MSBuild Task syntax for deleting files

Question

I'm trying to write a MSBuild Task that deletes the Obj directory and PDBs from my bin folder on my production build scripts and can't seem to get it to work right.

Does anyone have an example where they do this or similar, or a link to a simple example of removing files and a directory with MSBuild?

Answer 1

If you're looking to delete an entire directory you require the RemoveDir task:

<RemoveDir Directories="Path/To/Obj" />

And if you're wanting to delete the PDB files from bin you'll want the Delete task:

<Delete Files="Path/To/Bin/MyApp.pdb" />

Note that you cannot use wildcards in the Delete task, so if you have multiple pdb files you're have to provide an ItemGroup as an argument.

Answer 2

You can delete the files in those directories first and then the dir itself with

<Target Name="SomeTarget">

<ItemGroup>
    <FilesToDelete Include="Path\To\Obj\**\*"/>
</ItemGroup>

<Delete Files="@(FilesToDelete)" />

<RemoveDir Directories="Path\To\Obj\" />
</Target>