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?
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.
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.
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>
