BuildAction=Content recursively

Question

I have an Assembly which contains a file with BuildAction = Content and Copy to output = Always. Now I build Executable which depends on Assembly and I expect VisualStudio/MsBuild somehow copy content files to output so Assembly can work. But it doesn't happen.

Currently I resolve this problem manually: either by adding these files as links to Executable project or copying at build events. Is there any way to resolve this problem in automatic way?

Is it absolutely necessary to keep the BuildAction = Content? — MAXE, Aug 28 '12 at 07:42
Try to Clean the entire solution and Rebuild all: I tried on my machine an it works wihout problems (in a WPF solution). And it's possible on MSDN: look at the "Content Files" section of http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa970494(v=vs.100).aspx#Content_Files — MAXE, Aug 28 '12 at 07:54

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

If you manually edit the .csproj file representing your project, this can be accomplished.

For instance, let's say you have a folder called "binaries" that you need to be copied to the output directory (I recommend using build action of None and Copy to Output Directory Always, but this method can work for either, as I'll show below).:

Close visual studio, with none of your "binaries" files or folder added. In windows explorer, browse to your project directory, and manually create this "binaries" folder, with the required files. Then, edit the .csproj file for the project with a text editor. Look for a section of the file with several "ItemGroup" tags. You'll want to make this addition:

<ItemGroup>
    <None Include="binaries\**\*.*">
        <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </None>
</ItemGroup>

When you open the project in Visual Studio again, you will find your inclusions with the correct build action and copy settings.

The same could be done with the Content build action, instead:

<ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="binaries\**\*.*" />
</ItemGroup>

However, I've had less success using this in the wild.

This is another answer that addresses this issue:

Is there a way to automatically include content files into asp.net project file?

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 29 '12 at 12:04

//this is the class library project
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;

namespace ClassLibrary1
{
    public class Class1
    {
        public Class1()
        {
            string res = "";
            using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("TextFile1.txt"))
            {
                res = sr.ReadToEnd();
            }
            Console.WriteLine("ok dll {0}",res);
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}
//I add a text file which name is TextFile1.txt with BuildAction = Content and Copy to output = //Always 
//it contains a sentence
i am in the file no problem


//a console application that refers the class library
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Data;
using ClassLibrary1;

namespace ConsoleApplication4
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Class1 c = new Class1();

        }
    }
}


//it is ok, with a rebuild all if you update the text file...

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 01 '12 at 23:25

0

You can change the BuildAction to EmbeddedResource, that way it's within the Assembly and you can access it easily.

answered Sep 01 '12 at 23:25

Bojan Bjelic

3,522
1
17
18

BuildAction=Content recursively

3 Answers3