Question

I created the ItemGroup shown in the code snippet. I need to iterate through this ItemGroup and run the EXEC command – also shown in the code snippet. I cannot seem to get it to work. The code returns the error shown below (note – the Message is written 2 times, which is correct), but the EXEC Command is not running correctly. The value is not being set; therefore the EXEC is not executing at all. I need the EXEC to execute twice or by however sections I define in the ItemGroup.

ERROR:
Encrypting WebServer appSettings section
Encrypting WebServer connectionStrings section
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis.exe -pef “” “\gaw\UI” -prov “RSACustomProvider”
Encrypting configuration section…
The configuration section ” was not found.

CODE SNIPPET:

<ItemGroup>
    <SectionsToEncrypt Include="Item">
      <Section>appSettings</Section>     
    </SectionsToEncrypt>
    <SectionsToEncrypt Include="Item">     
      <Section>connectionStrings</Section>
    </SectionsToEncrypt>  
  </ItemGroup>

  <Target Name="EncryptWebServerWebConfigSections">   
    <Message Text="Encrypting WebServer %(SectionsToEncrypt.Section) section" />

    <Exec Command="$(AspNetRegIis) -pef &quot;%(SectionsToEncrypt.Section)&quot; &quot;$(DropLocation)\$(BuildNumber)\%(ConfigurationToBuild.FlavorToBuild)\$(AnythingPastFlavorToBuild)&quot; -prov &quot;$(WebSiteRSACustomProviderName)&quot;"/>
  </Target>

Answer 1

The problem is that you are batching on 2 items at a time. What I mean is the you have the statements

%(SectionsToEncrypt.Section)
%(ConfigurationToBuild.FlavorToBuild)

In the same task invocation. When you batch on more than 1 item at a time in the same task invocation, they will be batch independently. That’s why you’re error is stating The configuration section ” …

If you your FlavorToBuild just has one value what you should do is to stuff that into a property before you call to Exec and then use the property. So your one liner would then convert to:

<PropertyGroup>
    <_FlavToBuild>%(ConfigurationToBuild.FlavorToBuild)<_FlavToBuild>
</PropertyGroup>
<Exec Command="$(AspNetRegIis) -pef &quot;%(SectionsToEncrypt.Section)&quot; &quot;$(DropLocation)\$(BuildNumber)\$(_FlavToBuild)\$(AnythingPastFlavorToBuild)&quot; -prov &quot;$(WebSiteRSACustomProviderName)&quot;"/>

If you have multiple values for FlavorToBuild then it’s more complicated. You would have 2 options:

1. Hard code Exec more than once
2. Use target batching with task batching to perform the foreach/foreach

Batching is one of the most confusing elements of MSBuild. I’ve put together some online resources at http://sedotech.com/Resources#batching. If you want to know more than that then you can pick up a copy of my book.