I have a batch script that I want to call from an MSBuild project, and the documentation says I can't use output from the batch (either console / environment variables) in the MSBuild project.
Is there a workaround?
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1I ended up writing a custom MSBuild task that does what I want and return the output. – ripper234 Oct 05 '09 at 10:43
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This link could be useful: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/ar/tfsbuild/thread/ef1a0e09-ef66-4ddf-947b-149311182b43 – Oscar Foley Sep 23 '11 at 09:19
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Could you post your custom MDBuild task that solved your issue please? – Stu Harper Sep 11 '13 at 14:46
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@StuHarper - don't have the code anymore, it was about 3 companies ago. – ripper234 Sep 11 '13 at 15:16
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1[This answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/16804205/1990221) shows how to do this without redirecting to a file – Stuart Moore May 18 '16 at 13:23
1 Answers
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You can redirect the output of the command to a file using "> output.txt" and read that into a variable.
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputFile>$(DropLocation)\$(BuildNumber)\Output.txt</OutputFile>
</PropertyGroup>
<Exec Command="dir > "$(OutputFile)"" />
<ReadLinesFromFile File="$(OutputFile)">
<Output TaskParameter="Lines" ItemName="OutputLines"/>
</ReadLinesFromFile>
<Message Text="@(OutputLines->'%(Identity)', '%0a%0d')" />
Dave
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5this looks very hacky, why should a file be written if the output of the command is just useful for the MSBuild logic? Then you have to delete the file later... – knocte Jan 20 '12 at 18:50
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1Builds that use logic like this become painful to manage but I'd rather it be working and ugly than not working at all. – evanmcdonnal Apr 13 '12 at 22:28
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2While I agree it is a bit sloppy, it is not that big of a deal to add the MSBuild line
immediately after checking its contents so there are no stay files lying around. – NightOwl888 Sep 25 '12 at 17:29 -
5FYI. A modern way it is mentioned in [How get exec task output with msbuild](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8938679/how-get-exec-task-output-with-msbuild) – Gonzalo Contento Aug 09 '16 at 14:17
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@GonzaloContento probably wanted to link [this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/16804205/177710) directly – Oliver Nov 14 '22 at 11:29