How do I make a build system for Sublime Text 2 to build msbuild?

Question

I would like to use Sublime Text 2 to build my Visual Studio 2010 solutions.

So far I have this:

Menu item Tools > Build System > New Build System...

{
    "cmd": ["c:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\v4.0.30319\\MSBuild.exe"]
}

I get this error:

MSBUILD : error MSB1003: Specify a project or solution file. The current working directory does not contain a project or solution file.

I'm wondering how I specify a project folder directory in the build file.

Answer 1

I got it to work by modifying the build system file C:\Users\dave\AppData\Roaming\Sublime Text 2\Packages\User\msbuild.sublime-build like this:

{
    "cmd": ["c:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\v4.0.30319\\MSBuild.exe"],
    "working_dir": "${project_path:${folder:${file_path}}}"
}

I looked at an existing build configuration that shipped with Sublime to figure it out:

C:\Users\myUser\AppData\Roaming\Sublime Text 2\Packages\Makefile\Make.sublime-build

Answer 2

There is now a full MSBuild package for Sublime Text 2 that includes syntax highlighting and completion in addition to build system integration. You can install it using Package Control or directly from https://github.com/tillig/SublimeMSBuild.

Answer 3

Here is reference to all features of Sublime's Build System.

Answer 4

The error message is because you did not specify what you wanted to build. See the MSBuild Command Line Reference. At the very least you need to specify a project file:

MSBuild MySolution.sln
MSBuild MyProject.csproj
MSBUild MyMSBuildScript.proj