C# – Add a msbuild task that runs after building a .NET Core project in Visual Studio 2017 RC

ccsprojmsbuildvisual-studio-2017

Is there something like the AfterBuild Target in msbuild with .NET Core in Visual Studio 2017 RC?

I tried to add the following snipped to the .csproj file, but it is not excuted during a build (Contrary to VS2015 where it does work).

<Target Name="AfterBuild">
  <Message Importance="High" Text="This is a test" />
</Target>

Another interesting discovery: As I thought that the AfterBuild target might have been removed – running msbuild <project.csproj> /t:AfterBuild doesn't seem to call the added target. If I rename the target to "Test" an call it with msbuild <project.csproj> /t:Test it works just fine.

Additionally, is there any documentation on the msbuild version (and possibly the .NET Core build scripts) shipping with Visual Studio 2017 RC?

Best Answer

An alternative is to use the AfterTargets attribute on the Target. Something like:

<Target Name="TestTarget" AfterTargets="Build">
  <Message Importance="High" Text="This is a test" />
</Target>

I'm not sure why "AfterBuild" wouldn't work any more, but this appears to be a conscious decision by the maintainers of MSBuild (h/t to Livven on pointing me to this github issue). "AfterBuild" was a special name that was used by the Build target. The current version of Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets still has it:

  <PropertyGroup>
    <BuildDependsOn>
      BeforeBuild;
      CoreBuild;
      AfterBuild
    </BuildDependsOn>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <Target
      Name="Build"
      Condition=" '$(_InvalidConfigurationWarning)' != 'true' "
      DependsOnTargets="$(BuildDependsOn)"
      Returns="$(TargetPath)" />
  <!--
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