Project.ItemGroups Property

Gets a collection of the item groups specified with the ItemGroup element in the project.

MSBuild is now included in Visual Studio instead of the .NET Framework. You can use MSBuild 12.0 side-by-side with versions previously deployed with the .NET Framework.For more information, see What's New in MSBuild 12.0.

Namespace:  Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine
Assembly:  Microsoft.Build.Engine (in Microsoft.Build.Engine.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public ReadOnly Property ItemGroups As BuildItemGroupCollection
public BuildItemGroupCollection ItemGroups { get; }
public:
property BuildItemGroupCollection^ ItemGroups {
    BuildItemGroupCollection^ get ();
}
member ItemGroups : BuildItemGroupCollection with get
function get ItemGroups () : BuildItemGroupCollection

Property Value

Type: Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.BuildItemGroupCollection
A BuildItemGroupCollection containing the item groups specifiied in the project.

Remarks

The BuildItemGroupCollection returned by this property contains the item groups in this project and all imported projects.

Examples

The following example creates a Project object and uses the BuildItem, BuildPropertyBuildItemGroup, and BuildPropertyGroup classes to list all the items and properties in the project.

Module Module1
    'You need to add references to Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine and 
    'Microsoft.Build.Framework 
    Sub Main()
        'Set this to point to the location where the 2.0 clr/tools are installed
        Engine.GlobalEngine.BinPath = "C:\windows\microsoft.net\framework\v2.0.xxxxx" 

        'Create a new empty project 
        Dim project As New Project()

        'Load a project
        project.Load("c:\temp\validate.proj")

        'Output a header
        Console.WriteLine("Project Properties")
        Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------")

        'Iterate through the various property groups and subsequently 
        'through the various properties 
        For Each propertyGroup As BuildPropertyGroup In project.PropertyGroups
            For Each prop As BuildProperty In propertyGroup
                Console.WriteLine("{0}:{1}", prop.Name, prop.Value)
            Next 
        Next

        Console.WriteLine()
        Console.WriteLine("Project Items")
        Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------")

        'Iterate through the various itemgroups 
        'and subsequently through the items 
        For Each itemGroup As BuildItemGroup In project.ItemGroups
            For Each item As BuildItem In itemGroup
                Console.WriteLine("{0}:{1}", item.Name, item.Include)
            Next 
        Next 
    End Sub 

End Module
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine;

namespace ListItemAndPropertiesCS
{
    class Program
    {        
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // SET THIS TO POINT TO THE RIGHT LOCATION
            Engine.GlobalEngine.BinPath = @"C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.xxxxx";

            // Create a new empty project
            Project project = new Project();

            // Load a project
            project.Load(@"c:\temp\validate.proj");

            Console.WriteLine("Project Properties");
            Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------");

            // Iterate through the various property groups and subsequently  
            // through teh various properties 
            foreach (BuildPropertyGroup propertyGroup in project.PropertyGroups)
            {
                foreach (BuildProperty prop in propertyGroup)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0}:{1}", prop.Name, prop.Value);
                }
            }

            Console.WriteLine();
            Console.WriteLine("Project Items");
            Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------");

            // Iterate through the various itemgroups 
            // and subsequently through the items 
            foreach (BuildItemGroup itemGroup in project.ItemGroups)
            {
                foreach (BuildItem item in itemGroup)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0}:{1}", item.Name, item.Include);
                }
            }            
        }
    }
}

.NET Framework Security

See Also

Reference

Project Class

Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine Namespace