build-dot-bat

build.bat is a .bat file that allows developers to run a build script locally with just a double click.

build.bat is not for use on a build server. A build server will have it's own method of finding MSBuild, and launching a build script. Ideally developers could run the same build script on their local machine.

build.bat will check a list of known paths for MSBuild, and use the latest version on the machine. The list of know paths would need to be updated as new versions are released.

Running the build

• Double click build.bat to launch the build.
• Right click build.bat and select "Run as Administrator".
  • for projects that must be built using "Run as Administrator"

The build log

To make it easy to check the overall status of a build, build.bat will rename the log file depending on the result. Further details can be found in the build log.

• Success.Log.txt
  • The build passed
  • MSBuild return code 0
• Error.Log.txt
  • The build failed
  • MSBuild return code not 0

Setup

• Create your own build script named build.xml
• Copy build.bat alongside your build script

Rules for picking the msbuild version:

1. Prefer newer a version to older versions
2. Prefer %ProgramFiles(x86)% to %ProgramFiles%
   • on x64 Windows MSBuild is installed to %ProgramFiles(x86)%
   • on x86 Windows, MSBuild is installed to %ProgramFiles%
   • older versions are installed to %WinDir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework
3. Prefer x86 to x64 versions of msbuild
4. Prefer BuildTools versions to Visual Studio Versions
5. Prefer "Bigger" Visual Studio versions
   • Enterprise, Professional, Community

Sample build.xml and Project

The included build script and sample project provide a working example for build.bat. The project was made using Visual Studio 2019, and the build probably requires a minimum of installing Build Tools for Visual Studio 2019.

Resources on Creating Batch Files

• DosTips.com
• Rob van der Woude's Scripting Pages