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Exclude element

Using wildcards, defines the files from a parent Files element that should be excluded from harvesting.

Parents

Files

Attributes

Files (String, required) : Excludes files from the set of files harvested via the parent Files element. Inclusion and exclusion wildcards must match paths. For example, if you have a Files element with Include="!(bindpath.ToBeHarvested)\**" and want to exclude one of the files, use an Exclude element with a Files attribute like !(bindpath.ToBeHarvested)\notatest.txt to match the inclusion path. You can also use the ** wildcard to match directories, such as Files="**\pleasedontincludeme.dat".

The file-selection pattern can include directory names, file names, and wildcards. If a pattern is not an absolute path (via a preprocessor variable, unnamed bind path, or named bind path), it is interpreted as relative to the directory containing the source file. Absolute paths via a named bind path are recommended.

Wildcards include typical *.ext globs and MSBuild-style ** globs to indicate that directories should be recursed. Examples include:

PatternDescription
!(bindpath.ToBeHarvested)\**All files in the parent directory identified by the ToBeHarvested bind path and its subdirectories.
$(PayloadFiles)\bin\Release\**All files in the bin\Release subdirectory in the directory named by the PayloadFiles preprocessor variable and its subdirectories.
!(bindpath.arm64)\**.pdbAll files with .pdb extension in the parent directory identified by the arm64 bind path and its subdirectories.
**If an unnamed bind path was specified, all files in that directory and its subdirectories. If an unnamed bind path was not specified, all files in directory of the source .wxs file and its subdirectories.

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