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MSBuild and Workflow

We have been successfully using MSBuild for several years in our company. We have a very customizable .proj assembly file for each assembly specification (Release, Debug, etc.), which include many operations like:

  • Obfuscation
  • Packaging
  • Copy outputs
  • Squeezing
  • Etc

Since Microsoft included a new feature in TFS2010 for building assemblies using the Windows Workflow Foundation, we decided to change it. As Jim Lab (Team Foundation Server Program Manager) said in an article here is his general guide on when to use them:

  • If a task requires knowledge of specific inputs or outputs of an assembly, use MSBuild
  • If the task is what you need when you create Visual Studio, use MSBuild
  • If the task is what you need, only when you build the build server, use WF if it does not require knowledge of specific build inputs / outputs

I am still not quite sure about this, and I would like to know your own experience, positive things, disadvantages, etc. Your feedback would be more valuable if you modified DefaultTemplate.xaml to perform your own operations.

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We switched from MSBuild to Workflow, switching from TFS2008 to TFS2010. Some impressions:

  • MSBuild specifications work fine in Workflow when using UpgradeTemplate.xaml. This makes it easy to port TFS2008 to TFS2010.
  • MSBuild , , . . Workflow - BuildMaster.
  • MSBuild . . , .
  • Workflow , . .

: MSBuild . Workflow .

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