects. You could also write a utility program that list all csproj in \Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\ProjectTemplates and update them accordingly.
This is not necessary.
One of the projects in your solution is marked as the Startup project, shown in bold in the Solution Explorer window. An EXE project, like your console mode app. You used Project + Add Reference to add references to other projects in the solution so you can use the class libraries that those projects generate in your console mode app.
Those references will have the Copy Local property set to True.
When you build your project, MSBuild will automatically copy the assemblies from their respective bin\Debug directory into the bin\Debug directory of your console mode app, thanks to that Copy Local setting. And it is smart enough to also look at the dependencies of those class libraries and copy them as well.
So after the build is complete, the bin\Debug directory won't just have your console mode project's EXE file but also all the DLLs it needs to execute properly.
There are a few ways that this can go wrong and MSBuild cannot figure out that such a dependency actually exists. Pretty uncommon, you'd for example have to use Reflection in your code to load assemblies (Assembly.Load() and friends). The workaround for that is to explicitly copy the dependency in a post-build event. You didn't leave enough bread-crumbs in your question to judge whether that's the real problem.
What you ask for is certainly possible, the IDE just doesn't make it easy because it wasn't designed to assume this was necessary at all. You'd have to replace the Build + Output Path setting to, say, ..\Debug instead. You can create your own project template with that setting already preset. Create a new class library project, change the setting and use File + Export Template to create the template. You'll have it available the next time you create a project.
But, really, find out first why the default Copy Local machinery isn't working for you.
Rather than changing a global, protected file, you can create your own .targets file that changes the <OutputPath> however you want and import that into your projects. This could also set other defaults you might want to change and don't want to do for every project. All you'd have to do then in your project files is add something like toward the top (after the root element, of course):
<Import Project="$(SolutionDir)\Common.targets"/>
I have recently converted a mid-sized Visual Studio 2005 solution to Visual Studio 2010.
One of the projects contains files which are not C/C++ files and are compiled using a batch file running a custom build tool. The output of the custom build step is some C++ files, which must be compiled after that.
The output of the custom build step in the properties for the relevant files is correctly set to the generated C++ files.
The problem is that sometimes VS2010 tries to compile the generated C++ files before the files with the custom build step, which means in a clean build it fails to find the C++ files and fails. If I try building several times eventually it would compile the custom files and then the build will succeed, but this is obviously not a good solution for automated build.
In VS2005 there is no problem building this project, but VS2010 fails to determine the correct compile order from the outputs of the custom build step. Is there another way to force correct compile order in VS2010?
Visual Studio supports parallel builds, it can build more than one project at the same time. This will not work properly if it cannot properly see the dependencies between projects. A custom build can certainly be a troublemaker here. The number of parallel builds is configurable, setting it to 1 would be a very crude but effective workaround. Tools + Options, Projects and Solutions, Build and Run, "maximum number of parallel project builds" setting.
But don't do that, parallel builds can be a huge time saver. You fix this kind of problem by setting project dependencies explicitly. Right-click the project that uses the generated C++ files in the Solution Explorer window and click Project Dependencies. Tick the check box for the project that produces the C++ files. In case it is relevant to other readers, check this answer for a way to create a project that only does the custom build step and nothing else.
Visual Studio 2008 by default executes custom build tools first. The order can be changed via right click menu on project with command "Tool Build Order". This facility is not available in Visual Studio 2010. I do not know of a work-around.
Consider using Visual Studio 2010's "Properties >> Configuration Properties >> Build Events >> Pre-Build Event" as the place where you should issue command(s) to build source files that must be compiled first. In the Command Line field, call upon the cl.exe compiler or use a small external makefile to compile those files. Visual Studio will then compile the rest of your project following this initial step.
I resolved my problem when I noticed that my custom build step runs for only one file at a time. It runs for the next file on the next build etc.
The reason apparently is that my custom build steps are calling a batch file and VS2010 creates one temporary batch file to execute all custom build files.
The solution was pointed in this discussion:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-HK/msbuild/thread/ca392036-ebdb-4812-930e-f90aa445cca5
It is simply to prefix all calls to batch files with a "call" statement, thus not terminating the execution of the master batch file prematurely.
What is common way of doing this?
Maintaining a separate build file (nant by example) costs time but Will not lock you in to Visual studio.
Do most developers build with the Visual studio solution or do they have to use the nant build file.
