[MSBuild] Customized tasks – MSBuild Extension Pack

(source: help – MSBuild Extension Pack)

Get started:

1. Download and install at download MSBuild Extension Pack
   (keep all as default settings)
2. At the beginning of your build script, add the following line:
   <Import Project=”$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\ExtensionPack\MSBuild.ExtensionPack.tasks”/>
3. After that, you can start using the MSBuild Exgtension Pack ‘s tasks.

Intellisense in Visual Studio : http://www.msbuildextensionpack.com/help/3.5.5.0/Configuring%20Intellisense.htm

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[MSBuild] Reserved Metadatas

Identity	The value that was specifi ed in the Include attribute of the item after it was evaluated.
FullPath	Full path of the fi le.
Rootdir	The root directory to which the file belongs.
Filename	The name of the file, not including the extension.
Extension	The extension of the file, including the ‘.’.
RelativeDir	The path to the file relative to the current working directory.
Directory	Directory of the item, without the root directory.
RecursiveDir	This is the part of the directory path that is replaced by the first ** of the Include declaration. If no ** is present, then this value is empty.
ModifiedTime	The last time the file was modifi ed.
CreatedTime	The time the file was created.
AccessedTime	The last time the file was accessed.

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[MSBuild] Reserved Properties

The following table describes the MSBuild reserved properties.

Property	Description
MSBuildProjectDirectory	The absolute path of the directory where the project file is located, for example, C:\MyCompany\MyProduct.
MSBuildProjectFile	The complete file name of the project file, including the file name extension, for example, MyApp.proj.
MSBuildProjectExtension	The file name extension of the project file, including the period, for example, .proj.
MSBuildProjectFullPath	The absolute path and complete file name of the project file, for example, C:\MyCompany\MyProduct\MyApp.proj.
MSBuildProjectName	The file name of the project file without the file name extension, for example, MyApp.
MSBuildBinPath	The absolute path of the directory where the MSBuild binaries that are currently being used are located, for example, C:\Windows\Microsoft.Net\Framework\v2.0. This property is useful if you need to refer to files in the MSBuild directory.
MSBuildProjectDefaultTargets	The complete list of targets specified in the DefaultTargets attribute of the Project element. For example, the following Project element would have an MSBuildDefaultTargets property value of A;B;C. <Project DefaultTargets=”A;B;C” >
MSBuildExtensionsPath	The MSBuild folder under the Program Files directory. This location is a useful place to put custom target files. For example, your targets files could be installed at \Program Files\MSBuild\MyFiles\Northwind.targets and then imported in project files with the following XML. <Import Project=”$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\MyFiles\Northwind.targets”/>
MSBuildStartupDirectory	The absolute path of the directory where MSBuild is invoked. This allows you to go to any point in a project tree and build everything below that point without having to create “dirs.proj”-type files in every directory. Instead, you have only a single project, like this example called c:\traversal.proj: Copy <Project …> <ItemGroup> <ProjectFiles Include=”$ (MSBuildStartupDirectory) **\*.csproj”/> </ItemGroup> <Target> <MSBuild Projects=”@(ProjectFiles)”/> </Target> </Project> Then at any point in the tree you would type: Copy msbuild c:\traversal.proj

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