Get TFS buildNumber

Question

I need to show the build number a page. Different version of this page should show its corresponding build number. How can I do this?

My thinking is that I configure the build in some place and the build can store the version number in the source code and my program will read this.

Answer 1

You can enable assembly versioning inline with build number which will update the AssemblyInfo.cs file. Your program can read the build number from this file.

Answer 2

To get the build version simply use the following property

$(BUILD_NUMBER)

Perhaps you want to use it as part of the version of your assemblies:

http://msbuildtasks.tigris.org/

<UsingTask AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildCommunityTasksLib)" TaskName="MSBuild.Community.Tasks.AssemblyInfo" />

<MSBuild.Community.tasks.AssemblyInfo OutputFile="$(AssemblyVersionFilePath)"
      CodeLanguage="C#"
      AssemblyFileVersion="$(FileVersion)"
      AssemblyInformationalVersion="$(InformationalVersion)"
      AssemblyVersion="$(SemanticVersion)" />

Answer 3

As part of customising the build process to do assembly versioning I usually create a version.txt file that I can deploy with the site. In the global.asax I read the version at app startup and then simply use that value in a footer for each page where I want it shown. Alternatively I may read the version info from one of the assemblies I know I'm deploying with the site and use that instead. Either way works.

If you need help with automatically versioning your build, you could have a look at my blog post on it