Build vs2005 solution with msbuild from .net 3.5

1. Ensure that the project C is a dependency of project B. (In this case there isn't a project B but if there was then make sure.)

2. Edit project C's proj file in a text editor. Add the followingat the bottom of the file but before the closing project tag, where a.sln is the solution for project A.

   <ItemGroup>
      <ProjectsToBuild Include="a.sln"/>
   </ItemGroup>
   <Target Name="BeforeBuild">
      <MSBuild
            Projects="@(ProjectsToBuild)"
            Targets="Build" ToolsVersion="2.0">
                     <Output
                     TaskParameter="TargetOutputs"
                     ItemName="AssembliesBuiltByChildProjects" />
       </MSBuild>
       <Copy SourceFiles="@(TargetOutputs)"
                   DestinationFolder="@(SolutionDir)\References"
         />
     </Target>
   

3. Create a references folder under you solution and ensure that it is marked as a reference folder for project C.

4. Build Project B.

I haven't tested it but the concept should work.

I just deal with it like this. Go to the properties of your reference and do this:

Set "Copy local = false"
Save
Set "Copy local = true"
Save

and that's it.

Visual Studio 2010 doesn't initially put: <private>True</private> in the reference tag and setting "copy local" to false causes it to create the tag. Afterwards it will set it to true and false accordingly.