MSBuild reference

MSBuild is the build system for Visual Studio. The following links lead to topics that contain MSBuild reference information.

In this section

• Project file schema reference
  Describes the XML elements that make up the MSBuild file format.

• Task reference
  Describes some of the typical tasks that are included with MSBuild.

• Conditions
  Describes the conditions that are available in MSBuild files.

• Conditional constructs
  Describes how to use the Choose, When, and Otherwise elements.

• MSBuild reserved and well-known properties
  Describes the MSBuild reserved properties.

• Common MSBuild project properties
  Describes project properties that are common to all project types, and also properties that are often used by particular project types.

• Common MSBuild project items
  Describes project items that are common to all project types, and also items that are often used by particular project types.

• Command-line reference
  Describes the arguments and switches that can be used with MSBuild.exe.

• .Targets files
  Describes the .Targets file that is included in MSBuild.

• Well-known item metadata
  Lists the metadata that is created together with every item.

• Response files
  Explains the .rsp files that contain command-line switches.

• Additional resources
  Provides links to MSBuild websites and newsgroups.

• WPF MSBuild reference
  Contains an MSBuild targets and task reference for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

• Special characters to escape
  Lists the characters that may have to be "escaped" to be interpreted correctly. An escape sequence is a series of characters that signifies that what follows is an alternative interpretation.

See also

• MSBuild overview
• Microsoft.Build.Evaluation
• Microsoft.Build.Execution
• Microsoft.Build.Framework
• Microsoft.Build.Logging
• Microsoft.Build.Tasks
• Microsoft.Build.Utilities