How can I get TFS 2010 to build each project to a separate directory?

Question

In our project, we\'d like to have our TFS build put each project into its own folder under the drop folder, instead of dropping all of the files into one flat structure. To

Answer 1

We had to do this to bypass the problem where we have a Silverlight and a .Net library with the same name for CSLA serialization. The library would be overwritten and our tests would fail.

I used Jonathan's answer and Jim Lamb's post, but I found that you also need to set OutDir to empty.

So, you need to do these parameters for the MSBuild activities (if you use the following Macro, you need to set the activity parameters for Clean too, otherwise you get warnings that OutputPath is not set):

• Set CommandLineArguments to String.Format("/p:SkipInvalidConfigurations=true;TeamBuildOutDir=""{0}"" {1}", BinariesDirectory, MSBuildArguments)
• Set OutDir to empty (was BinariesDirectory)

I have also created a macro that you can run in visual studio that removes the OutputPath from the configurations, and adds a PropertyGroup that contains the OutputPath for all configs like so :

  bin\$(Configuration)\
  $(TeamBuildOutDir)\$(SolutionName)\$(MSBuildProjectName)\$(Configuration)\

Here's the Macro :

Public Sub SetTeamBuildOutDir()

    Dim projectObjects = DTE.Solution.Projects

    For Each project In projectObjects

        If project.ProjectItems IsNot Nothing Then
            SetTeamBuildOutDirRecursive(project)
        End If
    Next

End Sub

Sub SetTeamBuildOutDirRecursive(ByVal proj As Project)
    If proj.ConfigurationManager Is Nothing Then
        For Each subProj As ProjectItem In proj.ProjectItems
            If subProj.SubProject IsNot Nothing Then
                SetTeamBuildOutDirRecursive(subProj.SubProject)
            End If
        Next
    Else
        SetTeamBuildOutDir(proj)
    End If

End Sub

Sub SetTeamBuildOutDir(ByVal project As Project)
    'Do not handle .vdproj
    If project.FullName.ToLower().EndsWith(".vdproj") Then
        Exit Sub
    End If

    Dim needToSave = False
    Dim msproject = ProjectRootElement.Open(project.FullName)
    Dim outputPathGroupExists = False
    Dim outputPropertyGroup As ProjectPropertyGroupElement = Nothing
    Dim lastConfigPropertyGroup As ProjectPropertyGroupElement = Nothing

    For Each propertyGroup In msproject.PropertyGroups

        If propertyGroup.Label = "OutputPathLabel" Then
            outputPathGroupExists = True
            outputPropertyGroup = propertyGroup
        End If

        If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(propertyGroup.Condition) AndAlso _
            propertyGroup.Condition.TrimStart().StartsWith("'$(Configuration)") Then

            lastConfigPropertyGroup = propertyGroup
        End If

        'Remove the OutputPath from the configurations
        Dim outputPathElement As ProjectPropertyElement = Nothing
        For Each element As ProjectPropertyElement In propertyGroup.Children
            If element.Name = "OutputPath" Then
                outputPathElement = element
            End If
        Next
        If outputPathElement IsNot Nothing Then
            propertyGroup.RemoveChild(outputPathElement)
            needToSave = True
        End If
    Next

    'If we want to always remove the group and add it back (in case of modifications to the group)
    'If outputPathGroupExists Then
    '    msproject.RemoveChild(outputPropertyGroup)
    '    outputPathGroupExists = False
    'End If

    If Not outputPathGroupExists Then
        Dim propertyGroup = msproject.CreatePropertyGroupElement()
        propertyGroup.Label = "OutputPathLabel"
        'Need to insert the PropertyGroup before the CSharp targets are included
        msproject.InsertAfterChild(propertyGroup, lastConfigPropertyGroup)

        Dim isDbProject = project.FullName.ToLower().EndsWith(".dbproj")

        Dim outputEmpty = propertyGroup.AddProperty("OutputPath", IIf(Not isDbProject, "bin\$(Configuration)\", "sql\$(Configuration)\"))
        outputEmpty.Condition = "'$(TeamBuildOutDir)'=='' "

        Dim outputTeamBuild = propertyGroup.AddProperty("OutputPath", "$(TeamBuildOutDir)\$(SolutionName)\$(MSBuildProjectName)\$(Configuration)\")
        outputTeamBuild.Condition = "'$(TeamBuildOutDir)'!='' "

        needToSave = True
    End If

    If needToSave Then
        'checkout the project file with tfs
        Shell("C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\tf.exe checkout " & project.FullName, , True)

        'Save the project file
        msproject.Save()
    End If
End Sub

Hope this helps!!!