Programmatically create a csproj on the fly without Visual Studio installed

Question

I am attempting to generate a .csproj file programatically using the MSBuild namespace, but the lack of code samples is making this a tedious and error prone process.

So far, I have got the following code but I am not sure how to add classes, references and such to the project.

public void Build()
{
    string projectFile = string.Format(@"{0}\{1}.csproj", Common.GetApplicationDataFolder(), _project.Target.AssemblyName);
    Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Project p = new Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Project();

    ProjectCollection pc = new ProjectCollection();

    Dictionary<string, string> globalProperty = new Dictionary<string, string>();

    globalProperty.Add("Configuration", "Debug");
    globalProperty.Add("Platform", "x64");

    BuildRequestData buildRequest = new BuildRequestData(projectFile, globalProperty, null, new string[] { "Build" }, null);

    p.Save(projectFile);

    BuildResult buildResult = BuildManager.DefaultBuildManager.Build(new BuildParameters(pc), buildRequest);
}

Thanks.

I would love to know the use case of this. You want to generate csproj files for someone else, who has VS, to use? — lbstr
– lbstr, Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 15:47
Sounds like a strange request. Have you looked at the Mono source on GitHub? — Adam47
– Adam47, Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 15:50
This is not a strange request. I want to generate an API dynamically that contains some functionality taken from an XML file that determines what will be included in the API. I will then call MSBuild to compile the project into an actual assembly. — Intrepid
– Intrepid, Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 15:55
This sounds like an XY problem. It is possible to dynamically emit assemblies using Reflection.Emit or compile dynamically generated code using CodeDom. I don't see why MSBuild is necessary based on what you've told us. — Mike Zboray
– Mike Zboray, Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 16:11
You are using the MSBuild api. It consumes project files, it doesn't create them. You need XmlWriter.Create() — Hans Passant
– Hans Passant, Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 16:29

Mike Zboray · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-03 21:02:02Z

If you really want to create a proj file with MSBuild API you have to use the Microsoft.Build.Construction namespace. Most of the types you will need are in the Micrsoft.Build.dll assembly. A short sample that creates a project file with a few properties and item groups:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var root = ProjectRootElement.Create();
        var group = root.AddPropertyGroup();
        group.AddProperty("Configuration", "Debug");
        group.AddProperty("Platform", "x64");

        // references
        AddItems(root, "Reference", "System", "System.Core");

        // items to compile
        AddItems(root, "Compile", "test.cs");

        var target = root.AddTarget("Build");
        var task = target.AddTask("Csc");
        task.SetParameter("Sources", "@(Compile)");
        task.SetParameter("OutputAssembly", "test.dll");

        root.Save("test.csproj");
        Console.WriteLine(File.ReadAllText("test.csproj"));
    }

    private static void AddItems(ProjectRootElement elem, string groupName, params string[] items)
    {
        var group = elem.AddItemGroup();
        foreach(var item in items)
        {
            group.AddItem(groupName, item);
        }
    }
}

Note that this just creates the proj file. It doesn't run it. Also, properties like "Configuration" and "Platform" are only meaningful in the context of a proj file generated by Visual Studio. Here they won't really do anything unless you add more property groups with conditions the way Visual Studio does automatically.

Like I indicated in my comments, I think this is wrong way to go about this. You really just want dynamic compilation of sources, which is available through CodeDom:

using System.CodeDom.Compiler;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var provider = CodeDomProvider.CreateProvider("C#");
        string[] sources = {
                               @"public abstract class BaseClass { public abstract void Test(); }",
                               @"public class CustomGenerated : BaseClass { public override void Test() { System.Console.WriteLine(""Hello World""); } }"
                           };

        var results = provider.CompileAssemblyFromSource(new CompilerParameters() {
            GenerateExecutable = false,
            ReferencedAssemblies = { "System.dll", "System.Core.dll" },
            IncludeDebugInformation = true,
            CompilerOptions = "/platform:anycpu"
        }, sources);
        if (results.Errors.Count > 0)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} errors", results.Errors.Count);
            foreach(CompilerError error in results.Errors)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", error.ErrorNumber, error.ErrorText);
            }
        }
        else
        {
            var type = results.CompiledAssembly.GetType("CustomGenerated");
            object instance = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
            type.GetMethod("Test").Invoke(instance, null);
        }
    }
}

After trying to use MSBuild I have admitted defeat and decided to bow to greater wisdom and use CodeDom instead. It is possible to do it using MSBuild but it's a lot more convoluted and complicated. It would certainly have helped if Microsft had better documentation.

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