web.config transform from web.template.xml not wor

Question

I'm trying to get web.config transformations working as described here. We've used this method on other projects and it works without issue, but not on this new project.

Here's what I've tried testing without success

• Changing name of wpp.targets file in case I got the project name wrong. I know the current one I'm using works since it's the only one that causes web.config to be rebuilt from web.template.xml this transform works. Only the sub templates don't work.
• Tried with xdt:Locator="Match(name)"
• Tried .config extension vs .xml, our other projects where this works use .xml
• Configuration manager is set to use the "Test" configuration for the project I'm working on.
• web.template.Test.xml has xdt:Transform="Replace" for the section I want to replace
• web.template.xml has the placeholder
• Tried removing the "CopyWebTemplateConfig" section from wpp.targets as suggested on the stack question linked below. Our other projects have this and the "PropertyGroup" section commented out and I've tried both combinations.

I've read through the above link multiple times and this related stack question, but can't see what the problem is.

Note The publish transform does work in a way. It creates a web.template.xml file that contains the values from web.template.Test.xml, but does not create a web.config.xml as the wpp.targets instructs. So this is more of an issue with getting the build transform working it seems.

Anyone have an idea of what's missing?

wpp.targets

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

  <!-- Make sure web.config will be there even for package/publish -->
  <Target Name="CopyWebTemplateConfig" BeforeTargets="Build">
    <Copy SourceFiles="web.template.xml"
          DestinationFiles="web.config"/>
  </Target>

  <PropertyGroup>
    <PrepareForRunDependsOn>
      $(PrepareForRunDependsOn);
      UpdateWebConfigBeforeRun;
    </PrepareForRunDependsOn>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <!-- This target will run right before you run your app in Visual Studio -->
  <Target Name="UpdateWebConfigBeforeRun">
    <Message Text="Configuration: $(Configuration): Web.template.$(Configuration).xml"/>
    <TransformXml Source="web.template.xml"
              Transform="web.template.$(Configuration).xml"
              Destination="web.config" />
  </Target>

  <!-- Exclude the config template files from the created package -->
  <Target Name="ExcludeCustomConfigTransformFiles" BeforeTargets="ExcludeFilesFromPackage">
    <ItemGroup>
      <ExcludeFromPackageFiles Include="web.template.xml;web.template.*.xml"/>
    </ItemGroup>
    <Message Text="ExcludeFromPackageFiles: @(ExcludeFromPackageFiles)" Importance="high"/>
  </Target>
</Project>

web.template.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
  For more information on how to configure your ASP.NET application, please visit
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=152368
  -->
<configuration>
  <configSections>           
    <sectionGroup name="TestSettings"></sectionGroup>
    ....
  </configSections>
    ....
  <TestSettings>
  </TestSettings>
   ....
</configuration>

web.template.Test.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- For more information on using transformations 
     see the web.config examples at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=214134. -->
<configuration xmlns:xdt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/XML-Document-Transform">
  <TestSettings xdt:Transform="Replace">
    ...
  </TestSettings>
</configuration>

MSBuild output

Target "UpdateWebConfigBeforeRun: (TargetId:143)" in file "C:\...\Project.wpp.targets" from project "C:\...\Project.csproj" (target "PrepareForRun" depends on it):
Task "Message" (TaskId:93)
  Configuration: Test: Web.template.Test.xml (TaskId:93)
Done executing task "Message". (TaskId:93)
Task "TransformXml" (TaskId:94)
  Transforming Source File: Web.template.xml (TaskId:94)
    Applying Transform File: Web.template.Test.xml (TaskId:94)
    Executing Replace (transform line 5, 18) (TaskId:94)
      on /configuration/TestSettings (TaskId:94)
      Applying to 'TestSettings' element (source line 121, 4) (TaskId:94)
      Replaced 'TestSettings' element (TaskId:94)
    Done executing Replace (TaskId:94)
    Output File: web.config (TaskId:94)
  Transformation succeeded (TaskId:94)
Done executing task "TransformXml". (TaskId:94)
Done building target "UpdateWebConfigBeforeRun" in project "Project.csproj".: (TargetId:143)

Answer 1

I've got a solution to my problem, but not sure what the cause is, so not sure if this will solve it in other cases.

I reviewed the output of the MSBuild diagnostic and noticed that towards the end there was another section that copied web.template to web.config. Note that this is after the UpdateWebConfigBeforeRun target already ran and made its updates from the sub template transform file to web.config. It looked like this last step was overriding the web.config with the transform I wanted.

I wasn't sure where this last set of copy instruction was coming from, so I did a search for all files on my PC looking for other wpp.target files. I found another one in Slow Cheetah's extensions folder and saw some section up top that was setting a property "transformOnBuild" to false.

Thinking there was a conflict with SlowCheetah, I uninstalled it and the transformations started working as expected. This was still a bit odd since the other solutions worked with SlowCheetah enabled. On a whim I re-installed SlowCheetah and the transformation continued to work as expected.

So my solution ended up being a re-installation of SlowCheetah. I'm still confused about what the cause of this issue was, so if anyone else posts an answer to this I'll give them the bounty.

Answer 2

I've had a similar issue last week. Turns out that whenever you add a project to a solution in VS 2010 the right project configuration doesn't get applied all the time. So you think you have a configuration active but another is actually active on that project, thus the transformation you expect doesn't get applied.

Check the steps in last comment of this issue: Custom solution configuration not showing up in Visual Studio 2010

Answer 3

"I know the current one I'm using works since it's the only one that causes web.config to be rebuilt from web.template.xml this transform works. Only the sub templates don't work."

Does this mean, transformation works but TestSettings section alone does not get transformed?

Can you share build output with msbuild with verbosity set to diagnostic / detailed?

Answer 4

I wrote a blog post about this subject. I use it everyday in our web application. I wrote the blog post because the feature in slowcheetah isn't ready yet. http://www.locktar.nl/general/use-config-transforms-when-debugging-your-web-application/

Answer 5

I had installed StyleCop and that was doing the overwrite for me.

So I uninstalled it and the issue was resolved.

Funny is that I re-installed the StyleCop and the transform was still working!

Also at some points I noticed that I should remove the CopyWebTemplateConfig target section as well.