Can I automatically increment the file build version when using Visual Studio?

Question

I was just wondering how I could automatically increment the build (and version?) of my files using Visual Studio (2005).

If I look up the properties of sa

Answer 1

Cake supports AssemblyInfo files patching. With cake in hands you have infinite ways to implement automatic version incrementing.

Simple example of incrementing version like C# compiler does:

Setup(() =>
{
    // Executed BEFORE the first task.
    var datetimeNow = DateTime.Now;
    var daysPart = (datetimeNow - new DateTime(2000, 1, 1)).Days;
    var secondsPart = (long)datetimeNow.TimeOfDay.TotalSeconds/2;
    var assemblyInfo = new AssemblyInfoSettings
    {
        Version = "3.0.0.0",
        FileVersion = string.Format("3.0.{0}.{1}", daysPart, secondsPart)
    };
    CreateAssemblyInfo("MyProject/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs", assemblyInfo);
});

Here:

• Version - is assembly version. Best practice is to lock major version number and leave remaining with zeroes (like "1.0.0.0").
• FileVersion - is assembly file version.

Note that you can patch not only versions but also all other necessary information.