rfb: Marrying MSBuild and PowerShell

Mar 14 2010

It took me longer than expected to support this script, but it’s available in the current source now:

Project "Default"

 Target "Default"
   @files <= smallPNGs -Capture:FullName, Extension
   Message "%(files.Identity) and extension %(files.Extension)"

 PS:smallPNGs <<END
   echo "Returning small pngs"
   cd C:\users\xyz\Documents
   Get-ChildItem -Recurse |
   Where-Object { $_.Extension -eq ".png" -and $_.Length -lt 7000 } |
   select FullName, Extension
 END

The syntax used is described in more detail in the new syntax section on the rfb source site wiki.

What happens is that this is the first of a couple of use cases surrounding a seamless integration of PowerShell with MSBuild. So far, you can define PowerShell.scripts, use them to fill item groups, and use those item groups in MSBuild tasks. ~~When the integration is feature complete you will be able to~~The integration allows you to

Capture a single output value of PowerShell directly into a property
Run a PowerShell script without expecting any output
Write the PowerShell scripts inline in your targets as if they were MsBuild tasks
Pass parameters into your script
Have the PowerShell scripts log into the same Console that rfb is running in.