Is it possible to change the Build Action of a file in pre-build events?

Question

I want a file (robots.txt) to only publish when I am using a certain build configuration. Is there a way to handle this in pre-build events?

Answer 1

Yes you can do this. Two things that you may need to do:

• Manual fiddling with the .proj file in text editor (or Visual Studio when project is unloaded)
• Use of MSBUILD conditional execution

Sample code to get you started. Adjust it at will

<Target Name="AfterBuild" Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Production'">
     <Copy 
            SourceFiles=".../robot.txt" 
            DestinationFolder="..."/>
</Target>

Answer 2

An other option would be to use the $(ConfigurationName) macro within the VisualStudio build events editor:

if $(ConfigurationName)=="Production" copy robots.txt destinationpath