We Keep Coding

Python as a post-build step to C#

I'm looking into ways to execute python as part of a C# build.
Specifically, I want to create a Python package based on a C# project through python.net. My general idea was to build the C# project first. And then, as some sort of post-build step, invoke python to build a package based on the newly generated NET assemblies.
I can't presume python will installed on the build host, so ideally I want to include a "portable" - even more ideally, nuget-based - python distribution.
I have found a promising nuget package, but am not entirely sure of its usage. It incldues no C# code, but has all python binaries included, and has build props as copy/pasted below for reference.
Given on that package's props - can I somehow reference its binaries from my own project as a post-build step?
Say, for example, I want to add a post-build step to my own project, that simply just invokes "python.exe" after the build. How could I do that?
My own project:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp2.1</TargetFramework>
<GenerateProgramFile>false</GenerateProgramFile>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="python" Version="3.10.0-a6" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="MyCustomStep" AfterTargets="Build">
<!-- .. now what? I can't seem to access. e.g. #(PythonHome) or $(PythonHome) from here --/>
<Target>
</Project>
Props of the python package from nuget:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup Condition="$(Platform) == 'X64'">
<PythonHome Condition="$(PythonHome) == ''">$([System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath("$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)\..\..\tools"))</PythonHome>
<PythonInclude>$(PythonHome)\include</PythonInclude>
<PythonLibs>$(PythonHome)\libs</PythonLibs>
<PythonTag>3.10</PythonTag>
<PythonVersion>3.10.0-a6</PythonVersion>
<IncludePythonExe Condition="$(IncludePythonExe) == ''">true</IncludePythonExe>
<IncludeDistutils Condition="$(IncludeDistutils) == ''">false</IncludeDistutils>
<IncludeLib2To3 Condition="$(IncludeLib2To3) == ''">false</IncludeLib2To3>
<IncludeVEnv Condition="$(IncludeVEnv) == ''">false</IncludeVEnv>
<GetPythonRuntimeFilesDependsOn>_GetPythonRuntimeFilesDependsOn310_None;$(GetPythonRuntimeFilesDependsOn)</GetPythonRuntimeFilesDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="$(Platform) == 'X64'">
<ClCompile>
<AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(PythonInclude);%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
<RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDLL</RuntimeLibrary>
</ClCompile>
<Link>
<AdditionalLibraryDirectories>$(PythonLibs);%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
</Link>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
<Target Name="GetPythonRuntimeFiles" Returns="#(PythonRuntime)" DependsOnTargets="$(GetPythonRuntimeFilesDependsOn)" />
<Target Name="_GetPythonRuntimeFilesDependsOn310_None" Returns="#(PythonRuntime)">
<ItemGroup>
<_PythonRuntimeExe Include="$(PythonHome)\python*.dll" />
<_PythonRuntimeExe Include="$(PythonHome)\python*.exe" Condition="$(IncludePythonExe) == 'true'" />
<_PythonRuntimeExe>
<Link>%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
</_PythonRuntimeExe>
<_PythonRuntimeDlls Include="$(PythonHome)\DLLs\*.pyd" />
<_PythonRuntimeDlls Include="$(PythonHome)\DLLs\*.dll" />
<_PythonRuntimeDlls>
<Link>DLLs\%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
</_PythonRuntimeDlls>
<_PythonRuntimeLib Include="$(PythonHome)\Lib\**\*" Exclude="$(PythonHome)\Lib\**\*.pyc;$(PythonHome)\Lib\site-packages\**\*" />
<_PythonRuntimeLib Remove="$(PythonHome)\Lib\distutils\**\*" Condition="$(IncludeDistutils) != 'true'" />
<_PythonRuntimeLib Remove="$(PythonHome)\Lib\lib2to3\**\*" Condition="$(IncludeLib2To3) != 'true'" />
<_PythonRuntimeLib Remove="$(PythonHome)\Lib\ensurepip\**\*" Condition="$(IncludeVEnv) != 'true'" />
<_PythonRuntimeLib Remove="$(PythonHome)\Lib\venv\**\*" Condition="$(IncludeVEnv) != 'true'" />
<_PythonRuntimeLib>
<Link>Lib\%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)</Link>
</_PythonRuntimeLib>
<PythonRuntime Include="#(_PythonRuntimeExe);#(_PythonRuntimeDlls);#(_PythonRuntimeLib)" />
</ItemGroup>
<Message Importance="low" Text="Collected Python runtime from $(PythonHome):%0D%0A#(PythonRuntime->' %(Link)','%0D%0A')" />
</Target>
</Project>

