CODEWITHSUNDEEP
xmlmsbuildmsbuildcommunitytasks
Dean
Dean

Reputation: 5946

How do I update an XML attribute from an MSBuild script?

I am using MSBuild and MSBuild Community Tasks (using XMLUpdate and XMLMassUpdate) to update various sections of my Web.config one thing has me stumped though. If I have: 

<configuration>
    <nlog throwExceptions="true" xmlns="http://www.nlog-project.org/schemas/NLog.xsd" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
       <targets>
            <target name="file" xsi:type="File" fileName="${logDirectory}\SomeLog.log" layout="${message}"/>
        </targets>
    </nlog> 
</configuration>

and I try to replace the fileName of the target 

<XmlUpdate XmlFileName="$(BuildDir)\Builds\%(Configuration.Identity)\_PublishedWebsites\Presentation\Web.config"
           XPath="//configuration/nlog/targets/target[@fileName]"
           Value="${logDirectory}\SomeLog_%(Configuration.Identity).log" />

It reports as being unable to find anything to update, so my question is how can I get the filename attribute to updated?

EDIT: Could this be a case of namespace clashes as the NLog section defines its own namespace?

UPDATE: The posted answer declaring the name space does not work.

Upvotes: 13

Views: 13776

Answers (3)

Preet Sangha
Preet Sangha

Reputation: 65496

Here it indicates the requirement of a namespace

<XmlUpdate
   Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0"
   XmlFileName ....

can you update any other attribute?

Upvotes: 4

Chris Chilvers
Chris Chilvers

Reputation: 6479

The first problem is the xpath is incorrect for updating the attribute, it is currently looking for "target" nodes with an attribute called "fileName" rather than the "fileName" attribute of the a node called "target".

The xpath you want is: /configuration/nlog/targets/target/@fileName

As for the namespace issue, Preet Sangha has the correct answer for that, you need to use the namespace prefix, and this must be applied to every sub-element as well, since they are all in that namespace.

The final statement being:

<XmlUpdate
  Prefix="n"
  Namespace="http://www.nlog-project.org/schemas/NLog.xsd"
  XmlFileName="output.xml"
  XPath="//configuration/n:nlog/n:targets/n:target/@fileName"
  Value="${logDirectory}\UpdateWorked.log" />

Upvotes: 21

Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi
Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi

Reputation: 44322

To complete the answer given by keeperofthesoul (I think you should give him the bounty btw) take a look at:

<XmlUpdate
  XmlFileName="web.config"
  XPath="//configuration/x:nlog/x:targets/x:target/@fileName"
  Value="%24{logDirectory}\SomeLog_%(Configuration.Identity).log"
  Prefix="x"
  Namespace="http://www.nlog-project.org/schemas/NLog.xsd"
  />

Here I'm using %24 to write out the special character $.

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions