LivingDocGen.MSBuild 1.0.3

LivingDocGen.MSBuild

LivingDocGen.MSBuild is the MSBuild integration layer for LivingDocGen. It is distributed as the NuGet package LivingDocGen.MSBuild.

🎯 Purpose

This project provides the automatic integration with the .NET build and test process. When installed in a test project, it ensures that living documentation is generated automatically whenever tests are run.

📦 NuGet Package

• Package ID: LivingDocGen.MSBuild
• Description: Automatic living documentation generator for BDD test projects.

⚙️ How It Works

1. Hooks into Build/Test: The package includes MSBuild .targets files (LivingDocGen.targets) that inject tasks into the build pipeline.
2. Executes CLI: It bundles the LivingDocGen.CLI tool and executes it against the project's output.
3. Zero Configuration: By default, it scans the project output for feature files and test results and generates living-documentation.html.

🔧 Configuration

You can configure the behavior using MSBuild properties in your .csproj file or by using a livingdocgen.json file in your project root.

Option 1: Configuration File (Recommended)

Create a livingdocgen.json file in your project root:

{
  "enabled": true,
  "autoGenerate": "AfterTest",
  "paths": {
    "features": "./Features",
    "testResults": "./TestResults",
    "output": "./living-documentation.html"
  },
  "documentation": {
    "title": "My Project - Living Documentation",
    "theme": "purple",
    "primaryColor": "#9333ea"
  },
  "advanced": {
    "verbose": false,
    "includeSkipped": true,
    "includePending": true
  }
}

The MSBuild integration will automatically detect and use this file if it exists.

Option 2: MSBuild Properties

If no livingdocgen.json file is found, you can configure using MSBuild properties in your .csproj:

<PropertyGroup>
  
  <LivingDocConfigFile>$(ProjectDir)custom-config.json</LivingDocConfigFile>
  
  
  <LivingDocEnabled>true</LivingDocEnabled>
  
  
  <LivingDocOutput>$(OutputPath)docs/index.html</LivingDocOutput>
  
  
  <LivingDocTitle>My Project Specs</LivingDocTitle>
  
  
  <LivingDocTheme>blue</LivingDocTheme>
</PropertyGroup>

Priority Order:

1. If LivingDocConfigFile exists → use config file
2. If livingdocgen.json exists in project root → use it
3. Otherwise → use MSBuild properties

🏗 Development

This project is responsible for:

1. Packaging the LivingDocGen.CLI binaries into the tools/ folder of the NuGet package.
2. Defining the MSBuild targets (LivingDocGen.targets) that run the tool.

Build Process

The .csproj contains a custom target CopyBDDCliToTools that copies the CLI build artifacts before packing.

<Target Name="CopyBDDCliToTools" BeforeTargets="_GetPackageFiles">
    
</Target>

📝 Todo List

• Add conditional execution based on test run success/failure.
• Improve error reporting when CLI execution fails.