MSBuild Looping

Question

Hi,

In my project file, I am reading XML tags of a file like this:

<Target Name="ReadXML">
<Message Text="Calling ReadXML"/>

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[1]/Testcase">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase1id" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[1]/Description">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase1desc" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[1]/Result">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase1res" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[2]/Testcase">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase2id" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[2]/Description">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase2desc" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[2]/Result">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase2res" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[3]/Testcase">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase3id" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[3]/Description">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase3desc" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[3]/Result">
<Output PropertyName="TestCase3res" TaskParameter="Value"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

and so on.. As you can see for every Case I have to rewrite the same lines of code again. Is it possible to use a loop here whereby I can simply replace the Case[no] with a variable.

Please help.

Thanks,

Answer 1

Hi sbrars,

You can add the variable to itemgroup like:

    <ItemGroup>

      <Xps Include="/TestCases/Case[1]">

        <CaseNo>1</CaseNo>

      </Xps>

      <Xps Include="/TestCases/Case[2]">

        <CaseNo>2</CaseNo>

      </Xps>

      <Xps Include="/TestCases/Case[3]">

        <CaseNo>3</CaseNo>

      </Xps>

          ...

    </ItemGroup >
And you can modify your codes like:

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[%(Xps.CaseNo)]/Testcase">

  <Output PropertyName="TestCase1id" TaskParameter="Value"/>

</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[%(Xps.CaseNo)]/Description">

  <Output PropertyName="TestCase1desc" TaskParameter="Value"/>

</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile TaskAction="ReadElementText" File="$(SolutionRoot)\Preferences\TestCaseResult.xml" XPath="/TestCases/Case[%(Xps.CaseNo)]/Result">

  <Output PropertyName="TestCase1res" TaskParameter="Value"/>

</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Xml.XmlFile>

If you have any concerns about this issue, please feel free to let us know.

Best regards,

---

Ego [MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 2

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. My xml file from which I am reading the tags has following structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" ?>

- <TestCases>

- <Case No="1">

  <Testcase>ID="108160"</Testcase>

  <Description>Verify "AppStudioCoreXT" is getting loaded</Description>

  <Result />

</Case>

- <Case No="2">

  <Testcase>ID="108168"</Testcase>

  <Description>Verify "AppStudioUIXT" is getting loaded</Description>

  <Result />

</Case>

- <Case No="3">

  <Testcase>ID="108177"</Testcase>

  <Description>Verify HTML5 Palette on Windows</Description>

  <Result>FAIL</Result>

</Case>

</TestCases>

This means I have to define all my testcases which are already there in xml into <ItemGroup> tag. Also If I have 50 testcases in future or maybe more, all of them need to be explicitly specified in <ItemGroup> tag.

Please advise.

Thanks,

Suman

-

Answer 3

Hi sbrars,

If you want to run msbuild by this way, yes, you will add them to itemgroup.

I will do some researches. If I find a better way, I will post here immediately.

Best regards,

---

Ego [MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 4

Hi,

I would really appreciate if you can help me with a better solution otherwise writing all of the xml file again into the ItemGroup tag would not make sense.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks,

Suman