Msbuild: Use of env variables leads to build failures with combination of multiple build systems [CMake/Xcode]

[rokups]

Apparently MSBuild uses environment variables to fill in it's properties. Xcode extensively uses environment to store various build information. Since CMake support for C# is very limited, i call dotnet msbuild <...> through add_custom_target(). This is what happened on MacOS builds:

  Urho3DNet -> /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/bin/Release/Urho3DNet.dll
  Urho3DNet.Scripts -> /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/bin/Release/Urho3DNet.dll
  104_CSharpPlugin -> /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/bin/Release/Urho3DNet.dll

This is clearly wrong as mentioned projects set AssemblyName correctly.

After some digging i found this in msbuild log (full log):

2021-02-24T08:36:21.6415680Z                    TARGET_BUILD_DIR = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/Source/Release
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6416300Z                    TARGET_NAME = Urho3DNet
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6418090Z                    TARGET_TEMP_DIR = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/Source/rbfx.build/Release/Urho3DNet.build
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6418810Z                    TargetCulture = *
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6419560Z                    TargetDeployManifestFileName = 104_CSharpPlugin.application
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6420860Z                    TargetDir = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/bin/Release/
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6421770Z                    TargetedFrameworkDir = @(_TargetedFrameworkDirectoryItem)
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6422640Z                    TargetedSDKArchitecture = amd64
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6423300Z                    TargetedSDKConfiguration = Retail
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6423840Z                    TargetExt = .dll
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6424300Z                    TargetFileName = Urho3DNet.dll
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6424820Z                    TargetFramework = net5.0
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6425380Z                    TargetFrameworkDirectory = 
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6426090Z                    TargetFrameworkIdentifier = .NETCoreApp
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6426900Z                    TargetFrameworkMoniker = .NETCoreApp,Version=v5.0
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6429000Z                    TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesPath = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/obj/104_CSharpPlugin/x64/Release/osx-x64/.NETCoreApp,Version=v5.0.AssemblyAttributes.cs
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6430610Z                    TargetFrameworkSDKToolsDirectory = 
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6431350Z                    TargetFrameworkVersion = v5.0
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6431980Z                    TargetLatestRuntimePatch = false
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6432550Z                    TARGETNAME = Urho3DNet
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6433860Z                    TargetPath = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/bin/Release/Urho3DNet.dll
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6434690Z                    TargetPlatformDisplayName =  
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6435340Z                    TargetPlatformIdentifier = 
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6436130Z                    TargetPlatformRegistryBase = Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SDKs\
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6436900Z                    TargetPlatformSdkPath = 
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6437480Z                    TargetPlatformVersion = 
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6438690Z                    TargetRefPath = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/bin/Release/ref/Urho3DNet.dll
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6439400Z                    TargetRuntime = Managed
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6440370Z                    TargetsForTfmSpecificContentInPackage = ;PackTool;_PackProjectToolValidation
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6442000Z                    TEMP_DIR = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/Source/rbfx.build/Release/Urho3DNet.build
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6443360Z                    TEMP_FILE_DIR = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/Source/rbfx.build/Release/Urho3DNet.build
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6444760Z                    TEMP_FILES_DIR = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/Source/rbfx.build/Release/Urho3DNet.build
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6446430Z                    TEMP_ROOT = /Users/runner/work/rbfx/rbfx/cmake-build/Source
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6447540Z                    TEST_FRAMEWORK_SEARCH_PATHS =  /Applications/Xcode_12.4.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/Library/Frameworks
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6448760Z                    TEST_LIBRARY_SEARCH_PATHS =  /Applications/Xcode_12.4.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/usr/lib
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6449670Z                    TMPDIR = /var/folders/24/8k48jl6d249_n_qfxwsl6xvm0000gn/T/
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6450560Z                    TOOLCHAIN_DIR = /Applications/Xcode_12.4.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain
2021-02-24T08:36:21.6451620Z                    TOOLCHAINS = com.apple.dt.toolchain.XcodeDefault

Looks like all-caps variables come from Xcode. Unsetting TARGETNAME TARGET_NAME makes build failures go away.

This is not the first time i am experiencing similar problem. Something in the past from Xcode also messed up environment, so until recently i did MacOS builds with env -i msbuild command prefix. Now that dotnet does need some environment variables this is no longer an option.

Proposed solution: a way to turn prevent msbuild from using environment variables for properties that are not related to setup of the environment.

[Forgind]

This should be magically fixed along with #2713. I don't know of a timeline on that, currently.

[rokups]

Sounds like it. Should this issue be closed then?

[Forgind]

Optional? That one can't be resolved without resolving this, but this one can be resolved without resolving that. I can't promise a date on 2713—partially given how old it is—but it's at least something we'd like to do.