SmartAssembly - 5.0

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Learning SmartAssembly - 5.0

Using SmartAssembly with MSBuild

If you have only one project

To integrate SmartAssembly directly into the build process:

  1. Create your project using the SmartAssembly user interface.
    Note: If you are using ClickOnce or Silverlight, the main assembly must be in the \obj\Release folder, and NOT in \bin\Release. The location of the destination assembly does not matter.
  2. Edit your C#/VB.NET project with an XML editor (or even notepad).

    The project file looks like the following:

    <Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

    <PropertyGroup>

    ...

    </PropertyGroup>

    ...

    <ItemGroup>

    ...

    </ItemGroup>

    <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />

    <!-- To modify your build process, add your task inside one of the targets below and uncomment it.

    Other similar extension points exist, see Microsoft.Common.targets.

    <Target Name="BeforeBuild">

    </Target>

    <Target Name="AfterBuild">

    </Target>

    -->

    </Project>

  3. Add a few lines after the <Import Project> block:

    <Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">

    <PropertyGroup>

    ...

    </PropertyGroup>

    ...

    <ItemGroup>

    ...

    </ItemGroup>

    <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />

    <UsingTask TaskName="SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks.Build" AssemblyName="SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=7f465a1c156d4d57" />

    <Target Name="BeforeBuild" Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == 'Release' ">

    <CreateProperty Value="true">

    <Output TaskParameter="Value" PropertyName="RunSmartAssembly"/>

    </CreateProperty>

    </Target>

    <Target Name="AfterCompile" Condition=" '$(RunSmartAssembly)' != '' ">

    <SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks.Build ProjectFile="c:\temp\TestMSBuild\TestMSBuild.{sa}proj"

    OverwriteAssembly="True" />

    </Target>

    </Project>

    The first XML node adds a reference to SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks.dll, which is installed into the GAC:

    <UsingTask TaskName="SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks.Build" AssemblyName="SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=7f465a1c156d4d57" />

    The second XML node tells MSBuild to set the RunSmartAssembly property in the BeforeBuild event, when the project is fully built in release mode:

    <Target Name="BeforeBuild" Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == 'Release' ">

    <CreateProperty Value="true">

    <Output TaskParameter="Value" PropertyName="RunSmartAssembly"/>

    </CreateProperty>

    </Target>

    If the RunSmartAssembly property is set, the last XML node tells MSBuild to protect the assembly in the AfterCompile event:

    <Target Name="AfterCompile" Condition=" '$(RunSmartAssembly)' != '' ">

    <SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks.Build ProjectFile="c:\temp\TestMSBuild\TestMSBuild.{sa}proj"

    OverwriteAssembly="True" />

    </Target>

You must set the following properties:

ProjectFile

Shows the filename of the SmartAssembly project.

OverwriteAssembly

Set to True if you want to overwrite the original assembly with the obfuscated one. If this option is not set, or set to False, SmartAssembly uses the destination file name from the ProjectFile project.

Other options are:

Input

Specify an input file name, instead of the one from the ProjectFile project.

Output

Specify the output file name for the obfuscated assembly. This property is ignored if the OverwriteAssembly property is set to True.

AssemblyVersion

Specify a specific version number for the assembly. This changes the version for the AssemblyName, not the file version.

MarkAsReleased

Set to True to automatically mark the protected assembly as released.

This is necessary if you use the error reporting feature and want to release the processed assembly. SmartAssembly adds a flag in the database to ensure that the associated map is never deleted. This avoids the multiplication of useless maps. A map file, not marked as released, is automatically deleted after 15 days without new reports. SmartAssembly assumes it was a test build, that is no longer used.

If you have multiple projects

  1. Ensure that your SA project file is stored in the $(SolutionDir)\Build\ folder. It must have the same name as the target assembly. For example, if your assembly is MyTestAssembly.dll then the sa project must be named MyTestAssembly.saproj
  2. Create a new file called SmartAssembly.targets in the SmartAssembly installation folder
  3. Paste the following code in the new file:
    <Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
    <UsingTask TaskName="SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks.Build" AssemblyName="SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=7f465a1c156d4d57" />
    <Target Name="BeforeBuild" Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == 'Release' ">
    <CreateProperty Value="true">
    <Output TaskParameter="Value" PropertyName="RunSmartAssembly" />
    </CreateProperty>
    </Target>
    <Target Name="AfterCompile" Condition=" '$(RunSmartAssembly)' != '' ">
    <Copy SourceFiles=".\obj\Release\$(TargetFileName)" DestinationFiles=".\obj\Release\$(TargetName).temp$(TargetExt)" />
    <SmartAssembly.MSBuild.Tasks.Build ProjectFile="$(SolutionDir)Build\$(TargetName).saproj" OverwriteAssembly="True" />
    </Target>
    </Project>
  4. Edit your C#/VB.NET project with an XML editor (or even notepad). Add the following line:
    <Import Project="$(YourPathToSA)\SmartAssembly.targets" />

(Thanks to Uniwares_AS who provided this tip in the SmartAssembly forum)

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