1	MSBuild, changing the way you compile for ever Barry Dorrans barry.dorrans@charteris.com
2	MSBuild, changing the way you compile for ever History What is MSBuild? Editing the project Customising your build Custom tasks UK SDC build tasks Targeting .NET v1 What next? MSBuild Resources
3	If you build it they will come In the beginning was make files And make begat nmake, gmake, pmake and others And there was wailing and gnashing of teeth And UIs arrived and covered the shame that was make files with prettiness And Java and XML arrived and begat ant And heresy was spawned with .net and nant And lo, the word of Bill came from on high and MSBuild came out of the darkness.
4	What is MSBuild? The underlying build engine in Visual Studio 2005 Open and published XML based build description format Customisable Extensible with tasks and loggers Distributed as part of the framework 30% of DivDev (Visual Studio and Framework) code now built using msbuild and teambuild
5	The MSBuild & Team Build Architecture
6	Typical Build Flow
7	A sample project file <Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <PropertyGroup> <AppName>MsBuildDemo</AppName> <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols> <OutputAssembly>$(AppName).exe</OutputAssembly> </PropertyGroup> <ItemGroup> <Compile Include="Hello.cs" /> <Compile Include="Program.cs" /> </ItemGroup> <Target Name="Build"> <Message Text="Executing Build Target for App $(AppName)" /> <Csc Sources="@(Compile)" EmitDebugInformation="$(DebugSymbols)" OutputAssembly="$(OutputAssembly)"/> </Target> <Import Project="Microsoft.CSharp.targets" /> </Project>
8	Typical Build Output
9	Targets, Tasks and Loggers A target is a group of tasks executed in order A task is a unit of executable code which performs atomic build operations A logger is a class which logs output from tasks and the build engine All are customisable
10	Editing the project MSBuild projects are XML files Editing within the IDE gives Intellisense Colour Coding In Solution Explorer: Right click project, choose “Unload Project” Right click project, choose “Edit Project”
11	Customising your build Basic customisation BeforeBuild and AfterBuild targets Verbosity Properties and Meta Data Standard Tasks Including other projects Conditions Custom Build Actions and Types Target Dependencies
12	BeforeBuild / AfterBuild Standard targets Can be modified using the VS UI (Project, properties, build events) This only allows running of batch files By default AfterBuild only fires on a successful build Shared between debug, release and custom targets.
13	Verbosity Quiet Minimal Normal Detailed Diagnostic Can be set in IDE Tools / Options / Projects & Solutions / Build and Run msbuild /verbosity:detailed
14	Properties and Meta Data $(name) Property Name/Value Pair <PropertyGroup> <BuildDir>Build</BuildDir> </PropertyGroup> Reserved values e.g. $(MSBuildProjectName) Environment variables $(username)
15	Properties and Meta Data <Target Name="Compile" DependsOnTargets="Resources"> <Csc Sources="@(CSFile)" TargetType="library" Resources="@(CompiledResources)" EmitDebugInformation="$(includeDebugInformation)" References="@(Reference)" DebugType="$(debuggingType)" OutputAssembly="$(builtdir)\$(MSBuildProjectName).dll" > <Output TaskParameter="OutputAssembly" ItemName="FinalAssemblyName" /> <Output TaskParameter="BuildSucceeded" PropertyName="BuildWorked" /> </Csc> </Target>
16	Standard Tasks Basic tasks http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/7z253716(en-US,VS.80).aspx Includes File copy, delete Message FindUnderPath MakeDir ReadLinesFromFile MSBuild Exec OnError
17	Including other projects <Import Project="external.proj"> Consider setting properties for builds in a separate script Consider common build tasks in a separate script
18	Conditions Each task and target has an optional Condition parameter Boolean used to decide if task should be executed <Copy Condition="!Exists('$(builtdir)')" …
19	ContinueOnError Each task has an optional ContinueOnError parameter Boolean used to decide if build continues if the task fails Defaults to false
20	Custom Build Actions Create custom target file Add the following tags <Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <ItemGroup> <AvailableItemName Include="MyBuildAction" /> </ItemGroup> </Project> c:\program files\msbuild\... In your project file import the target <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\MyFiles\custom.targets"/>
21	Custom Build Actions From to
22	Custom Build Types Configuration Manager
23	Target Dependencies <Target Name="DailyBuild" DependsOnTargets="GetLatest;MakeClean"> No practical limit on dependencies Nested dependencies Runs in the order specified
24	Custom Tasks Managed type that implements Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITask or uses Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Task as a base. using System; using Microsoft.Build.Framework; using Microsoft.Build.Utilities; namespace idunno.Tasks { public class Hello : Task { public override bool Execute() { Log.LogMessage("Pigeons go coo"); return true; } } }
25	Adding the task to your project Copy the task into c:\program files\msbuild Add a <using> tag to your build script <UsingTask TaskName= "$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\idunno.Tasks.Hello" AssemblyName="idunno.Tasks.dll"/> And call in your build script <idunno.Tasks.Hello />
26	Input and output Class properties [Required] [Output] Log.LogMessage Log.LogWarning Log.LogError
27	Debugging custom tasks Create a test project to run your task in Edit the .csproj/.vbproj file and add in the necessary MSBuild XML to make use of your task. <UsingTask AssemblyFile="D:\tasks\assemblyinfotask.dll" TaskName="AssemblyInfo"/> <Target Name="BeforeBuild" Outputs="@(AssemblyInfo)"> <AssemblyInfo AssemblyInfoFile="@(AssemblyInfo)"/> </Target> Close the test project Open your custom task project Go to Project > projectname Properties… > Debug Change the start action to “Start external program” and put in the full path to MSBuild as the program. Change the “Command line arguments” to the full path to your test project Set breakpoint on execute method
28	UK SDC Tasks Tasks (and source) for common actions Used to build and deploy large SDC projects One project has over .75Mb of build scripts pushing to a 40 rig system, building, then releasing the install over AD, SQL, IIS and BizTalk.
29	Targeting .NET v1 Official support may be coming Current “hacks” miss out features like COM references and Web References Currently gauging interest – so express interest! http://blogs.msdn.com/clichten/archive/2005/10/05/477506.aspx Craig Lichtenstein clichten@microsoft.com
30	Unofficially Targeting .NET v1 Must upgrade project file to 2005 MSBuild Toolkit http://weblogs.asp.net/rmclaws/archive/2005/06/04/410360.aspx Adds easy administration of imported targets Adds v1.0 and v1.1 targets Simple Custom Targets File http://blogs.msdn.com/jomo_fisher/archive/2005/04/22/410903.aspx
31	MSBuild Parallelisation Parallelisation upcoming Build lab support Multiple projects are built concurrently Parallel VS compiling independent projects are built concurrently Multiple file compilation files that need to be operated on by a single tool one-by-one New parallelisation “constructs” in the file format that will allow indication what can and cannot be parallelized. Feedback wanted! msbuild@microsoft.com
32	MS Build Resources MSDN Help http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0k6kkbsd MSBuild Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/msbuild/ MSBuild Wiki http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/MSBuild.HomePage SDC Tasks http://www.gotdotnet.com/Community/UserSamples/Details.aspx?SampleGuid=2CB20E79-D706-4706-9EA0-26188257EE7D