MSBuild project file: Copy item to specific location in output directory

Question

In the process of cleaning up the folder/file structure on a project I inherited, I'm running into a problem with organizing the required external libraries. I want to keep them in their own .\dll\ folder, but they're not being copied to the build directory properly. They should be in the root build directory, but they're being moved to a subfolder instead.

My .csproj file contains the following xml:

<Project>
  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="dlls\libraryA.dll">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Then, on build, the libraryA.dll file is copied to the bin\Debug\dll\ folder, but I want it in the bin\Debug\ folder.

https://stackoverflow.com/a/35065306/492 - `` - probably invented long after this question — CAD bloke, Jul 23 '19 at 02:35

score 23 · Accepted Answer · answered May 06 '11 at 21:46

23

I tried this and msbuild always wants to copy the files using their directory path, but there is a workaround...

Edit the csproj file and after this line:

  <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />

Add these lines:

  <PropertyGroup>
    <PrepareForRunDependsOn>$(PrepareForRunDependsOn);MyCopyFilesToOutputDirectory</PrepareForRunDependsOn>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <Target Name="MyCopyFilesToOutputDirectory">
    <Copy SourceFiles="@(None)" DestinationFolder="$(OutDir)" />
  </Target>

The copy of the output files happens in the PrepareForRun target. This adds your own target to the list of targets that are executed as part of PrepareForRun.

This example copies all items in the None item group. You could create your own item group (e.g. MyFiles) and do the copy on that item group if you have other "None" files you don't want copied. When I tried this I had to change the item group name by editing the csproj file directly. Visual Studio did not allow me to set the item group of a file from the UI, but after I edited the csproj and changed it, Visual Studio displayed my custom item group name correctly.

answered May 06 '11 at 21:46

Brian Walker

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Works like a dream, thanks! For reference to others, I ended up creating my own group name (i.e. ``) then, I just had to make sure the CopyToOutputDirectory option was set to Never (which is the default). – chezy525 May 07 '11 at 01:00
2

Just stumbled across this solution - AWESOME!!!!! I'll also add in that you can change the `DestinationFolder="$(OutDir)"` to `DestinationFolder="$(OutDir)\%(RecursiveDir)"` if you have more than just a flat directory structure AND you can add in the extra `SkipUnchangedFiles="true"` if you only want to copy over updated files each time.. @BrianWalker - You're a freaking champ!!!!! – John Bustos Nov 14 '13 at 20:44
If it helps, for anyone else with the same kind of issue, I commented my solution using this logic here: http://stackoverflow.com/a/19989390/1693085 – John Bustos Nov 14 '13 at 22:08
This worked for me when i specify the files to copy. wildcards are not accepted it seems – Master Azazel May 16 '19 at 08:10
This is nice but if I do that then it seems "dlls\libraryA.dll" ends up in "bin\dlls\libraryA.dll" and I'd like it in "bin\libraryA.dll". I can't seem to find a way to publish from a source subdir to the bin folder directly (they keep ending up in source subdir. – Bernd Wechner Jun 26 '23 at 01:21

score 12 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

12

If you only want to change it for one file, it may be easier to use the property:

<None Include="dlls\libraryA.dll">
  <Link>%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
  <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</None>

Including content files in .csproj that are outside the project cone

edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

Community

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answered Mar 29 '17 at 17:41

Jaws

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As of VS 2017 version 15.6.1, this strategy causes a warning "The file 'dlls\libraryA.dll' could not be added to the project. Cannot add a link to the file [project directory]\dlls\libraryA.dll. This file is within the project directory tree." and the file does not appear in Solution Explorer. It does still get copied to the output root directory during the build. – Tim Sparkles May 15 '18 at 00:14

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 11 '19 at 12:30

This approach works

If you need to force copy of a specific file/nuget package into an asp.net core project (2.2), add at the end of your csproj :

<!-- Force copy MathNet because we need it in compilation -->
<Target Name="EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports" BeforeTargets="Build">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <ErrorText>This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. The missing file is {0}.</ErrorText>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\packages\MathNet.Numerics.4.8.1\lib\netstandard2.0\MathNet.Numerics.dll')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\packages\MathNet.Numerics.4.8.1\lib\netstandard2.0\MathNet.Numerics.dll'))" />
</Target>

<ItemGroup>
    <ContentWithTargetPath Include="..\packages\MathNet.Numerics.4.8.1\lib\netstandard2.0\MathNet.Numerics.dll">
        <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
       <TargetPath>MathNet.Numerics.dll</TargetPath>
    </ContentWithTargetPath>
</ItemGroup>

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 24 '21 at 14:18

In SDK-style csproj you can write something like:

  <Target Name="CopyFilesTargetName" AfterTargets="Build">
    <Copy SourceFiles="$(OutDir)\dlls\Some.dll;$(OutDir)\dlls\SomeOther.dll" DestinationFolder="$(OutDir)" />
  </Target>

You can also use <Move instead of <Copy to move files

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 24 '23 at 16:19

You can change the output path of an item by adding the TargetPath metadata to the item:

<Project>
  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="dlls\libraryA.dll">
      <TargetPath>%(Filename)%(Extension)</TargetPath>
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

MSBuild project file: Copy item to specific location in output directory

5 Answers5