$(TargetPath) or $(TargetDir) are empty on PostBuild event on netstandard project

[marcusien]

Hi,

There's an issue with post build event on netstandard library.
when executing a post build event, the $(TargetDir) et $(TargetPath) macros are empty while they are not empty on the "post build event command line" wizard on visual studio.

You can reproduce it easily by

creating a netstandard project library
put an echo "Target path is : " $(TargetPath)"
then build the project
take a look at output window
This works for $(SolutionDir) or other macros

[ripenko]

ProjectDir, OutDir, ProjectName don't work also

[nivinj]

Also ConfigurationName

[dsplaisted]

We will probably be disabling pre and post build events and recommend people use targets instead. For example:

  <Target Name="PreBuild" BeforeTargets="PreBuildEvent">
    <Exec Command="echo Before Build: $(OutDir)" />
  </Target>

  <Target Name="PostBuild" AfterTargets="PostBuildEvent">
    <Exec Command="echo After Build: $(OutDir)" />
  </Target>

Closing this issue as a duplicate of #677. See also dotnet/project-system#1569 which is for updating the property pages in VS.

[QuantumHive]

Where can we find these recommendations? I had to find it out the hard way after banging my head for hours why the events didn't work.

[CaledoniaProject]

This saved my day. The easiest solution is to remove <PostBuildEvent> in the csproj file then recreate the script in Visual Studio.

[icnocop]

Related: dotnet/try-convert#269

[paul-datatech911]

This saved my day. The easiest solution is to remove <PostBuildEvent> in the csproj file then recreate the script in Visual Studio.

What do you mean by this @CaledoniaProject ? We have PostBuild events that use signtool.exe to sign assemblies from .NetFramework projects that were then run through the upgrade-assistant for VS2022/net6 targeting. Those no longer work presumably because many of the macros we use no longer exist in the SDK-style projects and/or VS2022.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\ClickOnce\SignTool\signtool.exe" sign /f "G:\codesign.pfx" /p ****** /tr "http://timestamp.sectigo.com" /td sha256 /fd sha256 ""

What does "recreate the script in Visual Studio" mean exactly?

[SirBogman]

What does "recreate the script in Visual Studio" mean exactly?

It means to go to the project properties page, go to the build/events section, then paste in your pre-build and post-build events.

It will create new targets for you like the following, as long as you delete the old <PostBuildEvent> and <PreBuildEvent> first.

  <Target Name="PreBuild" BeforeTargets="PreBuildEvent">
    <Exec Command="echo Before Build: $(OutDir)" />
  </Target>

  <Target Name="PostBuild" AfterTargets="PostBuildEvent">
    <Exec Command="echo After Build: $(OutDir)" />
  </Target>

[krypt-lynx]

  <Target Name="PreBuild" BeforeTargets="PreBuildEvent">
    <Exec Command="echo &quot;pre-build&quot;&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;git describe --tag --dirty --always &gt; &quot;$(ProjectDir)\git.txt&quot;&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;cd &quot;$(TargetDir)&quot;&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;echo &quot;target dir:&quot;&#xD;&#xA;echo &quot;$(TargetDir)&quot;&#xD;&#xA;echo &quot;current dir:&quot;&#xD;&#xA;cd&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;del /Q *.*" />
  </Target>

I have this...
I editing my projects by hand and this is utterly unreadable.

[KalleOlaviNiemitalo]

@krypt-lynx would a PropertyGroup with a CDATA section work?

  <Target Name="PreBuild" BeforeTargets="PreBuildEvent">
    <PropertyGroup>
      <PreBuildCommands><![CDATA[echo "pre-build"

git describe --tag --dirty --always > "$(ProjectDir)\git.txt"

cd "$(TargetDir)"

echo "target dir:"
echo "$(TargetDir)"
echo "current dir:"
cd

del /Q *.*]]></PreBuildCommands>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Exec Command="$(PreBuildCommands)" />
  </Target>