CopyToOutputDirectory stopped working

[adrianvmsft]

Steps to reproduce

1. Enlist into this repo: https://github.com/Microsoft/VSProjectSystem/
2. Open in Visual Studio 2019
   samples/CpsExtension/CpsExtension.sln
3. In Solution Explorer, build CpsExtension.Vsix

Expected behavior

CustomDebugger.xaml file to be copied to this folder:
CpsExtension.Vsix\bin\Debug\net461\BuildSystem\Rules\CustomDebugger.xaml

Actual behavior

it doesn't get copied

Project file

<Project>

  <!-- Set these early for VSSDK to work -->
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration Condition="'$(Configuration)' == ''">Debug</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition="'$(Platform)' == ''">AnyCPU</Platform>
    <BaseOutputPath>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)bin\</BaseOutputPath>
    <BaseIntermediateOutputPath>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)obj\</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
    <IntermediateOutputPath>$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
    <OutputPath>$(BaseOutputPath)$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
    <RootNamespace>CpsExtension</RootNamespace>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <Import Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk" Project="Sdk.props" />

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net461</TargetFramework>
    <GeneratePkgDefFile>false</GeneratePkgDefFile>
    <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.VisualStudio.ProjectSystem.Sdk" Version="15.8.243" />
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.VSSDK.BuildTools" Version="15.8.3247" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <None Remove="BuildSystem\Rules\**" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Content Include="BuildSystem\**" Exclude="**\*.cs;**\*.xaml">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </Content>
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <VSIXSourceItem Include="BuildSystem\**" Exclude="**\*.cs">
      <InstallRoot>MSBuild</InstallRoot>
      <VSIXSubPath>Microsoft\VisualStudio\v15.0\CpsExtension\%(RelativeDir)</VSIXSubPath>
      <Visible>false</Visible>
    </VSIXSourceItem>
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <XamlPropertyRule Include="BuildSystem\Rules\*.xaml" Namespace="$(RootNamespace).Rules">
      <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory>
    </XamlPropertyRule>
  </ItemGroup>

  <Import Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk" Project="Sdk.targets" />
  <Import Project="$(VSToolsPath)\VSSDK\Microsoft.VsSDK.targets" Condition="Exists('$(VSToolsPath)\VSSDK\Microsoft.VsSDK.targets')" />

</Project>

MSBuild version: 16.200.19

[rainersigwald]

It sounds like this worked in an older version--can you specify which version that was?

[adrianvmsft]

I am pretty sure it worked in 15.8 (about 10 months ago) when I made some changes to the sample - https://github.com/microsoft/VSProjectSystem/commits/master/samples/CpsExtension

Unfortunately I can't tell with higher granularity. It also worked a few weeks ago, but I don't know if that was because the file was already copied to the output from previous builds.

[daveaglick]

I can also confirm CopyToOutputDirectory appears to have stopped working when I installed the .NET Core 3.0 SDK.

I have the following in my project file:

<!-- Get the logger files for later use -->
<Target Name="GetLoggerFiles" DependsOnTargets="ResolveReferences">
  <ItemGroup>
    <LoggerFiles Include="$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash($(NuGetPackageRoot)))msbuildpipelogger.logger/%(PackageReference.Version)/**/*.dll" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <Error Condition="'@(LoggerFiles)' == ''" Text="Could not find MsBuildPipeLogger.Logger files" />
</Target>
  
<!-- Workaround to pack package reference directly -->
<!-- See https://github.com/NuGet/Home/issues/3891 -->
<!-- And https://github.com/NuGet/Home/issues/4837 -->
<Target Name="PackLogger" DependsOnTargets="GetLoggerFiles">
  <ItemGroup>
      <BuildOutputInPackage Include="@(LoggerFiles)" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Target>

<!-- Also need to copy to build output so tests can find it -->
<Target Name="CopyLogger" DependsOnTargets="GetLoggerFiles" BeforeTargets="BeforeBuild">
  <ItemGroup>
      <Content Include="@(LoggerFiles)">
          <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
          <DeploymentContent>true</DeploymentContent>
      </Content>
  </ItemGroup>
</Target>

I can confirm that LoggerFiles is getting correctly set and that the PackLogger target is still correctly packing the file. The CopyToOutputDirectory task is no longer copying the file to my output though.

Note that it also appears to be intermittent for me. Whereas the copying was reliable before, it now only copies under certain conditions. It appears I can trigger a copy when I clean and rebuild everything, but when some part of the dependency chain isn't dirty it now gets skipped.

[HeinrichJanzing]

I seem to be running into a similar problem. Coming back to an older project, that relies substantially on CopyToOutputDirectory, I noticed the expected files are missing in the output after a git clean + build. Strangely, the target subfolders that are expected to contain the copied files are created, but they remain empty.

@daveaglick, @adrianvmsft: Has this problem disappeared for you at some point or have you found a workaround or solution?