That is for the use of internal nuget rather than your main project. You cannot get that property under main project.
You have to use my function:
1) edit csproj file and set this for your PackageReference python
<GeneratePathProperty>true</GeneratePathProperty>
Like this:
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="python" Version="3.10.0-a6">
<GeneratePathProperty>true</GeneratePathProperty>
</PackageReference>
</ItemGroup>
2) Then, you can use $(Pkgpython) to get that path.
<Target Name="MyCustomStep" AfterTargets="Build">
<Exec Command="$(Pkgpython)\tools\python.exe" />
</Target>

MSBuild. Create EmbeddedResource before build

I want to embed local references in the assembly before compiling the main unit. But the written target does not work.
<Target Name="EmbedLocal" BeforeTargets="CoreCompile">
<Message Text="Run EmbedLocal for $(MSBuildProjectFullPath)..." Importance="high"/>
<ItemGroup>
<EmbeddedResource Include="#( ReferencePath->WithMetadataValue( 'CopyLocal', 'true' )->Metadata( 'FullPath' ) )"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Message Text="Embed local references complete for $(OutputPath)$(TargetFileName)." Importance="high" />
</Target>
#(EmbeddedResource) at this moment contains valid list of paths.
Update:
Now my import file contains:
<Project ToolsVersion="$(MSBuildToolsVersion)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<EmbedLocalReferences Condition=" '$(EmbedLocalReferences)' == '' ">True</EmbedLocalReferences>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="EmbedLocal" BeforeTargets="ResolveReferences" Condition=" '$(EmbedLocalReferences)' == 'True' ">
<Message Text="Run EmbedLocal for $(MSBuildProjectFullPath)..." Importance="high"/>
<ItemGroup>
<EmbeddedResource Include="#(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths->WithMetadataValue( 'Extension', '.dll' )->Metadata( 'FullPath' ))">
<LogicalName>%(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.Filename)%(ReferenceCopyLocalPaths.Extension)</LogicalName>
</EmbeddedResource>
</ItemGroup>
<Message Text="Embed local references complete for $(OutputPath)$(TargetFileName)." Importance="high" />
</Target>
</Project>
It works fine. Output assembly contains all .dll references as EmbeddedResource.

MSBuild. Create EmbeddedResource before build
You can try to use BeforeBuild action to the csproj file to include the embedded resources:
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
...
<ItemGroup>
<EmbeddedResource Include="..."/>
</ItemGroup>
...
</Target>
Now MSBuild will add this file as embedded resource into your assembly.
Update:
Thanks #Martin Ullrich. He pointed out the correct direction, we could use <Target Name="EmbedLocal" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild"> in the Directory.Build.props to resolve this issue. You can check if it works for you.
<Target Name="EmbedLocal" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
...
<ItemGroup>
<EmbeddedResource Include="..."/>
</ItemGroup>
...
</Target>

Substring under PropertyGroup in msbuild props not working when property is passed as argument to msbuild

