MonoGame.Content.MSBuilder

MGCB MSBuilder task allows you to replace .mgcb files with MSBuild properties and items in your MonoGame project.

Instead of this:

Content.mgcb:

/rebuild

# Build a texture
/importer:TextureImporter
/processor:TextureProcessor
/processorParam:ColorKeyEnabled=false
/build:Textures\wood.png
/build:Textures\metal.png
/build:Textures\plastic.png

You could use:

<PropertyGroup>
    <MgcbDoRebuild>true</MgcbDoRebuild>
</PropertyGroup>

<ItemGroup>
    <MgcbItem Include="Textures\wood.png;Textures\metal.png;Textures\plastic.png">
        <Importer>TextureImporter</Importer>
        <Processor>TextureImporter</Processor>
        <Processor_ColorKeyEnabled>false</Processor_ColorKeyEnabled>
    </MgcbItem>
</ItemGroup>

Right inside you project file or in imported MSBuild project.

Motivation

This project is mostly experimental.

It could be also used as an example for learning some MSBuild-related stuff.

There are some points that could be addressed using MGCB MSBuilder:

• Elimination of additional non-standard file format. .mgcb files could be surprising and don't introduce strict parameters structure. These files are not properly supported inside various IDEs and editors.
• Integration with MSBuild common build pipeline. MonoGame allows you to use MonoGame Content Builder (MGCB) as a MSBuild task, but it's still relying on file format described above. It also does not support using dotnet tool dotnet-mgcb in easy way.

How to use

1. Install MonoGame.Content.MSBuilder.Task using NuGet:

   dotnet install MonoGame.Content.MSBuilder.Task

   (or use your favorite IDE's UI for that)

2. Create your content description file Content.props:

   <Project>
       <PropertyGroup>
           <UseMgcbTool>true</UseMgcbTool>
           <MgcbCompress>true</MgcbCompress>
       </PropertyGroup>
   
       <ItemGroup>
           <MgcbItem Include="Content/Images/Image.png">
               <Importer>TextureImporter</Importer>
               <Processor>TextureProcessor</Processor>
               <Processor_ColorKeyEnabled>false</Processor_ColorKeyEnabled>
           </MgcbItem>
       </ItemGroup>
   </Project>

3. Import your Content.props into your .NET project:

   <Import Project="Content.props" />

4. If you use dotnet-mgcb tool for building, it should be installed via dotnet install dotnet-mgcb or dotnet install -g dotnet-mgcb.

   Then specify UseMgcbTool property:

   <UseMgcbTool>true</UseMgcbTool>

   If you use MonoGame.Content.Builder.Task, no actions required.

   If you use custom MGCB executable, it should be presented inside MGCBPath property:

   <MGCBPath>/path/to/mgcb.dll></MGCBPath>

5. Now build the project - you should see your Content folder, as you usually do with .mgcb approach.

Integration with existing MonoGame.Content.Builder.Task

MGCB MSBuilder could be used without MonoGame.Content.Builder.Task, but if you use both of them - MGCBPath and MonoGameMGCBAdditionalArguments MSBuild properties would be also used by MGCB MSBuilder by default.

MGCB parameters mapping

Global

Each parameter should be presented inside <PropertyGroup>, ex:

<PropertyGroup>
   <MgcbContentFolder>path/to/content/source/folder</MgcbContentFolder>
</PropertyGroup>

.mgcb parameter	MSBuild alternative	Default value
/workingDir	MgcbContentFolder	Project folder
/outputDir	MgcbOutputFolder	/obj/mgcb-msbuilder/out
/intermediateDir	MgcbIntermediateFolder	/obj/mgcb-msbuilder/obj
/rebuild	MgcbDoRebuild	false
/clean	MgcbDoClean	false
/incremental	MgcbDoIncremental	false
/platform	MgcbTargetPlatform	(required)
/profile	MgcbTargetProfile	HiDef
/config	MGcbTargetConfiguration	Same as project one
/compress	MgcbDoCompress	false
/launchdebugger	⚠ Not supported yet	N/A
/@	⚠ Not supported yet	N/A

Content item-related

Each parameter should be presented inside <MgcbItem>, ex:

<ItemGroup>
   <MgcbItem Include="Content/SomeTexture.png">
      <Importer>CustomImporter</Importer>
   </MgcbItem>
</ItemGroup>

.mgcb parameter	MSBuild alternative
/importer	Importer
/processor	Processor
/processorParam	Processor_ParamName
/build	Use Include attribute with <MgcbItem> node. ⚠ Destination part is not supported yet

Custom assemblies (/reference)

Use <MgcbAssembly Include="/path/to.dll"> inside <ItemGroup>.

Disadvantages of using MGCB MSBuilder

1. No UI support. You should specify all options by hand.