Running MSBuild programmatically

Question

I am trying to execute MSBuild programmatically and can't execute the following command:

string command = string.Format(@"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\msbuild.exe  ""{0}\{1}.csproj""", _args.ProjectPath, _args.ProjectName);

The string gets rendered as:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\msbuild.exe  "C:\...\TestResults\Foo 2011-08-31 16_29_40\Out\Foo\solutionName\projectName\projectName.csproj"

I then use new ProcessStartInfo(command). The problem seems to be the space between Foo and 2011. I get the following output:

MSBUILD : error MSB1008: Only one project can be specified.
Switch: 16_29_40\Out\Foo\solutionName\projectName\projectName.csproj

How do I pass in the project file to MSBuild?

Answer 1

I would recommend stronlgy to go the official route via classes/interfaces in Microsoft.Build namespace. Microsoft uses this all over the place, so this should count for something...

Esp. the class Microsoft.Build.Execution.BuildManager and the Singleton Microsoft.Build.Execution.BuildManager.DefaultBuildManager is what you are after to run a build task... source code examples:

• http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/msbuild/thread/ec95c513-f972-45ad-b108-5fcfd27f39bc/
• Logging Build messages with MSBuild 4.0