Set up the Web Dashboard of CCNet to Display the Compiler Error of MSBuild Files

Introduction

In this tutorial, I will explain how to setup the web dashboard to display the MSBuild errors.

Background

In the previous article, I have explained how to setup the MSbuild file and CCNet for the automated build of project. In this part, I will explain about configuring the web dashboard of ccnet to display the msbuild error.

Using the Code

By default, the web dashboard of ccnet displays the result of build without exact error messages. To display the error in web dashboard, go to “C:\Program Files\CruiseControl.NET\webdashboard” and open file “dashboard.config”.

There, you will find the below code:

<buildReportBuildPlugin>
	<xslFileNames>
		<xslFile>xsl\header.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\modifications.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\unittests.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\MsTestSummary.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\fxcop-summary.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\NCoverSummary.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\SimianSummary.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\fitnesse.xsl</xslFile>
	</xslFileNames>
</buildReportBuildPlugin>

Now add this line in the above code:

<xslFile>xsl\compile-msbuild.xsl</xslFile> 

Therefore the code will become:

<buildReportBuildPlugin>
	<xslFileNames>
		<xslFile>xsl\header.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\modifications.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\compile-msbuild.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\unittests.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\MsTestSummary.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\fxcop-summary.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\NCoverSummary.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\SimianSummary.xsl</xslFile>
		<xslFile>xsl\fitnesse.xsl</xslFile>
	</xslFileNames>
</buildReportBuildPlugin> 

and we have done it.

Points of Interest

There are lots of XSL files available in web dashboard folder of ccnet. We can tweak it as per our requirements.

Sending Email to the Group of User on Build Fail

We can also send the email to the user groups if the build fails.

<workingDirectory>D:\Projects\TheWorks\Applications\ProjectFolder</workingDirectory>
       <buildArgs>ProjectName.msbuild /p:Configuration=Debug</buildArgs>
		<timeout>1800</timeout>
		<!--  30 minutes -->
<logger>C:\Program Files\CruiseControl.NET\server\ThoughtWorks.CruiseControl.MSBuild.dll
</logger>
		</msbuild>
		</tasks>
		<publishers>
			<statistics />
			<xmllogger />
			<email from="EMAIL ADDRESS" mailhost="HOSTNAME" 
			mailhostPassword="PASSWORD" mailhostUsername="USERNAME" 
			includeDetails="true">
				<users>
				<user name="Jitendra Zaa" 
					address=ilovenagpur@gmail.com 
					group="AdminGroup" />
					<user name="Santosh Karemore" 
					address=santosh.karemore@gmail.com 
					group="AdminGroup" />
					<user name="Manoranjan sahoo"
					address=manoranjan.sahoo@gmail.com 
					group="AdminGroup" />
					<user name="Minal Shirsikar" 
					address="admin@shivasoft.in" group="Emul" />
				</users>
				<groups>
					<group name="Emul" notification="failed" />
					<group name="AdminGroup" 
						notification="failed" />
				</groups>
			</email>
		</publishers>
	</project>  

The tags are self explanatory.

There may be following types of notification:

• Failed
• Fixed
• Always

We can create as many groups as we want and to every group, we can specify the notification type.

Note

It is very important to write statistics and xmllogger in configuration file, otherwise it will give an error in web dashboard.

Change Format of Email Sent

By default, email sent by CCnet does not include the reason of errors. We can change the format of email sent.

Open “ccnet.exe.config” and “ccservice.exe.config” file:

And change the below line to get errors in email.

<!-- Specifies the stylesheets that are used to 
transform the build results when using the EmailPublisher -->
	<xslFiles>
		<file name="xsl\header.xsl"/>
		<file name="xsl\compile.xsl"/>
                <file name="xsl\compile-msbuild.xsl"/>
		<file name="xsl\unittests.xsl"/>
		<file name="xsl\fit.xsl"/>
		<file name="xsl\modifications.xsl"/>
		<file name="xsl\fxcop-summary.xsl"/>
	</xslFiles> 

Below are the list of XSL files and their working:

Transform Name	Description
header	Summary information for a build, including whether it passed or failed
compile	Displays any errors or warnings encountered during compiling .NET projects
unittests	Shows summary information for any NUnit or JUnit output encountered in the build log
modifications	Shows any changes to sourcecontrol that were first encountered in this build
fxcop-summary	Summary information for any FxCop output encountered. Works for output generated by FxCop 1.312
fit	Prints summary information for any Fit output encountered in the build log
tests	Detailed NUnit Report
AlternativeNUnitDetails	An Alternative NUnit Report
timing	Detailed NUnit Timing Report
Nant	Shows any NAnt output as it would have appeared in a console window
FxCopReport	Detailed information for any FxCop output encountered. Works for output generated by FxCop 1.312. See here for more details.
NCover	Report for NCover output. Works for NCover.Org version of NCover. See here for more details.
vil	Report for Vil Metrics. See here for more details.
msbuild.xsl	Detailed build report when using MSBuild
compile-msbuild.xsl	Displays any errors or warnings encountered during compiling .NET projects when using MSBuild

History

• 7^th April, 2010: Initial post