VBPROJ / CSPROJ

Question

I'm trying to dig into the XML for a VBPROJ file. Does anyone know where I can find a good resource that explains the structure and attribute usage?

Answer 1

csproj or vbproj files are nothing but msbuild xml files, which would be consumed by msbuild.exe. These xml files adhere to msbuild schema namely: Microsoft.Build.xsd.

1. see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/5dy88c2e.aspx for msbuild schema reference.
2. Read Sara Ford's blog post about editing csproj/vbproj files in VS IDE here
3. Where is the MSBuild schema file?
4. Another post on msdn blogs about editing csproj/vbproj files

Answer 2

Take a look at this code. It contains a simple parser for VS solutions and csproj files. Vbproj shouldn't be much different, so you should be able to extend it for your needs. It's licensed under the MIT license.

Answer 3

If you're looking for this info in order to programatically rip through some vbproj files, you'll probably want to take a look at Microsoft.Build.Engine.dll. Referencing this component gives you access to the MSBuild object model, which can be used to read and manipulate MSBuild files (which csproj and vbproj files are).