How to reference different version of dll with MSBuild

Question

You can create conditional references in the project file like this:

<Reference Include="32bit.dll" Condition="'$(Platform)'=='x86'"/>
<Reference Include="64bit.dll" Condition="'$(Platform)'=='x64'"/>

To use this inside VS, you have to create two solution platforms: one for the x86 target and one for the x64 target. Depending on the active platform one of the dlls will be selected, no need for re-referencing.

To automate this using msbuild, create a new project file that builds the other project file a number of times, each time for a different platform/configuration/…:

<Target Name="BuildAll">
  <MSBuild Targets="myproject.proj" Properties="Platform=x86;Configuration=Debug"/>
  <MSBuild Targets="myproject.proj" Properties="Platform=x64;Configuration=Debug"/>
  <MSBuild Targets="myproject.proj" Properties="Platform=x64;Configuration=Release"/>
</Target>

Have a look at the MSBuild task reference for aditional options like building in parallel.

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