Choose Element (MSBuild)
Note
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Evaluates child elements to select one set of ItemGroup
elements and/or PropertyGroup
elements to evaluate.
<Project>
<Choose>
<When>
<Choose>
...
<Otherwise>
<Choose>
...
Syntax
<Choose>
<When Condition="'StringA'=='StringB'">... </When>
<Otherwise>... </Otherwise>
</Choose>
Attributes and Elements
The following sections describe attributes, child elements, and parent elements.
Attributes
None.
Child Elements
Element | Description |
---|---|
Otherwise | Optional element. Specifies the block of code PropertyGroup and ItemGroup elements to evaluate if the conditions of all When elements evaluate to false . There may be zero or one Otherwise elements in a Choose element, and it must be the last element. |
When | Required element. Specifies a possible block of code for the Choose element to select. There may be one or more When elements in a Choose element. |
Parent Elements
Element | Description |
---|---|
Otherwise | Specifies the block of code to execute if the conditions of all When elements evaluate to false . |
Project | Required root element of an MSBuild project file. |
When | Specifies a possible block of code for the Choose element to select. |
Remarks
The Choose
, When
, and Otherwise
elements are used together to provide a way to select one section of code to execute out of a number of possible alternatives. For more information, see Conditional Constructs.
Example
The following project uses the Choose
element to select which set of property values in the When
elements to set. If the Condition
attributes of both When
elements evaluate to false
, the property values in the Otherwise
element are set.
<Project
xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" >
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration Condition="'$(Configuration)' == ''">Debug</Configuration>
<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
<RootNamespace>ConsoleApplication1</RootNamespace>
<AssemblyName>ConsoleApplication1</AssemblyName>
<WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
</PropertyGroup>
<Choose>
<When Condition=" '$(Configuration)'=='debug' ">
<PropertyGroup>
<DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
<DebugType>full</DebugType>
<Optimize>false</Optimize>
<OutputPath>.\bin\Debug\</OutputPath>
<DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="UnitTesting\*.cs" />
<Reference Include="NUnit.dll" />
</ItemGroup>
</When>
<When Condition=" '$(Configuration)'=='retail' ">
<PropertyGroup>
<DebugSymbols>false</DebugSymbols>
<Optimize>true</Optimize>
<OutputPath>.\bin\Release\</OutputPath>
<DefineConstants>TRACE</DefineConstants>
</PropertyGroup>
</When>
<Otherwise>
<PropertyGroup>
<DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
<Optimize>false</Optimize>
<OutputPath>.\bin\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
<DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
</PropertyGroup>
</Otherwise>
</Choose>
<Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
</Project>