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 :

<PropertyGroup Label="OutputPathLabel">
  <OutputPath Condition="'$(TeamBuildOutDir)'=='' ">bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
  <OutputPath Condition="'$(TeamBuildOutDir)'!='' ">$(TeamBuildOutDir)\$(SolutionName)\$(MSBuildProjectName)\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
</PropertyGroup>

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!!!

Answer 2

Not sure if you can still get team build 2010 to use the latest version of msbuild, but there's a new property /p:GenerateProjectSpecificOutputFolder=true when specified will drop the bits into $(OutDir)\$(ProjectName)\ for each project.

Answer 3

I’ve installed the  package PublishedApplications from Nuget for each Executable in My Solution and it created subfolders under _PublishedApplications folder for each project during the build.

Answer 4

I solved this problem, too, and I think it's cleaner than the existing solutions on this thread.

• Before the Run MSBuild for Project activity, I added an Assign activity: projectName = Regex.Replace(New FileInfo(localProject).Name, "\.sln$", "").
• Next I added a Create Directory activity: outputDirectory + "\" + projectName
• Finally in the MSBuild activity I changed OutDir to outputDirectory + "\" + projectName.

The template already populates localProject with the full path name of the the .sln file being built on the Agent, e.g., c:\build\path\to\MySolution.sln. The assign activity chops off the path and extension, placing the output in MySolution. You'll need to create the projectName variable, and import System.Text.RegularExpressions and System.IO.

The advantage over OP's solution is that you don't have to edit each .csproj, that information is inferred from the solution file's name.

Answer 5

Here's another very simple solution that requires no modification to source files or project files. When setting up your build definition's Process -> Projects to Build, instead of specifying your .sln file in the projects to build, add each project (.csproj or .vbproj). Now inside the "Run MSBuild for Project" step of your workflow, change the OutDir property to the following:

OutputDirectory + "\" + System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(serverBuildProjectItem)

Answer 6

I haven't played with getting TFS/MSBuild to put the output files in separate folders, so can't give a direct answer. However, here are a couple of suggestions that I didn't spot in your link:

• You could add post-build steps to the projects that copy the required files to a "deployment" structure. (This of course would also run on dev machines, which might be a pain). We use this approach for our libraries, whch are built and then copied into a shared libs (binaries) folder for other projects to reference them from.

• You could add an MSBuild target to copy the required files where you want them. We've overridden the default "copy to drop folder" targets to copy the files to another folder, obfuscate them, digitally sign them, build them into an installer, digitally sign the installer, and then copy it (and other useful stuff like the obfuscation map files) and a list of changes since the last build to the drop folder. Ultimately adding your own post-build target gives you maximum control over exactly what gets put where. (On the minus side, you may have to manually add any new dlls or exes to the post-build copy target, which could be an irritation)