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.NET Framework 3.5
ITaskItem Interface

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This page is specific to
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:
.NET Framework Class Library
ITaskItem Interface

Defines an MSBuild item that can be consumed and emitted by tasks.

Namespace:  Microsoft.Build.Framework
Assembly:  Microsoft.Build.Framework (in Microsoft.Build.Framework.dll)
Visual Basic (Declaration)
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
<GuidAttribute("8661674F-2148-4F71-A92A-49875511C528")> _
Public Interface ITaskItem
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As ITaskItem
C#
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
[GuidAttribute("8661674F-2148-4F71-A92A-49875511C528")]
public interface ITaskItem
Visual C++
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
[GuidAttribute(L"8661674F-2148-4F71-A92A-49875511C528")]
public interface class ITaskItem
JScript
public interface ITaskItem

The number of ITaskItem objects created during a build may not correspond exactly to items declared in a project file for the following reasons:

  • Tasks sometimes create items that were not declared in the project file.

  • An item collection can be declared in the project file with wildcards, which could create many items when built.

The following example shows the code for a task that creates one or more directories.

C#
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Security;
using System.Collections;
using Microsoft.Build.Framework;
using Microsoft.Build.Utilities;

namespace Microsoft.Build.Tasks
{
    /*
     * Class: MakeDir
     *
     * An MSBuild task that creates one or more directories.
     *
     */
    public class MakeDir : Task
    {
        // The Required attribute indicates the following to MSBuild:
        //         - if the parameter is a scalar type, and it is not supplied, fail the build immediately
        //         - if the parameter is an array type, and it is not supplied, pass in an empty array
        // In this case the parameter is an array type, so if a project fails to pass in a value for the 
            // Directories parameter, the task will get invoked, but this implementation will do nothing,
            // because the array will be empty.
        [Required]
            // Directories to create.
        public ITaskItem[] Directories
        {
            get
            {
                return directories;
            }

            set
            {
                directories = value;
            }
        }

        // The Output attribute indicates to MSBuild that the value of this property can be gathered after the
        // task has returned from Execute(), if the project has an <Output> tag under this task's element for 
        // this property.
        [Output]
        // A project may need the subset of the inputs that were actually created, so make that available here.
        public ITaskItem[] DirectoriesCreated
        {
            get
            {
                return directoriesCreated;
            }
        }

        private ITaskItem[] directories;
        private ITaskItem[] directoriesCreated;

        /// <summary>
        /// Execute is part of the Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITask interface.
        /// When it's called, any input parameters have already been set on the task's properties.
        /// It returns true or false to indicate success or failure.
        /// </summary>
        public override bool Execute()
        {
            ArrayList items = new ArrayList();
            foreach (ITaskItem directory in Directories)
            {
                // ItemSpec holds the filename or path of an Item
                if (directory.ItemSpec.Length > 0)
                {
                    try
                    {
                        // Only log a message if we actually need to create the folder
                        if (!Directory.Exists(directory.ItemSpec))
                        {
                            Log.LogMessage(MessageImportance.Normal, "Creating directory " + directory.ItemSpec);
                            Directory.CreateDirectory(directory.ItemSpec);
                        }

                        // Add to the list of created directories
                        items.Add(directory);
                    }
                    // If a directory fails to get created, log an error, but proceed with the remaining 
                    // directories.
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        if (ex is IOException
                            || ex is UnauthorizedAccessException
                            || ex is PathTooLongException
                            || ex is DirectoryNotFoundException
                            || ex is SecurityException)
                        {
                            Log.LogError("Error trying to create directory " + directory.ItemSpec + ". " + ex.Message);
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            throw;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

            // Populate the "DirectoriesCreated" output items.
            directoriesCreated = (ITaskItem[])items.ToArray(typeof(ITaskItem));

            // Log.HasLoggedErrors is true if the task logged any errors -- even if they were logged 
            // from a task's constructor or property setter. As long as this task is written to always log an error
            // when it fails, we can reliably return HasLoggedErrors.
            return !Log.HasLoggedErrors;
        }
    }
}

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0
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