MSBuild - how to copy files that may or may not exist?

Question

I have a situation where I need to copy a few specific files in a MSBuild script, but they may or may not exist. If they don't exist it's fine, I don't need them then. But the standard <copy> task throws an error if it cannot find each and every item in the list...

Answer 1

Use the Exists condition on Copy task.

<CreateItem Include="*.xml">   <Output ItemName="ItemsThatNeedToBeCopied" TaskParameter="Include"/> </CreateItem>  <Copy SourceFiles="@(ItemsThatNeedToBeCopied)"       DestinationFolder="$(OutputDir)"       Condition="Exists('%(RootDir)%(Directory)%(Filename)%(Extension)')"/>