Engine.BinPath Property

Definition

Namespace:

Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine

Assembly:

Microsoft.Build.Engine.dll

Caution

Avoid setting BinPath. If you were simply passing in the .NET Framework location as the BinPath, no other action is necessary. Otherwise, define Toolsets instead in the registry or config file, or by adding elements to the Engine's ToolsetCollection, in order to use a custom BinPath.

Gets or sets the path to MSBuild.exe.

public:
 property System::String ^ BinPath { System::String ^ get(); void set(System::String ^ value); };

[System.Obsolete("Avoid setting BinPath. If you were simply passing in the .NET Framework location as the BinPath, no other action is necessary. Otherwise, define Toolsets instead in the registry or config file, or by adding elements to the Engine's ToolsetCollection, in order to use a custom BinPath.")]
public string BinPath { get; set; }

[<System.Obsolete("Avoid setting BinPath. If you were simply passing in the .NET Framework location as the BinPath, no other action is necessary. Otherwise, define Toolsets instead in the registry or config file, or by adding elements to the Engine's ToolsetCollection, in order to use a custom BinPath.")>]
member this.BinPath : string with get, set

Public Property BinPath As String

Property Value

String

The path to MSBuild.exe.

Attributes

ObsoleteAttribute

Examples

The following example creates an Engine object and uses the BuildProjectFile method to build a project file. The FileLogger class is used to log information to a file.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine;

namespace BuildAProjectCS
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Instantiate a new Engine object
            Engine engine = new Engine();

            // Point to the path that contains the .NET Framework 2.0 CLR and tools
            engine.BinPath = @"c:\windows\microsoft.net\framework\v2.0.xxxxx";

            // Instantiate a new FileLogger to generate build log
            FileLogger logger = new FileLogger();

            // Set the logfile parameter to indicate the log destination
            logger.Parameters = @"logfile=C:\temp\build.log";

            // Register the logger with the engine
            engine.RegisterLogger(logger);

            // Build a project file
            bool success = engine.BuildProjectFile(@"c:\temp\validate.proj");

            //Unregister all loggers to close the log file
            engine.UnregisterAllLoggers();

            if (success)
                Console.WriteLine("Build succeeded.");
            else
                Console.WriteLine(@"Build failed. View C:\temp\build.log for details");
        }
    }
}

Module Module1
    'Add references to Microsoft.Build.Framework and
    'Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine
    Sub Main()
        'Create a new Engine object
        Dim engine As New Engine()

        'Point to the path that contains the .NET Framework 2.0 CLR and tools
        engine.BinPath = "c:\windows\microsoft.net\framework\v2.0.xxxxx"

        'Instantiate a new FileLogger to generate a build log
        Dim logger As New FileLogger()

        'Set logfile parameter to indicate the log destination
        logger.Parameters = "logfile=c:\temp\build.log"

        'Register the logger with the engine
        engine.RegisterLogger(logger)

        'Build the project file
        Dim success As Boolean = engine.BuildProjectFile("c:\temp\validate.proj")

        'Unregister all loggers to close the log file
        engine.UnregisterAllLoggers()

        If success Then
            Console.WriteLine("Build succeeded.")
        Else
            Console.WriteLine("Build failed. View C:\temp\build.log for details.")
        End If
    End Sub

End Module

Remarks

In MSBuild 3.5, the "BinPath" is superseded by the "ToolsPath." Therefore, in the .Targets file, use MSBuildToolsPath rather than MBBuildBinPath. In the MSBuild object model, "BinPath" relates to the Toolset you are running. The steps to get the path from the build engine are as follows:

1. Get the default tools version.

2. Get the Toolset map.

3. Find the Toolset, based on the string in the map.

4. Get the Toolset.

5. Get the path from the Toolset.

This procedure is not required if you are creating the engine. In that case, you already know the Toolset path.

Because projects in a solution can use different Toolsets, you can also obtain the MSBuild.exe path from the project, as follows.

project.EvaluatedProperties[ReservedPropertyNames.toolsPath].FinalValue   

For more information about Toolsets, see MSBuild Tool Set (ToolsVersion).