Why doesn't Directory.Build.props work when building a solution using Visual Studio 2017?

Question

I have a Directory.Build.props file located in the same directory as the .sln file.

 <Project>
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
  <DocumentationFile>bin\Debug\$(MSBuildProjectName).xml</DocumentationFile>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
  <DocumentationFile>bin\Release\$(MSBuildProjectName).xml</DocumentationFile>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>

When I build the solution using MSBuild, I am able to generate the XML files properly. However, using a Build -> Rebuild Solution task in Visual Studio doesn't generate the XML file.

Is there a difference in how Visual Studio 2017 builds and uses Directory.Build.props as opposed to MSbuild?

Answer 1

I had added the directory.build.props as a solution item. This somehow prevented Visual Studio from picking it up and using it in the build process. Once I removed it as a solution item, this worked fine.

Answer 2

You also might have to delete your .vs directory (or portion of) as it seems to be cached there as well.

https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/248037/defaultbuildprops-with-langversion-is-not-used-by.html

Answer 3

You need to check that your project file contains next row in the beginning of file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props" Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props')" />

Without row Import 'magic' doesn't happen. So, you need to insert this row to all your old projects