MsTest: how to set the deployment item relative to either $(ProjectDir) or $(OutDir)

Question

I want to add an deployment item to my test. As far as I understood up until now, the path is relative to the solution. I want the path to be relative to the project. Otherwise, the project can't be used in multiple solutions. How can I configure the deployment Item to be relative to a project dependent variable?

I was hoping for something like: [DeploymentItem(@"$(ProjectDir)..\..\bin\$(Configuration)")] but I don't find any documentation and it does not seem to work.

---

I just did a small test. Just plain wizard code and one deployment item:

[TestMethod]
[DeploymentItem("stdafx.cpp")]
void TestMethod1()
{
    Assert::Fail();
};

and the trx file shows the following line:

Warning: Test Run deployment issue: Failed to get the file for deployment item 'stdafx.cpp' specified by the test 'TestProject1.UnitTest1.TestMethod1': System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\Development\Projects\deploymentItemTest\stdafx.cpp'. System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file 'd:\Development\Projects\deploymentItemTest\stdafx.cpp'. File name: 'd:\Development\Projects\deploymentItemTest\stdafx.cpp'

which means that "stdafx.cpp" is searched relative to the solution directory (which is in ...\depoymentItemTest) and not the project directory (which is in ...\depolymentItemTest\TestProject1)

Answer 1

I know this is an old question, but my answer may help others. I was able to solve this problem with two simple steps:

1. Create the following build event on the test project:

   xcopy /I /S /Y  "$(TargetDir)*.*" "$(SolutionDir)\bin"
   

   This will copy all the contents (including sub-directories) of the project folder to a folder "bin" relative to the solution.

2. Add the following DeploymentItem to the test class:

   [DeploymentItem ("bin")]
   

   This will copy all the bin contentes to the test folder

This mechanism may be refined (if required) with additional filters both in the build event and the DeploymentItem

Answer 2

Let the test setup copy the file to Environment.CurrentDirectory.