Why doesn't MSBuild copy as I would expect

Question

I\'m needing to script my build. I\'m using MSBUILD because of it\'s integration with VS.net. I am trying to copy some files from the build environment to the deployment folder

Answer 1

Just a gem we found as we were debugging MSBuild issues around copying:

http://blog.scrappydog.com/2008/06/subtle-msbuild-bug-feature.html

ItemGroups are parsed before Targets, so any Targets that create new files (e.g. compiles!) won't be picked up when an ItemGroup is referenced further along the script.

Eric Bowen also describes a work-around for this "feature", the CreateItem task:

Many kudos to him!