MSBuild Well-known Item Metadata

Note

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The following table describes the metadata assigned to every item upon creation. In each example, the following item declaration was used to include the file C:\MyProject\Source\Program.cs in the project.

<ItemGroup>  
    <MyItem Include="Source\Program.cs" />  
</ItemGroup>  
Item Metadata Description
%(FullPath) Contains the full path of the item. For example:

C:\MyProject\Source\Program.cs
%(RootDir) Contains the root directory of the item. For example:

C:\
%(Filename) Contains the file name of the item, without the extension. For example:

Program
%(Extension) Contains the file name extension of the item. For example:

.cs
%(RelativeDir) Contains the path specified in the Include attribute, up to the final backslash (\). For example:

Source\
%(Directory) Contains the directory of the item, without the root directory. For example:

MyProject\Source\
%(RecursiveDir) If the Include attribute contains the wildcard **, this metadata specifies the part of the path that replaces the wildcard. For more information on wildcards, see How to: Select the Files to Build.

If the folder C:\MySolution\MyProject\Source\ contains the file Program.cs, and if the project file contains this item:

<ItemGroup>

<MyItem Include="C:\**\Program.cs" />

</ItemGroup>

then the value of %(MyItem.RecursiveDir) would be MySolution\MyProject\Source\.
%(Identity) The item specified in the Include attribute.. For example:

Source\Program.cs
%(ModifiedTime) Contains the timestamp from the last time the item was modified. For example:

2004-07-01 00:21:31.5073316
%(CreatedTime) Contains the timestamp from when the item was created. For example:

2004-06-25 09:26:45.8237425
%(AccessedTime) Contains the timestamp from the last time the item was accessed.

2004-08-14 16:52:36.3168743

See Also

Items
Batching
MSBuild Reference