Visual studio Copying a project folder to Output Directory (WPF solution)

Question

Under VS2017 I have a WPF solution that contains two projects.

I Added a "Bin" folder at SolutionDirectory level to put the generated dlls of both projects inside.

In one of my projects i have two folders that contain some xml files and a server config file.

When the build runs i would like these two folders be copied to the OutputDirectory that i created (SolutionDirectory\Bin) under a folder that have the same name of my project

Content of my solution:

-->SolutionDir
   |-->Solution.sln
   |-->MyFirstProject (Folder)
   |-->MySecondProject(folder)
   |-->Bin (Folder where dlls are generated)

Content of my MyFirstProject:

-->MyFirstProject
   |-->Configuration
      |-->Server.Config 
   |-->Topology
      |-->StartupVar.xml
      |-->SystemData.xml

what I want:

-->Bin
   |-->MyFirstProject
      |-->Configuration
      |-->Server.Config 
   |-->Topology
      |-->StartupVar.xml
      |-->SystemData.xml

   |-->MyFirstProject.Dll
   |-->MySecondProject.Dll

To copy the project DLLs I have used the Post-build event command line:

copy /Y "$(TargetDir)$(TargetName).*" "$(SolutionDir)\Bin"

I tried to do the same to copy the folders "Configuration" and "Topology" but it doesn't work.

How can I do this through Post-build event command line? or what is the best way to do it?

Answer 1

If the problem is that the COPY command doesn't create the destination folder, try using XCOPY instead, as one of your post-build commands:

xcopy /Y "$(ProjectDir)\Topology" "$(SolutionDir)\Bin\$(ProjectName)\Topology\"

Be sure to include the terminating \ . (The /Y switch prevents a confirmation before over-writing existing files.)