how to replace string in file using msbuild?

Question

I want to replace a string such \"how r u\" in file test.xml with a string \"i am fine\" in another file xy.xml.using regular expression in ms build.

ie i have to r

Answer 1

If you prefer not using third party (community) binaries, nor embedding code into your msbuild project, I'd suggest creating a simple task library which implements File.WriteAllText and can later host other tasks :

using System.IO;
using Microsoft.Build.Framework;
using Microsoft.Build.Utilities;

public class FileWriteAllText : Task
{
    [Required]
    public string Path { get; set; }
    [Required]
    public string Contents { get; set; }

    public override bool Execute()
    {
        File.WriteAllText(Path, Contents);
        return true;
    }
}

Then you can replace, append, etc. in msbuild :