File Content Replacer

File Content Replacer is the build feature which processes text files by performing regular expression replacements before a build. After the build, it restores the file content to the original state.

The common case of using File Content Replacer is replacing one attribute at a time in particular files, for example, it can be used to patch files with the build number.

You can add more than one File Content Replacer build feature if you wish to:

replace more than one attribute
replace one and the same attribute in different files/projects with different values

This feature extends the capabilities provided by AssemblyInfo Patcher.

See how to add a build feature.

File Content Replacer Settings

You can specify the values manually or use value presets for replacement, which can be edited if needed.

Option	Description
Template (optional)	File Content Replacer provides a template for every attribute to be replaced. Clicking the Load Template button displays the combobox with templates containing value presets for replacement. The templates can be filtered by language (for example, `C#`), file (for example, `AssemblyInfo`) or attribute (for example, `AssemblyVersion`) by typing in the combobox. When a template is selected, the settings are automatically filled with predefined values. See the section below for template details.
Process files	Click Edit file list and specify paths to files where the values to be replaced will be searched. Provide a newline- or comma-separated set of rules in the form of `+\|-:[path relative to the checkout directory]`. Ant-like wildcards are supported, for example, `dir/*/.cs`. Here, the pipe symbol `\|` represents the OR command, as in regular expressions: use `+` for including, OR `-` for excluding. If a predefined template is selected, the files associated with that template will be used.
Fail build if no files match pattern	Enabled by default. Disable this option to prevent build failure even if no files match the specified pattern. Note that if the runner finds at least one file that matches the given pattern, the step is considered successful even if this file has no content to replace.
File encoding	By default, TeamCity will autodetect the file encoding. To specify the encoding explicitly, select it from the drop-down menu. When specifying a custom encoding, make sure it is supported by the agent. If a pre-defined template is selected, the file encoding associated with that template will be used.
Find what	Specify a pattern to search for, in the regular expression format. The MULTILINE mode is on by default. If a pre-defined template is selected, the pattern associated with that template will be used. You can disable the MULTILINE mode by adding `(?-m)` at the start of the pattern string.
Match case	By default, the comparison is case-sensitive. Uncheck for case-insensitive languages. If a predefined template is selected, the comparison associated with that template will be used.
Regex mode	Enabled by default and applies to both the search and replacement strings. Uncheck to use fixed strings. If you use versioned settings (XML or Kotlin DSL), in addition to the default `REGEX` and non-default `FIXED_STRINGS` mode, the `REGEX_MIXED` mode is available. In this mode, the search pattern is interpreted as a regular expression, but the replacement text will be quoted (the `\`and `$` characters have no special meaning). See a sample File Content Replacer configuration for settings in Kotlin: features { replaceContent { fileRules = "*/" pattern = "(?iu)the\h+pattern\h+to\h+search\h+for" regexMode = FileContentReplacer.RegexMode.REGEX_MIXED replacement = """%teamcity.agent.work.dir%\nd_r\bin\isf""" } }
Replace with	Type the text to be used for replacing the characters in the Find what box. To delete the characters in the Find what box from your file, leave this box blank. $N sequence references N-th capturing group. All backslashes (`\`) and dollar signs (`$`) without a special meaning should be quoted (as `\\` and `\$`, respectively).

Templates

This section lists the available replacement templates.

.NET templates

The templates for replacing the following Assembly attributes are provided (see this section for comparison with AssemblyInfo Patcher):

.NET Core csproj templates

AssemblyName
AssemblyTitle
AssemblyVersion
Authors
Company
Copyright
Description
FileVersion
PackageId
PackageVersion
Product
Title
Version
VersionPrefix
VersionSuffix

MFC templates

The templates for replacing the following MFC C++ resource keys are provided:

FileDescription
CompanyName
ProductName
LegalCopyright
FileVersion*
ProductVersion*

Xcode templates

The templates for replacing the following Core Foundation Keys in Info.plist files are provided:

CFBundleVersion
CFBundleShortVersionString
or both CFBundleVersion and CFBundleShortVersionString at the same time

Examples

Extending an attribute value with a custom suffix

Suppose you do not want to replace your AssemblyConfiguration with a fixed literal, but want to preserve your AssemblyConfiguration from AssemblyInfo.cs and just extend it with a custom suffix, for example,: [assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("${AssemblyConfiguration} built by TeamCity")]).

Do the following: change the default replacement $1MyAssemblyConfiguration$7 to $1$5 built by TeamCity$7.

For changing complex regex patterns, this external tool might be useful.

Patching only specified files

The default AssemblyInfo templates follow the usual Visual Studio project/solution layout; but a lot of information may be shared across multiple projects and can reside in a shared file (for example, CommonAssemblyInfo.cs).

Suppose you want to patch this shared file only; or you want to patch AssemblyInfo.cs files on a per-project basis.

Do the following:

Load the AssemblyInfo template corresponding to the attribute you are trying to process (for example, AssemblyVersion)
Change the list of file paths in the Look in field from the default */Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs to */CommonAssemblyInfo.cs or list multiple comma- or new-line separated files here, for example, myproject1/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs, myproject2/Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs.

Specifying path patterns which contain spaces

Spaces are usually considered a part of the pattern, unless they follow a comma, as the comma is recognised as a delimiter.

Note that the TeamCity server UI trims leading and trailing spaces in input fields, so a single-line pattern like <spaces>foo.bar will become foo.bar upon save. The following workarounds are available:

Changing only the last version part / build number of the AssemblyVersion attribute:

Suppose, your AssemblyVersion in AssemblyInfo.cs is Major.Minor.Revision.Build (set to 1.2.3.*), and you want to replace the Build portion (following the last dot (the *) only.

Load the AssemblyVersion in AssemblyInfo (C#) template and change the default pattern:

(^\s*\[\s*assembly\s*:\s*((System\s*\.)?\s*Reflection\s*\.)?\s*AssemblyVersion(Attribute)?\s*\(\s*@?\")(([0-9\*])+\.?)+(\"\s*\)\s*\])

(^\s*\[\s*assembly\s*:\s*((System\s*\.)?\s*Reflection\s*\.)?\s*AssemblyVersion(Attribute)?\s*\(\s*@?\")(([0-9\*]+\.)+)[0-9\*]+(\"\s*\)\s*\])

and change the default replacement:

$1\%build.number%$7

$1$5\%build.number%$7

Last modified: 09 January 2024