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title Move Task
description Learn about the parameters and settings for the MSBuild Move task, which moves files to new locations.
ms.date 11/04/2016
ms.topic reference
dev_langs
VB
CSharp
C++
helpviewer_keywords
MSBuild, Move task
Move task [MSBuild]
author ghogen
ms.author ghogen
ms.subservice msbuild

Move task

Moves files to a new location.

Parameters

The following table describes the parameters of the xref:Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Move task.

Parameter Description
DestinationFiles Optional xref:Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITaskItem[] output parameter.

Specifies the list of files to move the source files to. This list is expected to be a one-to-one mapping to the list that is specified in the SourceFiles parameter. That is, the first file specified in SourceFiles will be moved to the first location specified in DestinationFiles, and so forth.
DestinationFolder Optional xref:Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITaskItem parameter.

Specifies the directory to which you want to move the files.
MovedFiles Optional xref:Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITaskItem[] output parameter.

Contains the items that were successfully moved.
OverwriteReadOnlyFiles Optional Boolean parameter.

If true, overwrites files even if they are marked as read-only files.
SourceFiles Required xref:Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITaskItem[] parameter.

Specifies the files to move.

Remarks

Either the DestinationFolder parameter or the DestinationFiles parameter must be specified, but not both. If both are specified, the task fails and an error is logged.

The Move task creates folders as required for the desired destination files.

In addition to having the parameters that are listed in the table, this task inherits parameters from the xref:Microsoft.Build.Tasks.TaskExtension class, which itself inherits from the xref:Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Task class. For a list of these additional parameters and their descriptions, see TaskExtension base class.

Examples

The following example moves files from the source folder to the dest folder. The source and dest folders are relative to the project file. If dest doesn't exist, it is created.

<Project>
  <ItemGroup>
    <FilesToMove Include="source\*.*"/>
  </ItemGroup>

  <Target Name="MoveFiles" AfterTargets="Build">
     <Message Text="Moving Files @(FilesToMove)"/>
     <Move SourceFiles="@(FilesToMove)" DestinationFolder="dest">
       <Output 
          TaskParameter="DestinationFiles"
          ItemName="FilesWritten"/>
     </Move>
     <Message Text="@(FilesWritten)"/>
  </Target>
</Project>

The following example renames files according to a replacement pattern. It assumes files like files\original1.txt and files\original2.txt exist and original.txt exists at the project level prior to execution. Note the use of the string item function Replace to modify the filenames. See Item functions.

<Project>

  <ItemGroup>
    <FilesToRename Include="files\original*" />    
  </ItemGroup>

  <Target Name="MoveFiles" AfterTargets="Build">
    <Message Text="Rename one file"/>
    <Move SourceFiles="original.txt" DestinationFiles="new.txt"/>
    <Message Text="Renaming files @(FilesToRename)"/>
    <Move SourceFiles="@(FilesToRename)" DestinationFiles="@(FilesToRename->Replace('original', 'new'))" />
  </Target>

</Project>

The following examples rename all files in a complete subtree that contain the search text and replacement text in the MSBuild properties. It shows the use of the string property function Replace to modify the filename. It also demonstrates the use of the OverwriteReadOnlyFiles option.

<Project>

  <PropertyGroup>
    <SearchText>original</SearchText>
    <ReplaceText>new</ReplaceText>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <FilesToRename Include="files\**\*$(SearchText)*" />    
  </ItemGroup>

  <Target Name="MoveFiles" AfterTargets="Build">
    <Message Text="Renaming files @(FilesToRename)"/>
    <Move SourceFiles="@(FilesToRename)"
          OverwriteReadOnlyFiles="true"
          DestinationFiles="@(FilesToRename->Replace($(SearchText), $(ReplaceText)))" />
  </Target>

</Project>

You might find it useful to use item metadata to construct the destination file list. Here, the well-known item metadata %(RelativeDir) and %(Filename) are referenced to construct the modified filenames, in this case to change the extensions for any file in a subtree with the extension .txt to .orig.

<Project>

  <PropertyGroup>
    <NewExtension>orig</NewExtension>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <FilesToRename Include="files\**\*.txt" />
    <RenamedFiles Include="@(FilesToRename -> '%(RelativeDir)%(Filename).$(NewExtension)')" />    
  </ItemGroup>

  <Target Name="MoveFiles" AfterTargets="Build">
    <Message Text="Renaming files @(FilesToRename) to @(RenamedFiles)"/>
    <Move SourceFiles="@(FilesToRename)"
          OverwriteReadOnlyFiles="true"
          DestinationFiles="@(RenamedFiles)" />
  </Target>

</Project>

See also