How to use Msbuild.Community.Tasks.Version in a csproj file

Question

I want to use the VersionTask from the MSBuild Community Tasks to set the Revision calculation type. However, I am having difficulty understanding how to actually wire up the task within my csproj file.

The project has an AssemblyInfo.cs which has the following attribute defined:

[assembly: AssemblyVersion("3.2.5.*")]

What I want to do is over-ride the generation of the Revision number handling with my own custom handling.

I have put the customised Version task into the csproj file as follows:

<UsingTask TaskName="MyCo.Build.Tasks.Version" AssemblyFile="$(SolutionDir)\..\Build\.build\MyCo.Build.Tasks.dll" />

The actual task is then called as follows:

  <Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<Message Text="Setting Revision Number to $(BuildNumber)" />
<MyCo.Build.Tasks.Version RevisionType="BuildServerNumber" Revision="$(BuildNumber)" /></Target>

I can see the target BeforeBuild being called because of the Message Task but the exe file still has the standard generated numbering as follows: File Version : 3.2.5.27547

I was expecting something like 3.2.5.111 (the build number passed into MSBuild as a parameter).

As the Version task is overriding the default handling of the '*' value for Revision I don't believe it is necessary to actually modify the AssemblyInfo.cs file.

Do I need to pass the output value from the Version task into an MSBuild parameter? Do I actually need to use the AssemblyVersion task to update the values in the file?

Obviously I am trying to avoid having to change the AssemblyInfo.cs, I just want to override the Version number handling.

Can someone advise please?

EDIT: I just found the following example of usage in the chm file from the installer which partly answers my question.

           <Version BuildType="Automatic" RevisionType="Automatic" Major="1" Minor="3" >
            <Output TaskParameter="Major" PropertyName="Major" />
            <Output TaskParameter="Minor" PropertyName="Minor" />
            <Output TaskParameter="Build" PropertyName="Build" />
            <Output TaskParameter="Revision" PropertyName="Revision" />
        </Version>
        <Message Text="Version: $(Major).$(Minor).$(Build).$(Revision)"/>

However, when I run the build I can output the generated Assembly Version in a Message task but the exe file still has the default Revision as before

Answer 1

I got a resolution to this here: How to override the revision number

In the end I had to actually update the AssemblyInfo file for each project during the build. So on the build server (TeamCity) I placed the code I needed in the Microsoft.Common.targets file so that it wasn't required in each project ad then passed the release number and TeamCity build number to each build task.

Answer 2

The Revision is the number of days since 1/1/2000 when you set it to Automatic - you can supply your own "StartDate" if you want.