Sorting incorrect when using build events and variables

[psylenced]

I was trying to create a build event that sorts the csproj files pre-build.

And have the following code:

  <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
  <PropertyGroup>
    <PreBuildEvent>
        call "$(SolutionDir)\BuildScripts\sort-csproj.cmd" "$(ProjectPath)"
    </PreBuildEvent>
  </PropertyGroup>

What I found was that when using the option CombineRootElements, the <PreBuildEvent> element gets combined and moved up to the top <PropertyGroup> parent.

The issue with this is the $(ProjectPath) needs to be after the <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" /> line otherwise the variable is blank.

This means when running the first time, it works. But running it a second time, the sorting event fails due to passing a blank parameter.

The fix is to make sure the <PreBuildEvent> (and other event elements) are excluded from the combine and also make sure they are always placed after the <Import> target elements.

[psylenced]

Code for sort-csproj.cmd for fullness:

@echo off

for %%A in ("%~dp0\..") do set "root_parent=%%~fA"

echo param: %0 %1

IF NOT EXIST "%root_parent%\BuildScripts\CsProjArrange.exe" (
	echo ERROR: Cannot find %root_parent%\BuildScripts\CsProjArrange.exe sorting utility.
	exit 1
)

echo Sorting: %~1
copy /y "%root_parent%\BuildScripts\empty.txt" "%~1.sorted" > nul
"%root_parent%\BuildScripts\CsProjArrange.exe" -i "%~1" -o "%~1.sorted" >> %%f.sorted

FC  "%~1" "%~1.sorted" > nul 
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 (
	echo csproj changed after sorting - replacing
	move /y "%~1.sorted" "%~1" > nul
) ELSE ( 
	echo csproj same - no action
	del "%~1.sorted"
)

empty.txt is just an empty text file with the 3 character BOM / UTF-8 header (EF BB BF).

[schmalls]

@Chris-GH Take a look at the Option Sections. If you have certain sections that have to appear in a specific order, you can use them to make that happen. Another benefit to this is that you can specify different options for each section.