A build event is a command that [!INCLUDEvstecmsbuild] performs at a particular stage in the build process. The pre-build event occurs before the build starts; the pre-link event occurs before the link step starts; and the post-build event occurs after the build successfully ends. A build event occurs only if the associated build step occurs. For example, the pre-link event does not occur if the link step does not run.

Each of the three build events is represented in an item definition group by a command element (<Command>) that is executed and a message element (<Message>) that is displayed when MSBuild performs the build event. Each element is optional, and if you specify the same element multiple times, the last occurrence takes precedence.

An optional use-in-build element (<build-eventUseInBuild>) can be specified in a property group to indicate whether the build event is executed. The value of the content of a use-in-build element is either true or false. By default, a build event is executed unless its corresponding use-in-build element is set to false.

The following table lists each build event XML element:

The following table lists each use-in-build element:

The following example can be added inside of the Project element of the myproject.vcxproj file created in Walkthrough: Using MSBuild to Create a Visual C++ Project. A pre-build event makes a copy of main.cpp; a pre-link event makes a copy of main.obj; and a post-build event makes a copy of myproject.exe. If the project is built using a release configuration, the build events are executed. If the project is built using a debug configuration, the build events are not executed.

<ItemDefinitionGroup>  
  <PreBuildEvent>  
    <Command>copy $(ProjectDir)main.cpp $(ProjectDir)copyOfMain.cpp</Command>  
    <Message>Making a copy of main.cpp </Message>  
  </PreBuildEvent>  
  <PreLinkEvent>  
 <Command>copy $(ProjectDir)$(Configuration)\main.obj $(ProjectDir)$(Configuration)\copyOfMain.obj</Command>  
    <Message>Making a copy of main.obj</Message>  
  </PreLinkEvent>  
  <PostBuildEvent>  
 <Command>copy $(ProjectDir)$(Configuration)\$(TargetFileName) $(ProjectDir)$(Configuration)\copyOfMyproject.exe</Command>  
    <Message>Making a copy of myproject.exe</Message>  
  </PostBuildEvent>  
</ItemDefinitionGroup>  
  
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|Win32'">  
  <PreBuildEventUseInBuild>true</PreBuildEventUseInBuild>  
  <PreLinkEventUseInBuild>true</PreLinkEventUseInBuild>  
  <PostBuildEventUseInBuild>true</PostBuildEventUseInBuild>  
</PropertyGroup>  
  
<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'">  
  <PreBuildEventUseInBuild>false</PreBuildEventUseInBuild>  
  <PreLinkEventUseInBuild>false</PreLinkEventUseInBuild>  
  <PostBuildEventUseInBuild>false</PostBuildEventUseInBuild>  
</PropertyGroup>  

MSBuild (Visual C++)
Walkthrough: Using MSBuild to Create a Visual C++ Project