An automated MSBuild script that creates a database from scratch started failing after switching from vcvarall.bat provided by a Visual Studio 2008 install to the Visual Studio 2010 version.
For some unknown reason, the order of files listed in a ItemGroup was reversed. With files beginning with an underscore running last rather than first.
The issue was resolved by explicitly sorting the ItemGroup using a custom task from the MSBuild Extension Pack.
<!-- Have a fallback check depending on path locally or on build server -->
<PropertyGroup>
<TPath>$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\ExtensionPack\MSBuild.ExtensionPack.tasks</TPath>
<TPath Condition="Exists('C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\ExtensionPack\MSBuild.ExtensionPack.tasks')">C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\ExtensionPack\MSBuild.ExtensionPack.tasks</TPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<Import Project="$(TPath)"/>
<!-- ... -->
<Target Name="MainData">
<Message Text="Inserting Data Main (Main Data)" />
<!-- Sort an ItemGroup alphabetically -->
<MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Framework.MsBuildHelper TaskAction="Sort" InputItems1="@(MainDataFiles)">
<Output TaskParameter="OutputItems" ItemName="sorted"/>
</MSBuild.ExtensionPack.Framework.MsBuildHelper>
<Message Text="Sorted Items: %(sorted.Identity)"/>
<Exec Command="$(SqlCmdPrefix) -i %(sorted.Identity)" />
</Target>
See Also:
