How to run Visual Studio post-build events for debug build only
Pre- and Post-Build Events run as a batch script. You can do a conditional statement on $(ConfigurationName)
.
For instance
if $(ConfigurationName) == Debug xcopy something somewhere
FYI, you do not need to use goto. The shell IF command can be used with round brackets:
if $(ConfigurationName) == Debug (
copy "$(TargetDir)myapp.dll" "c:\delivery\bin" /y
copy "$(TargetDir)myapp.dll.config" "c:\delivery\bin" /y
) ELSE (
echo "why, Microsoft, why".
)
Add your post build event like normal. Then save your project, open it in Notepad (or your favorite editor), and add condition to the PostBuildEvent property group. Here's an example:
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == 'Debug' ">
<PostBuildEvent>start gpedit</PostBuildEvent>
</PropertyGroup>
Alternatively (since the events are put into a batch file and then called), use the following (in the Build event box, not in a batch file):
if $(ConfigurationName) == Debug goto :debug
:release
signtool.exe ....
xcopy ...
goto :exit
:debug
' Debug items in here
:exit
This way you can have events for any configuration, and still manage it with the macros rather than having to pass them into a batch file, remember that %1
is $(OutputPath)
, etc.