AutoPipeline 0.0.2

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<img src="https://github.com/AristurtleDev/AutoPipeline/blob/develop/images/banner.png?raw=true" alt="AutoPipeline" width="256"/> <br/> Automating the MonoGame Content Pipeline So You Don't Have To! </h1>

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AutoPipeline is a project that automates the generation of your Content.mgcb file simply based on the files you have in your Content directory. No need to open the MGCB Editor to add and remove content, just add and remove it directly from the /Content directory.

[!WARNING] This project is in a really early stage at the moment and may change rapidly as I continue to finish it. Please refer to documentation below for using the version currently in the develop branch.

Installation

You can install this in your MonoGame project either manually from source or via the NuGet package.

NuGet Package Installation

Add the NuGet package to your MonoGame project

dotnet add package AutoPipeline --version 0.0.2

Manual Installation

1. Download the AutoPipeline.targets file
2. Add it to the same directory as your MonoGame .csproj
3. Add the following import statement to your MonoGame .csproj:

<Import Project="AutoPipeline.targets" />

Usage

This project is an MSBuild .targets file that contains a task that is configured to run before the MonoGame.Content.Builder.Task tasks run. The task will generate the Content.mgcb file automatically for you based on the contents of the files in your Content/ directory each time you do a project build.

For each type of asset, it will automatically configure it to be processed using the default processor settings. You can find the properties of each one and the default values below:

DirectX Model Files

These are model files with the extension .x.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameDirectXAsset

Effect Files

These are shader effect files with the extension .fx

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameEffectAsset

FBX Model Files

These are model files that end with the .fbx extension

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameFbxAsset

H.246 Video Files

These are video files that end with the .mp4 extension.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameH264Asset

Mp3 Audio Files

These are audio files that end with the .mp3 extension.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameMp3Asset

Ogg Audio Files

These are audio files that end with the .ogg extension.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameOggAsset

Open Asset Library Model Files

These are model files that can be loaded with the Open Asset Import Library. This includes files with following extensions:

.3d, .3ds, .ac, .ase, .b3d, .blend,.bvh, .cob,.csm, .dae,.dxf, .glb, .gltf,.hmp, .ifc, .irr, .irrmesh, .lwo, .lws, .lxo, .mdc, .mdl, .md2, .md3, .md5, .ms3d, .ndo, .nff, .obj, .off, .ogex, .pk3, .ply, .q3d,.q3s, .scn, .smd,.stl, .ter, .vta, .xgl, .zgl

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameOpenAssetLibraryAsset

Image Files

These are images file that are loaded as textures. This includes files with the following extensions:

.3fr, .ari, .arw, .bay, .bmp, .bw, .cap, .cr2, .crw, .cut, .dcr, .dcs, .dds, .dng, .drf, .eip, .erf, .fff, .g3, .gg, .gif, .hdp, .hdr, .ico, .iff, .iiq, .int, .inta, .j2k, .jbg, .jbig, .jfi, .jfif, .jif, .jng, .jp2, .jpe, .jpeg, .jpf, .jpg, .jpm, .jpx, .jxr, .k25, .kdc, .koa, .mdc, .mef, .mj2, .mng, .mos, .mrw, .nef, .nrw, .obm, .orf, .pbm, .pcd, .pct, .pcx, .pef, .pfm, .pgm, .pic, .pict, .png, .pnm, .ppm, .psd, .ptx, .pxn, .r3d, .raf, .ras, .raw, .rgba, .rwl, .rw2, .rwz, .sgi, .sr2, .srf, .srw, .sun, .tga, .tif, .tiff, .wbmp, .wdp, .webp, .xbm, .xpm, .x3f

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameTextureAsset

SpriteFont Files

These are sprite fonts that end with the .spritefont extension.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameSpriteFontAsset

Wav Audio Files

These are audio files that end with the .wav extension.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameWavAsset

Wma Audio Files

These are audio files that end with the .wma extension.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameWmaAsset

Wmv Videos Files

These are video files that end with the .wmv extension.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameWmvAsset

Xml Files

These are for eXtensible Markup Language files that end with the .xml extension.

The Build Action type for these files is MonoGameXmlAsset

Customizing Parameters

All files in the content directory of a given Build Action type will use the defaults listed in the section above. Though, there may be times when you need to adjust the processing parameters for a particular file.

![Note] The overrides can be added directly inside your .csproj file, however I personally wouldn't recommend this as it can make your csproj file cluttered depending on the number of overrides you need to make.

To create overrides, first create a file called ContentOverrides.targets in the same directory as your csproj file. Then add the following content to the file

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
	
</Project>

Next, open your csproj file and add the following import statement

<Import Project="ContentOverrides.targets" />

Finally, in the ContentOverrides.targets file, add the overrides for each specific content file. For example, if you wanted to override the processing parameters for a texture your ContentOverrides.targets would contain the following

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
	
	<ItemGroup>
		<MonoGameTextureAsset Update="Content\aristurtle.png">
			<ColorKeyEnabled>true</ColorKeyEnabled>
			<GenerateMipMaps>true</GenerateMipMaps>
		</MonoGameTextureAsset>
	</ItemGroup>
	
</Project>

1. Overrides must be children inside the <ItemGroup> node.
2. Use the Build Action type, for instance MonoGameTextureAsset is used in the example. See the sections under Usage above for the build action type of the various content files
3. The Update attribute must be used, and should point to the path of the content file relative from the root of the project directory

You can see an example of this in the examples directory of this repository.

Known Limitations

Currently this only works for the default asset types that can be processed by the MonoGame Content Builder (mgcb). This means this project does not work if you use third-party content pipeline extensions. I do plan to support this, it is just not in there yet.

Special Thanks

I would like to give a special thanks to @MrGrak for letting me use the name AutoPipeline even though he already has a lib for MonoGame called this.

License

AutoPipeline is licensed under the MIT License. Please refer to the LICENSE file for full license text.