MSBuild - Introduction
Team Foundation Build is built of off MSBuild. As such, it might be worth looking at some details of MSBuild in order to better understand what can be accomplished with Team Foundation Build. MSBuild is the build engine that is used by Visual Studio 2005. When you hit that F5 key to compile your application, behind the scenes you are using MSBuild and an MSBuild project file which was created for you automatically by Visual Studio.
Obviously, from the previous statement, MSBuild uses an MSBuild project file for running the build. Hmmm, sounds kind of like how Team Foundation Build uses a Build Type file, which of course makes sense, as Team Foundation Build is built off of MSBuild. So let's look at what makes up a MSBuild Project file.
The MSBuild Project File is an XML file that tells MSBuild what needs to be built, as well as how to build it. The file is divided into four main sections:
- Items
- Properties
- Tasks
- Targets
Items define what you want to compile. They are grouped into collections, which can then be used by Tasks.
Properties are scalar values that help configure the build.
Tasks are executable code that MSBuild uses to perform the build. Tasks are written in managed code, and can be shared and used across different projects. MSBuild ships with several tasks, and you can also create your own custom tasks.
Targets are used to group tasks together in a certain order.