Copy to output directory copies the folder structure, but only for copying files

Question

I have a VS2008. I want to copy certain files from a directory to the /bin/ folder. I set the files (located in /common/browserhawk/ ) to "Copy to output directory". However, it also copies the folder structure: files are copied to /bin/common/browserhawk/

How do I get these files to copy only /bin/ ? I do not want to store them in the root directory of the website to make them copy correctly.

Related question: Visual Studio adds DLL and .pdb for the project after compilation

Answer 1

You can add a Post Build message to copy files.
Go to the project properties, tab "Events" and add the following to the command line of the event "After assembly":

 copy "$(ProjectDir)\common\browserhawk\*.*" "$(TargetDir)" 

Be sure to include quotation marks if there are spaces in your project path.

Answer 2

Since I cannot comment on the previous answers, I will put the solution here:

Add to what @PaulAlexander provided, add the following to your .csproj / .vbproj file:

 <ItemGroup> <AvailableItemName Include="RootContent"> <Visible>false</Visible> </AvailableItemName> </ItemGroup> <Target Name="AfterBuild"> <Copy DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" SourceFiles="@(RootContent)" SkipUnchangedFiles="true" /> </Target> 

This allows you to select “RootContent” as the “Build” action in the Properties window, and can be accessed through the GUI. A more complete explanation: the "AvailableItemName" option basically creates a new named list that you can assign to project elements under the "Build Action" property in the "Properties" window. Then you can use this newly created list in any target (for example, via "@ (RootContent)").

Answer 3

If you edit .csproj / .vbproj in a text editor, you can control where the file is located in the output directory, as well as what the file name will be in the output directory. For example:

 <None Include="content\someContent.txt"> <Link>someContentInOutputDirectory.txt</Link> <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory> </None> 

This will put the file content\someContent.txt in bin\someContentInOutputDirectory.txt . You can also select a subdirectory in bin if you wish; just add it to the link element.

Answer 4

I believe the XCOPY team handles directories and files better. Hence,

  XCOPY "$(ProjectDir)common/browserhawk" "$(TargetDir)" /E /I /F /Y 

This allows you to create folders from the target directory.

  XCOPY "$(ProjectDir)Templates" "$(TargetDir)" /E /I /F /Y 

Project folder / file structure:

  A:\TEMP\CONSOLEAPPLICATION3\TEMPLATES ├───NewFolder1 ├───NewFolder2 │ TextFile1.txt │ TextFile2.txt └───NewFolder3 TextFile1.txt TextFile2.txt TextFile3.txt 

becomes:

  A:\TEMP\CONSOLEAPPLICATION3\BIN\DEBUG │ ConsoleApplication3.exe │ ConsoleApplication3.pdb │ ConsoleApplication3.vshost.exe │ ConsoleApplication3.vshost.exe.manifest ├───NewFolder1 ├───NewFolder2 │ TextFile1.txt │ TextFile2.txt │ └───NewFolder3 TextFile1.txt TextFile2.txt TextFile3.txt 

Answer 5

Add the following to the .csproj / .vbproj file:

 <Target Name="AfterBuild"> <Copy DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" SourceFiles="@(RootContent)" SkipUnchangedFiles="true" /> </Target> 

Then change the build action of any files you want in the root folder to RootContent.

Answer 6

I used this in VS2010 and VS2015. I prefer this solution because:

• XML can be reused in any project
• "RootContent" is selected as a build action in the Visual Studio user interface, like any other "content"
• "CopyToOutputDirectory" is respected, as expected.
• RootContent is added to the project exit: it is transferred via Project-References, submits to "Clean", etc.
• RootContent can be specified using a wildcard, preserving the structure of recursive folders:

   <RootContent Include="common\browserhawk\**"> <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory> </RootContent> 

To the beginning of the project file:

  <ItemGroup> <AvailableItemName Include="RootContent"> <!-- Add "RootContent" as a choice in the "Build Action" dropdown. --> <Visible>False</Visible> </AvailableItemName> </ItemGroup> 

Adopted from this answer.

After importing Microsoft.targets Import:

  <PropertyGroup> <AssignTargetPathsDependsOn> $(AssignTargetPathsDependsOn); IncludeRootContentAsContent; </AssignTargetPathsDependsOn> </PropertyGroup> <Target Name="IncludeRootContentAsContent"> <CreateItem Include="@(RootContent)" AdditionalMetadata="TargetPath=%(RecursiveDir)%(Filename)%(Extension)"> <Output ItemName="ContentWithTargetPath" TaskParameter="Include" /> </CreateItem> </Target> 

Adopted from this answer.

Answer 7

I ended up adding a step to the nant build file to copy after successful execution

 <target name="action.copy.browserhawk.config" depends="compile.source"> <copy todir="${App.Web.dir}/bin/" includeemptydirs="false"> <fileset basedir="${browserhawk.config.dir}"> <include name="bhawk_bb.dat" /> <include name="bhawk_sp.dat" /> <include name="browserhawk.properties" /> <include name="maindefs.bdd" /> <include name="maindefs.bdf" /> <include name="BH_PRO.lic" /> </fileset> </copy> <echo message="COPY BROWSERHAWK CONFIG: SUCCESS ${datetime::now()}" /> </target> 

Answer 8

You can create a batch file to copy files and execute it as an event after assembly.