What are the best practices?
What I do is use the proj files rather than sln files. MSbuild processes them just fine.
This way you have the best of both worlds. You are not locked into VS, but you do not have to maintain 2 copies of your build files either
It depends on your project...
I have multiple solutions that i want to build as one product, so i use msbuild / nant to include them all.
Another reason to use a build file is when you have more actions you want to execute when the CI server builds the project and you don't want those actions to be executed when the developers build the solution (Copying files for deployment or setting assembly version for example)
In general, i think that unless you have a reason to use a build file, you can just use the sln file
In Visual Studio 2008 we run a post build event which calls NANT and in turn creates our config files.
e.g.
if $(SolutionDir) == . GOTO end
nant -buildfile:$(SolutionDir)default.build create..web.config
Is there a way to run this only on ReBuild?
I think you can do this by specifying build targets rather than using build events. Try creating an AfterClean target to delete your generated config files, and a BeforeBuild target to create them. Make sure you set up the file dependency for the BeforeBuild target, so msbuild knows it should only run the step if the file isn't present.
I haven't actually tried this, but I beleive msbuild will only run the target if the target files don't exist. When you rebuild, the cleaning process will be invoked, and in turn your AfterClean target.
You can read more about build targets here. The only real downside to using build targets instead of events is that they are not visible anywhere in the VS UI - you will only find them if you inspect the project file.
There may be a more direct solution involving events - have look at the msbuild team blog here.
I'm a solo developer running Visual Studio 2008 and looking into MSBuild to improve my build process.
Almost all of the tutorials I've found so far have plenty of information about writing a build file. However I'm having a lot of trouble finding out how to integrate MSBuild into Visual Studio. Maybe MSBuild is only used with something like CruiseControl but that's overkill for me as a single developer.
Where should the build file live in a Visual Studio project and how can I run it from within the IDE?
Visual Studio executes MSBuild automatically for projects it supports.
If you right click on a project and unload it, you can then edit it in Visual Studio. Reload (right click on project again), force a (re)build to test your changes. An alternative is to edit the project file in an external editor and Visual Studio will detect saves and offer to reload the project for you.
Sounds like you're on the right track, and if you are considering writing Targets or custom MSBuild Tasks, take the time to separate them from your current project so that you can re-use them. Don't re-invent the wheel though, the two main complementary MSBuild projects are MSBuild Community Tasks and MSBuild Extension Pack.
Update: Judging from your comment on Mitch's answer, you might also want to consider adding a new Configuration element or custom properties to a project. A new MSBuild Configuration (something other than the default Debug/Release) could run unit tests, build documentation, or whatever you want automated. A custom MSBuild property would allow you to use normal Debug/Release Configuration and extend it to automate more of your build process, just depends on what you want. Either approach could also be driven from the command line.
As others have noted, MSBuild is already available when you install Visual Studio.
If you want to integrate into VS2008: Running MSBuild from Visual Studio
MSBuild is the build engine used by Visual Studio to process the files included in a project.The Visual Studio project files themselves (**.csproj* for C#, and .vbproj for VB, for example) are in fact MSBuild scripts that are run every time you build a project.
Your .csproj file is a MSBuild file. So you are actually using it already.
You may of course wish to create a separate build file to have more control, especially within a continuous integration or nightly build say.
If you simply wish to edit your project build file then you can use the IDE to edit some settings such as pre and post build actions or edit the Xml itself by unloading project and right click and editing.
You can use your current .vcproj files to build your project with MSBuild. However, as MSBuild is not directly supported (at least for vc++) vcbuild is used instead (internally).
In VS2010 all project files are MSBuild based...
This is an older article about some simple extension points from the msbuild team
How To: Insert Custom Process at Specific Points During Build
Also, don't forget you can use the MSBuild SideKick for developing and debugging your (local) msbuilds, available for free at http://www.attrice.info/msbuild/
I'd suggest you call msbuild as a post build step. Then you can put your build script somewhere in your solution and call it.
<windowsdir>\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\MSBuild.exe c:\temp\MyProject\mybuildfile.proj
The easiest way is probably to invoke your custom build script using a post-build step. Right click project, choose "Build Events" and call msbuild with your custom msbuild file from there.
I use the msbuild template to intergrate with visual studio
http://msbuildtemplate.codeplex.com/