Compiling XAML file to BAML
Jaakko Salmenius
My goal is to manually compile satellite assembly files for each languages. I have localized XAML and resx files. For example if the
original file is Window1.xaml I have Window1.de.xaml, Window1.fr.xaml, etc. I use AL.exe to link the satellite assembly files using
the compiled resources (.resources) that contain binary .resx and .xaml data. This works very well but I have problems to compile
some XAML files.
I need to compile an XAML file (.xaml) to binary XAML (.baml) file. I am using a .proj (e.g. Sample.proj) file that contains a
single .xaml file. Then I call MsBuild.exe with two task (ResolveReferences and MarkupCompilePass1)
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\MSBuild.exe /t:ResolveReferences;MarkupCompilePass1 Sample.proj
This succesfully compiles XAML file to BAML. However it can not compile XAML file that refers to a locally defined type. According
to MSDN you have to use MarkupCompilePass2 and GenerateTemporaryTargetAssembly. When I try these I get an error message:
"D:\Support\WPF\SimpleLocal\SlCompile1.proj" (ResolveReferences;MarkupCompilePa
ss1;GenerateTemporaryTargetAssembly;MarkupCompilePass2 target) (1) ->
"D:\Support\WPF\SimpleLocal\d4npoyom.tmp_proj" (_CompileTemporaryAssembly targe
t) (2) ->
(CoreCompile target) ->
CSC : error CS5001: Program 'd:\Support\WPF\SimpleLocal\obj\Debug\SimpleLocal
NamespaceReferenceLocalizationTest.exe' does not contain a static 'Main' method
suitable for an entry point
Is it possible to use MsBuild to compile XAML files refering to local types?
I have been trying another approach where I create a .csproj that creates .dll assembly. However there is no documentation about
what the .csproj for a satellite assembly file should contain. Visual Studio can not do such a project file and I have not managed
to do it manually.
Best regards,
Jaska