Getting started with msbuild

Remarks#

This section provides an overview of what msbuild is, and why a developer might want to use it.

It should also mention any large subjects within msbuild, and link out to the related topics. Since the Documentation for msbuild is new, you may need to create initial versions of those related topics.

Installation or Setup

MSBuild 2015

On Windows there are three choices to get MSBuild:

Install Visual Studio 2015
Download Microsoft Build Tools which includes VB and C# compilers.
Build from Source

On Linux

Build from Source using this guide

Creating Custom MSBuild Targets

<PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Definition of a Property named "TestCondition". A PropertyGroup may also be placed inside a Target. -->
    <TestCondition>True</TestCondition>
</PropertyGroup>

<!-- This Target will run after the "Clean" Target, subject to a Condition. -->
<Target Name="SpecificTarget" AfterTargets="Clean" Condition=" '$(TestCondition)' == 'True' ">
    <!-- Displaying a custom message -->
    <Message Text="Here is my Specific Target" Importance="Low" />
    <!-- Here come your specific code. -->
</Target>

Hello World

HelloWorld.proj

<Project xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" DefaultTargets="SayHello">  

    <!-- Properties can be passed as command line parameters. i.e. /p:Name=MyName 
    or /p:Name="My Name" (Use quotes if the value includes spaces) -->  
    <PropertyGroup>
        <Name Condition="'$(Name)'==''">Rolo</Name>
    </PropertyGroup>  

    <!-- Items can't be passed as command line parameters. -->   
    <!-- Items can include metadata. i.e. URL -->  
    <ItemGroup>  
        <People Include="World"/>  
        <People Include="StackOverflow">  
            <URL>https://stackoverflow.com</URL>
        </People>
        <People Include="Google">  
            <URL>https://google.com</URL>  
        </People>  
    </ItemGroup>  

    <!-- Targets can be called using it's name. i.e. /t:SayHello -->  
    <Target Name="SayHello">  
        <!-- You can have as many Tasks as required inside a Target. -->  
        <!-- Tasks can be executed conditionally. -->  
        <Message Condition="'%(People.URL)'==''" Text="Hello %(People.Identity), my name is $(Name)! "/>  
        <Message Condition="'%(People.URL)'!=''" Text="Hello %(People.Identity), my name is $(Name)!. Your URL is %(People.URL) "/>  
    </Target>  
</Project>

Execute with:

msbuild HelloWorld.proj
msbuild HelloWorld.proj /p:Name=“John Doe”
msbuild HelloWorld.proj /p:Name=“Batman” /t:SayHello