I want to replace a string such "how r u" in file test.xml with a string "i am fine" in another file xy.xml.using regular expression in ms build.
ie i have to read string from one file(xy.xml) and replace it in another file test.xml.
so please provide necessary steps to solve this issue with example
EDIT: This answer is obsolete. Use solution below...
Use ReadLinesFromFile task to get replacement string from the xy.xml file. Check this
Then use value from xy.xml as a replacement string for FileUpdate task. Check this
And put it all together ;)
This is no longer required... you can now inject C# into the project/build file...
Define a custom task and parameters as follows:
<UsingTask TaskName="ReplaceFileText" TaskFactory="CodeTaskFactory" AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.Build.Tasks.v4.0.dll">
<ParameterGroup>
<InputFilename ParameterType="System.String" Required="true" />
<OutputFilename ParameterType="System.String" Required="true" />
<MatchExpression ParameterType="System.String" Required="true" />
<ReplacementText ParameterType="System.String" Required="true" />
</ParameterGroup>
<Task>
<Reference Include="System.Core" />
<Using Namespace="System" />
<Using Namespace="System.IO" />
<Using Namespace="System.Text.RegularExpressions" />
<Code Type="Fragment" Language="cs">
<![CDATA[
File.WriteAllText(
OutputFilename,
Regex.Replace(File.ReadAllText(InputFilename), MatchExpression, ReplacementText)
);
]]>
</Code>
</Task>
</UsingTask>
Then simply call it like any other MSBuild task
<Target Name="AfterBuild">
<ReplaceFileText
InputFilename="$(OutputPath)File.exe.config"
OutputFilename="$(OutputPath)File.exe.config"
MatchExpression="\$version\$"
ReplacementText="1.0.0.2" />
</Target>
The above example replaces "$version$" with "1.0.0.2" in the "File.exe.config" located in the output directory.
You can use the task FileUpdate from MSBuild Community Tasks as explained in the article
http://geekswithblogs.net/mnf/archive/2009/07/03/msbuild-task-to-replace-content-in-text-files.aspx
I ran the both replacements against same file that sits on a Unix drive and used the unc path to it \server\path...:
<ReplaceFileText
InputFilename="$(fileToUpdate)"
OutputFilename="$(fileToUpdate)"
MatchExpression="15.0.0"
ReplacementText="15.3.1"/>
<FileUpdate Files="$(fileToUpdate2)"
Regex="15.0.0"
ReplacementText="15.3.1" />
and the cs custom action above does not add the bom; however the FileUpdate did:
%head -2 branding.h branding2.h
==> branding.h <==
#/* branding.h
#** This file captures common branding strings in a format usable by both sed and C-preprocessor.
==> branding2.h <==
#/* branding.h
#** This file captures common branding strings in a format usable by both sed and C-preprocessor.
Thanks csharptest.net - I was doing doing exec's with perl subtitute commands for unix builds.