In my props file, i pass the BUILD_VERSION to dotnet msbuild using properties as /p:BUILD_VERSION=1.2.3.4. However, i get errors on when performing Substring operation on property BuildVersion which gets its value from : BUILD_VERSION.
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<IntermediateOutputPath>./obj/</IntermediateOutputPath>
<BuildVersion>$(BUILD_VERSION)</BuildVersion>
<InformationalVersion>$(BuildVersion)</InformationalVersion>
<BuildMajorVersion>$([System.String]::Concat($(BuildVersion.Substring(0, $(BuildVersion.IndexOf('.')))), ".0.0.0"))</BuildMajorVersion>
<AssemblyVersion>$(BuildMajorVersion)</AssemblyVersion>
<AssemblyFileVersion>$(BuildMajorVersion)</AssemblyFileVersion>
</PropertyGroup>
The error that i get is : """.Substring(0,-1)" length should be inside the string
I checked that BUILD_VERSION is present by printing in it in Message.
<Target Name="SetBuildVersions" BeforeTargets="BeforeBuild">
<Message Importance="High" Text="BUILD_VERSION=$(BUILD_VERSION)"/>
</Target>
It prints BUILD_VERSION=1.2.3.4.
If i hardcode <BuildVersion>1.2.3.4</BuildVersion> instead of <BuildVersion>$(BUILD_VERSION)</BuildVersion> below, it works.
If i use the Substring code inside a Target it works :
<Target Name="SetBuildVersions" BeforeTargets="BeforeBuild">
<PropertyGroup>
<InformationalVersion>$(BuildVersion)</InformationalVersion>
<BuildMajorVersionOnly>$([System.String]::Concat($(BuildVersion.Substring(0, $(BuildVersion.IndexOf('.')))), ".0.0.0"))</BuildMajorVersionOnly>
<AssemblyVersion>$(BuildMajorVersionOnly)</AssemblyVersion>
<AssemblyFileVersion>$(BuildMajorVersionOnly)</AssemblyFileVersion>
</PropertyGroup>
</Target>
Why can't i use the Substring inside normal PropertyGroup when passing BUILD_VERSION as property argument to msbuild ?

Change assembly name for build settings in .csproj

I have an application which I want to publish with ClickOnce via command line. I have a test and a live version. It should be allowed to have both installed at the same time, which means that I need to change the assemble name (and preferably also the product name) for one of the builds. I would like to do this in the build settings.
I have managed to make some build settings, which works fine, but I cannot figure out how to change the assembly and product name, for just one of them.
I have added the following code to my .csproj file, which I call with the command msbuild /target:Test or msbuild /target:Live. But where do I implement the assembly and product name change?
<PropertyGroup>
<ProjLocation>$(ProjectDir)</ProjLocation>
<ProjLocationReleaseDir>$(ProjLocation)\bin\Debug</ProjLocationReleaseDir>
<ProjPublishLocation>$(ProjLocationReleaseDir)\app.publish</ProjPublishLocation>
<DeploymentFolder>C:\MyProjects\Software\Publish\</DeploymentFolder>
</PropertyGroup>
<!-- Build settings for live version -->
<Target Name="Live" DependsOnTargets="Clean">
<MSBuild Projects="$(ProjLocation)\$(ProjectName).csproj"
Properties="$(DefaultBuildProperties)"
Targets="Publish"/>
<ItemGroup>
<SetupFiles Include="$(ProjPublishLocation)\*.*"/>
<UpdateFiles Include="$(ProjPublishLocation)\Application Files\**\*.*"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="#(SetupFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(DeploymentFolder)\Live\" />
<Copy SourceFiles="#(UpdateFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(DeploymentFolder)\Live\Application Files\%(RecursiveDir)"/>
</Target>
<!-- Build settings for test version -->
<Target Name="Test" DependsOnTargets="Clean">
<MSBuild Projects="$(ProjLocation)\$(ProjectName).csproj"
Properties="$(DefaultBuildProperties)"
Targets="Publish"/>
<ItemGroup>
<SetupFiles Include="$(ProjPublishLocation)\*.*"/>
<UpdateFiles Include="$(ProjPublishLocation)\Application Files\**\*.*"/>
</ItemGroup>
<Copy SourceFiles="#(SetupFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(DeploymentFolder)\Public Test\" />
<Copy SourceFiles="#(UpdateFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(DeploymentFolder)\Public Test\Application Files\%(RecursiveDir)"/>
</Target>

You can add "AssemblyName" property to the PropertyGroup. like this:
<PropertyGroup>
<AssemblyName>YourAppName</AssemblyName>
</PropertyGroup>
or you can use the MSBuild command line switch. like this :
msbuild /property:AssemblyName=YourAppName

