Wix post build event order

I have the following Wix project. In post build event I would like to use the target path, which is modified in BeforeBuild target. The modification is to create msi filename with assembly version. However, in post build event target is not modified yet and the value is based on OutputName only.

<Project>
  <Import Project="Sdk.props" Sdk="WixToolset.Sdk" Version="4.0.2" />
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputName>Server</OutputName>
    <Name>ServerInstaller</Name>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|x86' ">
    <DefineConstants>Debug</DefineConstants>
    <SuppressIces>ICE61;ICE57</SuppressIces>
    <BindFiles>false</BindFiles>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\userve\userve.csproj">
      <Name>userve</Name>
      <Project>{b20b1c16-7dfd-40f4-a0cb-6b7bb227d10f}</Project>
      <Private>True</Private>
      <DoNotHarvest>True</DoNotHarvest>
      <RefProjectOutputGroups>Binaries;Content;Satellites</RefProjectOutputGroups>
      <RefTargetDir>INSTALLFOLDER</RefTargetDir>
    </ProjectReference>
  </ItemGroup>
  <Import Project="Sdk.targets" Sdk="WixToolset.Sdk" Version="4.0.2" />
  <Target Name="BeforeBuild">
    <GetAssemblyIdentity AssemblyFiles="$(SolutionDir)Control\bin\$(Configuration)\Control.dll">
      <Output ItemName="AssemblyInfo" TaskParameter="Assemblies" />
    </GetAssemblyIdentity>
    <CreateProperty Value="$(OutputName).%(AssemblyInfo.Version)">
      <Output PropertyName="TargetName" TaskParameter="Value" />
    </CreateProperty>
    <CreateProperty Value="$(TargetName)$(TargetExt)">
      <Output PropertyName="TargetFileName" TaskParameter="Value" />
    </CreateProperty>
    <CreateProperty Value="$(TargetDir)$(TargetFileName)">
      <Output PropertyName="TargetPath" TaskParameter="Value" />
    </CreateProperty>
  </Target>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <PostBuildEvent>echo $(TargetPath)</PostBuildEvent>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

How to get modified TargetPath in post build event?

Solution

From my understanding,the issue may be caused by two reasons. One is that the target BeforeBuild is not run. Another is Common macros for MSBuild commands and properties override issue.

1.You can specify a post build event from Project menu->click {ProjectName} Properties->Select Build > Events->Post-build Event. Visual Studio modifies your project file by adding the PostBuild target and the necessary MSBuild code to execute the steps you provided. example:

<PropertyGroup>
    <RunPostBuildEvent>Always</RunPostBuildEvent>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name="PostBuild" AfterTargets="PostBuildEvent">
    <Message Text="$(TargetPath)" Importance="high" />
</Target>

Then build the project and watch the value of $(TargetPath) and see if it has been modified.

2.Rename the TargetPath to TargetPath_customize（different name from commonly used macros).

<CreateProperty Value="$(TargetDir)$(TargetFileName)">
    <Output PropertyName="TargetPath_customize" TaskParameter="Value" />
</CreateProperty>

Docs Referred:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/reference/build-events-page-project-designer-csharp?view=vs-2022

Hope it can help you.