How to use F# on CI server when using the new standalone installer for F# 3.1.1

Question

When I create a new project in Visual Studio it contains the following lines in the fsproj file:

  <Choose>
    <When Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == '11.0'">
      <PropertyGroup Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\..\Microsoft SDKs\F#\3.0\Framework\v4.0\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets')">
        <FSharpTargetsPath>$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\..\Microsoft SDKs\F#\3.0\Framework\v4.0\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets</FSharpTargetsPath>
      </PropertyGroup>
    </When>
    <Otherwise>
      <PropertyGroup Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\FSharp\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets')">
        <FSharpTargetsPath>$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\FSharp\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets</FSharpTargetsPath>
      </PropertyGroup>
    </Otherwise>
  </Choose>
  <Import Project="$(FSharpTargetsPath)" />

On the CI server this doesn't build since FSharpTargetsPath is still empty. We use the new standalone installer for F# 3.1.1 on the CI server and have no Visual Studio installed there. What do I have to add to make this work?

Answer 1

It looks to me like the choose clause might actually be incorrect. I would think that the $(VisualStudioVersion) would be empty '' if there was no visual studio install. However the $(FSharpTargetsPath) that points to is where I would expect the standalone targets file to reside. Obviously swapping out the 3.0 for a 3.1. see below.

  <Choose>
    <When Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == '11.0'">
      <PropertyGroup Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\..\Microsoft SDKs\F#\3.0\Framework\v4.0\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets')">
        <FSharpTargetsPath>$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\..\Microsoft SDKs\F#\3.0\Framework\v4.0\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets</FSharpTargetsPath>
      </PropertyGroup>
    </When>
    <Otherwise>
      <PropertyGroup Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\FSharp\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets')">
        <FSharpTargetsPath>$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\FSharp\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets</FSharpTargetsPath>
      </PropertyGroup>
      <PropertyGroup Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\..\Microsoft SDKs\F#\3.1\Framework\v4.0\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets')">
        <FSharpTargetsPath>$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\..\Microsoft SDKs\F#\3.1\Framework\v4.0\Microsoft.FSharp.Targets</FSharpTargetsPath>
      </PropertyGroup>          
    </Otherwise>
  </Choose>

Disclaimer: this is pure guess work as I'm not at a PC where I can try this.