How do I get the current date time on a Post-build action in a Delphi build

Question

I'm trying to save the compilation time of a project on a text file every time a project is compiled/built, so I've tried to put the following command in the project's options Post-Build Action:

echo %date% %time% > "$(PROJECTDIR)\$(PROJECTNAME).txt"

But Cmd-style %date% variables won't work. I've also tried the following:

• MSBuild-style $(date)
• MSBuild 4-style $([System.DateTime]::Now.ToString(yyyy.MMdd))

• Calling cmd:

  cmd.exe /C echo %date% %time% > "$(PROJECTDIR)\$(PROJECTNAME).txt"
  

But none of those options work. I know there are Community Tasks that enable this sort of thing but I'm trying to avoid the need to install them in every developer's PC.

Answer 1

You can pull the date/time from the project you just built and send it to a text file, with the date and time on a single line. Add this to the post-build commands:

for /f "tokens=1,2,3 delims= " %%i in ('dir "$(OUTPUTDIR)$(OUTPUTFILENAME)" ^| find "$(OUTPUTFILENAME)"') do echo %%i %%j %%k > "$(PROJECTDIR)$(PROJECTNAME).txt"

Answer 2

Use the date and time commands to output the time and date. Pass the /t switch to tell these commands just to output the current value.

C:\>date /t
25/09/2013

C:\>time /t
15:06

So, to put these values into a file do this:

date /t > "$(PROJECTDIR)\$(PROJECTNAME).txt"
time /t >> "$(PROJECTDIR)\$(PROJECTNAME).txt"

Perhaps writing this information to a file isn't the best solution to your problem. The compiler will write the build date into the output file. TOndrej's answer to this question shows how to retrieve it: