MSBuild, VS2008 solution and CI - what are the best practices?

Question

I am setting up a CI system for VS2008/C# desktop project, nothing fancy, just a build/test cycle. CI will be running under Hudson using MSBuild/MSTest, but I can't seem to decide on a how to do a few things, maybe you can help me out?

My options for running the project in the CI are:

• Run the .sln directly from MSBuild
• Run the .csproj directly from MSBuild
• Create a separate MSBuild project referencing the .sln or .csproj as an MSBuild task
• Create a separate MSBuild project importing some stuff (property groups or item groups) from the .csproj

If I wouldn't need to run tests, I would most probably just used the 1st option (run the .sln with MSBuild). But I need to add a task for running the tests, so I can't seem to decide if I should add the task/target to the .csproj's or do it in a separate project. One thing I want to achieve is that when I change my .sln or one of the .csproj, ideally I shouldn't have to touch anything else to be able to keep running successfully in the CI.

Another question is around running the MSTest - is Exec task sufficient or should I write/use some MSTest task (can't seem find one on the .Net)

Answer 1

The Test task is a built-in task for MSBuild in .NEt 3.5 Framework, as is code coverage. Just search on the BeforeTest and CoreTest-targets on MSDN. Not very hard, just include something like:

   <ItemGroup>
      <TestContainer Include="$(OutDir)\BuildTestProject.dll" />
   </ItemGroup>

   <ItemGroup>
      <MetaDataFile Include="$(SolutionRoot)\BuildTest.vsmdi" />
   </ItemGroup>

   <PropertyGroup>
      <RunConfigFile>$(SolutionRoot)\LocalTestRun.testrunconfig</RunConfigFile>
   </PropertyGroup>

should work..