VS2010 - Using to share properties between setup projects?

Question

Why doesn't it work to <Import /> this file, when it works when I replace the statement with just copy-pasting the three properties?

../../Setup.Version.proj

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <InstallerMajorVersion>7</InstallerMajorVersion>
        <InstallerMinorVersion>7</InstallerMinorVersion>
        <InstallerBuildNumber>7</InstallerBuildNumber>
    </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Works:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <InstallerMajorVersion>7</InstallerMajorVersion>
        <InstallerMinorVersion>7</InstallerMinorVersion>
        <InstallerBuildNumber>7</InstallerBuildNumber>
        <OutputName>asdf-$(InstallerMajorVersion).$(InstallerMinorVersion).$(InstallerBuildNumber)</OutputName>
        <OutputType>Package</OutputType>

Doesn't work:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
    <Import Project="../../Setup.Version.proj" />
    <PropertyGroup>
        <OutputName>asdf-$(InstallerMajorVersion).$(InstallerMinorVersion).$(InstallerBuildNumber)</OutputName>
        <OutputType>Package</OutputType>

Here the variables just evaulate to empty strings... :( I'm certain the path to the imported project is correct.

So it seems to work fine when i run msbuild from the command line, but not when I build the project inside Visual Studio. Why in the world?

Should be ok - try correct slashes "..\..\Se..." and see if MSBuild produces any kind of warnings. — Alexei Levenkov, Sep 07 '12 at 20:53
Don't know. Note: your question seem to be missing actual message for "same error". — Alexei Levenkov, Sep 07 '12 at 21:37
It's just an error related to the variables not being set. If I paste them the error goes away and it works. — , Sep 07 '12 at 22:10

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

2

I've tried to reproduce and everything works:

importme.proj

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <InstallerMajorVersion>7</InstallerMajorVersion>
        <InstallerMinorVersion>7</InstallerMinorVersion>
        <InstallerBuildNumber>7</InstallerBuildNumber>
    </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

main.proj

<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
    <Import Project="importme.proj" />
    <PropertyGroup>
        <OutputName>asdf-$(InstallerMajorVersion).$(InstallerMinorVersion).$(InstallerBuildNumber)</OutputName>
        <OutputType>Package</OutputType>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Target Name="Build">
        <Message Text="$(OutputName)"/>
    </Target>
</Project>

OUTPUT

Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 4.0.30319.17626
[Microsoft .NET Framework, version 4.0.30319.17626]
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Build started 10.09.2012 12:35:12.
Project "d:\temp\SO\main.proj" on node 1 (default targets).
Build:
  asdf-7.7.7
Done Building Project "d:\temp\SO\main.proj" (default targets).


Build succeeded.
    0 Warning(s)
    0 Error(s)

Time Elapsed 00:00:00.55

Run using

msbuild main.proj

UPDATE: You need to reload project for Include'd files to be updated or use workaround.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

Community

1
1

answered Sep 10 '12 at 09:36

Pavel Krymets

6,253
1
22
35

Aha!! It works from the command line for me too, but not from Visual studio! Why in the world? – Sep 10 '12 at 10:41
Do you have any conditions on element such as configuration|platform? May be they are different between console and VS? – Pavel Krymets Sep 10 '12 at 10:44
On which element? What I have pasted is exactly how it looks here. – Sep 10 '12 at 10:49
Try to put `` into `` – Pavel Krymets Sep 10 '12 at 10:51
Sorry, what? Just an empty , or? I don't understand :P – Sep 10 '12 at 10:53
No no, that one with `asdf-$(InstallerMajorVersion).$(InstallerMinorVersion).$(InstallerBuildNumber)` inside – Pavel Krymets Sep 10 '12 at 10:54
I can't move everything into the BeforeBuild... Only moving OutputName didnt work either, because then OutputName didn't exist where I referred to it. – Sep 10 '12 at 11:03
Can you run msbuild not on vcproj but on sln to see what will be the result – Pavel Krymets Sep 10 '12 at 11:42
let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/16492/discussion-between-pavel-krymets-and-arex1337) – Pavel Krymets Sep 10 '12 at 11:46

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 14 '12 at 07:08

The reason it didn't work is that Visual Studio had cached the included file, so that any changes I made to it didn't take effect until I reloaded the solution or restarted Visual Studio. This seems to be a limitation of VS 2010. After reloading VS 2010, everything worked as expected.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 08 '12 at 01:07

0

The Import element is only valid under the Project element. However, the code appears to want to import the values into a <ProjectGroup> element. Try declaring the values as variables in Setup.Version.proj and reference them in your main MSBuild file, such as:

<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
    <Import Project="../../Setup.Version.proj" /> <!-- Variables declared in here -->
    <PropertyGroup>
        <InstallerMajorVersion>$(MyInstallerMajorVersion)</InstallerMajorVersion>
        <InstallerMinorVersion>$(MyInstallerMinorVersion)</InstallerMinorVersion>
        <InstallerBuildNumber>$(MyInstallerBuildNumber)</InstallerBuildNumber>
        <OutputName>asdf-$(InstallerMajorVersion).$(InstallerMinorVersion).$(InstallerBuildNumber)</OutputName>
        <OutputType>Package</OutputType>

answered Sep 08 '12 at 01:07

akton

14,148
3
43
47

Darn, they're still not defined. I can't find any good examples of this online either... – Sep 08 '12 at 18:21
@arex1337 Can you post the contents of your Setup.Version.proj file, please? – akton Sep 09 '12 at 01:38
@arex1337 Hmm. The only thing I can think of is perhaps order of operations (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms171464.aspx). If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. – akton Sep 09 '12 at 05:40
In Setup.Version.proj you define `7` However in your main project file you reference `$(MyInstallerMajorVersion)` Try fixing Setup.Version.proj and see what happens. – JakeSays Sep 09 '12 at 16:05
I think you may have mistaken one of the answers for my question. I don't reference $(MyInstallerMajorVersion). I did try akton's suggestion too, without any success. – Sep 09 '12 at 16:57

VS2010 - Using to share properties between setup projects?

So it seems to work fine when i run msbuild from the command line, but not when I build the project inside Visual Studio. Why in the world?

3 Answers3

Linked