Build Events Page, Project Designer (C#)

Use the Build Events page of the Project Designer to specify build configuration instructions. You can also specify the conditions under which any post-build events are run. For more information, see How to: Specify Build Events (C#)and How to: Specify Build Events (Visual Basic).

  • Configuration
    This control is not editable in this page. For a description of this control, see Build Page, Project Designer (C#).

  • Platform
    This control is not editable on this page. For a description of this control, see Build Page, Project Designer (C#).

  • Pre-build event command line
    Specifies any commands to execute before the build starts. To type long commands, click Edit Pre-build to display the Pre-build Event/Post-build Event Command Line Dialog Box.

    Note

    Pre-build events do not run if the project is up to date and no build is triggered.

  • Post-build event command line
    Specifies any commands to execute after the build ends. To type long commands, click Edit Post-build to display the Pre-build Event/Post-build Event Command Line Dialog Box.

    Note

    Add a call statement before all post-build commands that run .bat files. For example, call C:\MyFile.bat or call C:\MyFile.bat call C:\MyFile2.bat.

  • Run the post-build event
    Specifies the following conditions for the post-build event to run, as shown in the following table.

    Option

    Result

    Always

    Post-build event will run regardless of whether the build succeeds.

    On successful build

    Post-build event will run if the build succeeds. Thus, the event will run even for a project that is up-to-date, as long as the build succeeds.

    When the build updates the project output

    Post-build event will only run when the compiler's output file (.exe or .dll) is different than the previous compiler output file. Thus, a post-build event is not run if a project is up-to-date.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Specify Build Events (Visual Basic)

How to: Specify Build Events (C#)

Concepts

Project Designer User Interface Reference

Other Resources

Building Applications in Visual Studio