How do I create a pre-build step for a javascript metro app in VS11?

Question

I want to run some custom batch code just before every build. In a VS<11/C# app I could set the pre-build events in the project settings. I can't find similar settings in a javascript metro VS11 solution.

Anyone know where it is, or if the option is gone (!) what kind of workaround I can do in its place?

Answer 1

You can use the BeforeBuild target in the Visual Studio .jsproj file to accomplish this:

<Target Name="BeforeBuild"></Target>
<Target Name="AfterBuild"></Target>

To get here:

1. Right-click your project in Visual Studio and choose Open Folder in Windows Explorer
2. In Explorer, right-click the .jsproj file and choose Open With... and choose an editor like Notepad
3. Scroll to the bottom of the file and you'll notice these two Target sections commented out

Uncomment the BeforeBuild target and add your custom step inside of it. You can use the element to execute a command line script; the same $ variables are available as in C# pre-build steps (e.g. $(ProjectDir)). You can do more than call command line scripts in a Target, but this is closest to what you would normally do with C# pre-build steps.

As an example, the following code would call a batch file named processFile.bat passing it a path to default.js in the project root and an output path to create a file named output.js in the project's output directory (e.g. /bin/Debug in Debug mode):

<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
    <Exec Command="processFile.bat &quot;$(ProjectDir)default.js&quot; &quot;$(OutDir)output.js&quot;">
</Target>

Note: The &quot; is on purpose inside of the Command arguments, this makes sure the two parameters are quoted when passed to processFile.bat and called via cmd.exe.