TypeScript MSBuild In Depth

Delivery Mechanism

NuGet

In releases 2.3 and above, TypeScript MSBuild can be used with MSBuild on non-Window platforms.

Package structure

TypeScript NuGet contains two main folders

• build folder

  Two files are located in this folder. Both are entry points - for the main TypeScript target file and props file respectively.

  1. Microsoft.TypeScript.MSBuild.targets

     The file set variables specific to a run-time platform, such as a path to TypeScript.Tasks.dll, before importing Microsoft.TypeScript.targets from tools folder.

  2. Microsoft.TypeScript.MSBuild.props

     The file imports Microsoft.TypeScript.Default.props from the tools folder and sets properties indicating that the build has been initiated through NuGet.

• tools folder

  Earlier versions only contain a tsc folder. Microsoft.TypeScript.targets and TypeScript.Tasks.dll are located at the root level.

  The below structure is for versions 2.3 and above.

  1. net45

     contains Microsoft.TypeScript.targets, TypeScript.Tasks.dll and facade dependency dlls. When building any project on a Windows platform, MSBuild uses the DLLs from this folder.

  2. netstandard

     contains Microsoft.TypeScript.targets and TypeScript.Tasks.dll. The contents in this folder are used when building projects on a non-Window machine.

  3. tsc

     contains tsc.exe and all dependency files required to execute the exe. On Windows, TypeScript.Tasks.dll uses the tsc.exe to build projects. On non-Windows, TypeScript.Tasks.dll uses NodeJS to run tsc.js - implying that it is required for NodeJS to be installed on these platforms.

MSI Installer

TypeScript is also shipped as a stand-alone exe that can be installed on a Windows machine. Currently the installer is only available for Visual Studio 2015 with Update 3.

The installer install files into following folders:

1. Microsoft SDKs Folder

   The installer installs a sub-folder called TypeScript into %ProgramFile%/Microsoft SDKs.

   • Before version 2.3

     A version-number folder is installed inside the TypeScript sub-folder in which the version-number folder contains all necessary files to execute tsc.exe.

   • Version 2.3 and above

     In additional to similar contents with prior version, the newer installer installs another sub-folder inside the version-number folder called build. This build folder contains Microsoft.TypeScript.targets, TypeScript.Tasks.dll and its dependencies. This allows us to be able to support side-by-side while being able to make any necessary changes to the task and target file. We also add another sub-folder called versions which is used by the stub target file (see: Stub Target File section) to figure out the version to use.

2. MSBuild folder

   The installer install a folder call TypeScript to %ProgramFile%\MSBuild\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v14.0

   • Before version 2.3

     The folder mainly contains the TypeScript task and target file. These files include main logic to build and compile a TypeScript project.

   • Version 2.3 and above

     The folder only contains an entry point target file which although has same name as earlier version target file, it has very different contents. This new target file is what we call a stub-target file (See: Stub Target File section) It is worth noting that the installer will NOT install the task dll into this location anymore.

Stub Target File

This file is introduced in version 2.3 and later. It replaces the original target file that has moved into build inside the version-numbered folder in the %ProgramFile%/Microsoft SDKs/TypeScript folder. The file will load a file in the versions folder from %ProgramFile%/Microsoft SDKs/TypeScript. The latest version is determined by the lexicographic ordering of the files within this folder. If the version cannot be determined, the stub target will load the version adjacent to it.