ASP.NET Core: Exclude or include files on publish

Question

There were before aspdotnet1.0 include/exclude sections on project.json file

{
  "exclude": [
    "node_modules",
    "bower_components"
  ],
  "publishExclude": [
    "**.xproj",
    "**.user",
    "**.vspscc"
  ]
}

Where is this section in ASP.NET Core 1.1 (there is no project.json)? Are there similar sections on .csproj file or .pubxml?

Answer 1

From documentation: if you wish to specify, for example, some files to get published with your app, you can still use the known mechanisms in csproj for that (for example, the <Content> element).

There is a CopyToPublishDirectory attribute for ItemGroup elements that determines whether to copy the file to the publish directory and can have one of the following value:

• Always,
• PreserveNewest
• Never

Note, that there is also similar CopyToOutputDirectory attribute for output folder.

Example (from here):

<ItemGroup>

  <None Include="notes.txt" CopyToOutputDirectory="Always" />
  <!-- CopyToOutputDirectory = { Always, PreserveNewest, Never } -->

  <Content Include="files\**\*" CopyToPublishDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
  <None Include="publishnotes.txt" CopyToPublishDirectory="Always" />
  <!-- CopyToPublishDirectory = { Always, PreserveNewest, Never } -->
</ItemGroup>

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If you are interesting how project.json -.csproj migration use CopyToPublishDirectory attribute to migrate publish options, you may look into MigratePublishOptionsRule class in dotnet cli repo.