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Touch task

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Sets the access and modification times of files.

Parameters

The following table describes the parameters of the Touch task.

Parameter Description
AlwaysCreate Optional Boolean parameter.

If true, creates any files that do not already exist.
Files Required ITaskItem[] parameter.

Specifies the collection of files to touch.
ForceTouch Optional Boolean parameter.

If true, forces a file touch even if the files are read-only.
Time Optional String parameter.

Specifies a time. Defaults to the current time (Now). The format must be parseable by the Parse method using DateTimeFormatInfo.InvariantInfo.
TouchedFiles Optional ITaskItem[] output parameter.

Contains the collection of items that were successfully touched.

Remarks

In addition to the parameters listed above, this task inherits parameters from the TaskExtension class, which itself inherits from the Task class. For a list of these additional parameters and their descriptions, see TaskExtension base class.

Example

The following example uses the Touch task to change the access and modification times of the files specified in the Files item collection, and puts the list of successfully touched files in the FilesTouched item collection.

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

<ItemGroup>
    <Files Include="File1.cs;File2.cs;File3.cs" />
</ItemGroup>

    <Target Name="TouchFiles">
        <Touch
            Files="@(Files)">
            <Output
                TaskParameter="TouchedFiles"
                ItemName="FilesTouched"/>
    </Touch>
</Target>
</Project>

See also