msbuild.md

MSBuild

• MSBuild is a build system.
• Given files and commands, it tries to do the "minimal amount of work"
• You can execute csproj files by running msbuild (from your Developer terminal)

Three main parts to a csproj

• PropertyGroup - Defines variables
• ItemGroup - Defines input files
• Target - Defines functions on the input files

Hello World

• Writes "Hello World" to the console.

<Project>
    <Target Name="Main"> 
       <Message Text="Hello World" />  
   </Target>
</Project>  

Using a PropertyGroup to define variables

• Uses a variable to write "Hello World" to the console.

<Project>
    <PropertyGroup>
        <MessageToPrint>Hello World</MessageToPrint>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Target Name="Main"> 
       <Message Text="$(MessageToPrint)" />  
   </Target>
</Project>  

Using an ItemGroup to define input files

• Copies files, but only if they've changed!

<Project>
    <ItemGroup>
        <MyFile Include="*.txt"></MyFile>
    </ItemGroup>
    <Target Name="Main"> 
       <Copy SourceFiles="@(MyFile)" DestinationFolder="Output" />
    </Target>
</Project>

Using conditions for control flow

• Same as above, but optionally delete the target directory before copying.

<Project>
    <ItemGroup>
        <MyFile Include="*.txt"></MyFile>
    </ItemGroup>
    <Target Name="Main"> 
        <RemoveDir Condition="'$(Purge)' == 'true'" Directories="Output" />
        <Copy SourceFiles="@(MyFile)" DestinationFolder="Output" />
    </Target>
</Project>

Complex MSBuild files

• C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\6.0.100\Sdks\Microsoft.NET.Sdk\targets
• https://github.com/dotnet/msbuild/blob/main/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets