PostBuildEvent

PostBuildEvent is a build system feature that runs specified commands after a project has been built. In Visual Studio it is exposed as a post-build event command line for a given project, and in MSBuild-based projects it corresponds to a post-build target that executes an Exec task after the build.

Purpose and common uses include copying the produced binaries to a deployment folder, running tooling on the generated artifacts, generating resources, packaging, or updating build-time metadata. The command line can reference built artifacts and project metadata using macros, such as $(TargetPath) for the full path to the built executable or library, $(TargetDir) and $(OutDir) for output directories, and $(ProjectDir), $(Configuration), and $(Platform) for context.

Configuration examples: In Visual Studio, commands are entered in the Post-build event command line field. A typical command might be: xcopy /Y /I "$(TargetPath)" "C:\Deploy\Bin\". Other utilities such as robocopy can be used as well, with paths quoted to handle spaces.

For MSBuild-based projects, you can define a post-build target that runs after the built-in PostBuildEvent, for example by adding a Target that invokes Exec tasks to copy or package artifacts.

Execution details: Post-build events generally run after a successful build; if the command returns a nonzero exit code, it can fail the build depending on the project system and configuration. On non-Windows or cross-platform projects, similar functionality can be achieved with appropriate shell scripts or MSBuild targets.