I had almost the same task (need to distinguish between Staging and Production) and I solved it with the following MSBuild-Target:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="12.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<!-- call "nuget restore Deployment\packages.config" before executing this script -->
<Import Project="..\packages\MSBuildTasks.1.5.0.235\build\MSBuildTasks.targets" />
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration>Release</Configuration>
<ClientProject>..\MyProject\MyProject.vbproj</ClientProject>
<ClientPublishDir Condition="$(Environment) == 'Staging'">\\deployment-staging\MyProject\</ClientPublishDir>
<ClientPublishDir Condition="$(Environment) == 'Production'">\\deployment\MyProject\</ClientPublishDir>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ClientModifiedAppConfig Include="$(ClientProject)\..\App.$(Environment).config" />
</ItemGroup>
<Target Name="DeployClient">
<Error Condition="$(Environment) == ''" Text="The Property 'Environment' has not been set." />
<Error Condition="$(Environment) != 'Staging' AND $(Environment) != 'Production'" Text="The Property 'Environment' has not been set properly. Valid values are 'Staging' and 'Production'." />
<!-- Sets different assembly names for INT and PRD applications. Due to this, both INT and PRD applications with the
same version number can be installed on the same system. -->
<XmlUpdate Condition="$(Environment) == 'Staging'" Prefix="n" Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" XmlFileName="$(ClientProject)" Xpath="/n:Project/n:PropertyGroup/n:AssemblyName" Value="MyProjectStaging" />
<XmlUpdate Condition="$(Environment) == 'Staging'" Prefix="n" Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" XmlFileName="$(ClientProject)" Xpath="/n:Project/n:PropertyGroup/n:ProductName" Value="MyProject Staging" />
<XmlUpdate Condition="$(Environment) == 'Production'" Prefix="n" Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" XmlFileName="$(ClientProject)" Xpath="/n:Project/n:PropertyGroup/n:AssemblyName" Value="MyProject" />
<XmlUpdate Condition="$(Environment) == 'Production'" Prefix="n" Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" XmlFileName="$(ClientProject)" Xpath="/n:Project/n:PropertyGroup/n:ProductName" Value="MyProject" />
<!-- Overwrites the original App.config with the environment-dependent App.config.
Reason: ClickOnce only uses App.config and does not apply transformations, as it is done in Web Projects. -->
<Copy
SourceFiles="#(ClientModifiedAppConfig)"
DestinationFiles="$(ClientProject)\..\App.config"
OverwriteReadOnlyFiles="true"
/>
<!-- Publish -->
<MSBuild
Projects="$(ClientProject)"
Targets="Publish"
Properties="
PublishDir=$(ClientPublishDir);
Configuration=$(Configuration);
Platform=x86" />
</Target>
</Project>
To make this work, you have to restore the NuGet package MSBuildTasks.
Finally, all I have to call is msbuild Deployment.targets /t:DeployClient /p:Environment=Staging
Hope that helps!

How to call second target in Msbuild

I need to call the second target in the msbuild but when I'm calling it in the cmd it shows error my code is give below
MsBuild.csproj
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<PropertyGroup>
<alen>123456</alen>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="FirstTarget">
<Message Text="Hello World $(alen)" />
</Target>
<Target Name="SecondTarget">
<Message Text="The second target" />
</Target>
</Project>
The first target called successfully but I cant load the second Target...How it is possible???

Since you have not defined it, the default target is the first target in the file, FirstTarget. To call the second target from the command line you need call it explicitly with /t:SecondTarget. You can use /t:FirstTarget;SecondTarget if you want to run both.
You could also define SecondTarget to always come after first target. Use the AfterTargets attribute like so:
<Target Name="SecondTarget" AfterTargets="FirstTarget">
Now msbuild msbuild.proj would call both targets.

I know this is a really old post, but you can also have one target call other targets.
<Target Name="Build">
<CallTarget Targets="PreBuild"/>
<CallTarget Targets="Main"/>
<CallTarget Targets="AfterBuild"/>
</Target>

Have you tried
%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe "D:\test_2\MsBuild\MsBuild\BuildScript\MsBuild.csproj" /t:SecondTarget
?

Another option is to define a default target in your build file and than define the order of targets using the DependsOnTargets:
<Project DefaultTargets="DefaultTarget" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" ToolsVersion="3.5">
<Target Name="DefaultTarget" DependsOnTargets="FirstTarget;SecondTarget">
<Message Text="Executing DefaultTarget" />
</Target>
<!-- your targets -->
</Project>
The targets defined in DependsOnTargets will run before the target itself is running.
Doing it this way, you do not need to set the /t: parameter in your call.