File Content Replacer, the build feature available since TeamCity 9.1, p rocesses text files by performing regular expression replacements before a build. After the build, it r estores the file content to the original state.
tip
File Content Replacer should be used with the automatic checkout only: a fter this build feature is configured, it will run before the first build step. TeamCity will first perform replacement in the specified files found in the build checkout directory and then run your build.
The common case of using File Content Replacer is replacing one attribute at a time in particular files , e.g. 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.
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 (e.g. C#), file (e.g. AssemblyInfo) or attribute (e.g. 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, e.g. dir/**/*.cs. If ais selected, the files associated with that template will be used.
File encoding:
By default, TeamCity will auto-detect the file encoding. To specify the encoding explicitly, select it from the drop-down. When specifying a custom encoding, make sure it is supported by the agent. If ais selected, the file encoding associated with that template will be used.
Find what:
Specify a pattern to search for, in the regular expression format. MULTILINE mode is on by default. If ais selected, the pattern associated with that template will be used.
Match case:
By default, the comparison is case-sensitive. Uncheck for case-insensitive languages. If ais selected, the comparison associated with that template will be used.
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 ($) without a special meaning should be quoted (as \\ and \$, respectively).
Templates
This section lists the available replacement templates.
The templates for replacing the following MFC C++ resource keys are are provided:
FileDescription
CompanyName
ProductName
LegalCopyright
FileVersion*
ProductVersion*
note
In MFC*.rc files, both FileVersion and ProductVersion occur twice, once in a dot-separated (e.g. 1.2.3.4) and once in a comma-separated (e.g. 1,2,3,4) form. If your %\build.number% parameter has a format of 1.2.3.{0}, using two build parameters with different delimiters instead of a single %\build.number% is recommended.
or both CFBundleVersion and CFBundleShortVersionString at the same time
Examples
Extending an attribute value with a custom suffix
Suppose you do not want to replace your AssemblyConfiguration with a fixed literal, but want to preserve your AssemblyConfiguration from AssemblyInfo.cs and just extend it with a custom suffix, e.g.: [assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("${AssemblyConfiguration} built by TeamCity")])
Do the following: 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 (e.g. CommonAssemblyInfo.cs).
Suppose you want to patch this shared file only; or you want to patch AssemblyInfo.cs files on a per-project bassis.
Do the following:
Load the AssemblyInfo template corresponding to the attribute you are trying to process (e.g. AssemblyVersion)
Change the list of file paths in the Wildcards field from the default * /Properties/AssemblyInfo.csto* /CommonAssemblyInfo.cs or list several files comma- or new-line separated files here, e.g. 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:
Make sure your %\build.number%format contains just a decimal number without any dots, or you may end up with a non-standard version like 1.2.3.4.5.6.2600 (i.e. %\build.counter%is a valid value here while 4.5.6.%\build.counter% is not).