Cannot "Build" - only Rebuild or Clean

[pablo-msft]

1. Edit a target of your choice in build-all.bat script to build instead of rebuild, for example:

call tools\RunMsBuild.bat x64 Release "sqlite:Rebuild,zlib:Rebuild,win32-lib:Rebuild" %CUSTOM_PROPS%
call tools\RunMsBuild.bat x64 Release "sqlite:Build,zlib:Build,win32-lib:Build" %CUSTOM_PROPS%
or perhaps:
call tools\RunMsBuild.bat x64 Release "sqlite:Rebuild,zlib:Rebuild,win32-lib:Build" %CUSTOM_PROPS%

2. Run script

error MSB4057: The target "sqlite:Build" does not exist in the project. [cpp_client_telemetry\Solutions\MSTelemetrySDK.sln]
error MSB4057: The target "win32-lib:Build" does not exist in the project. [cpp_client_telemetry\Solutions\MSTelemetrySDK.sln]

Expected behavior:
"Build" ought to be a valid target. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57719166/what-are-the-existing-build-targets-for-msbuild
"Rebuild" and "Clean" work as expected.

[bmehta001]

Thanks for the report. This is expected MSBuild behavior rather than a bug in the build scripts.

When MSBuild builds a solution (.sln), it generates an in-memory "metaproject" that exposes only three target forms per project:

• ProjectName — incremental build of that project
• ProjectName:Clean — clean
• ProjectName:Rebuild — clean + build

There is intentionally no ProjectName:Build target for solution builds — the bare project name is the build target. That's why sqlite:Rebuild / sqlite:Clean work but sqlite:Build reports MSB4057: The target "sqlite:Build" does not exist.

So for an incremental build, drop the :Build suffix:

call tools\RunMsBuild.bat x64 Release "sqlite,zlib,win32-lib" %CUSTOM_PROPS%

and for a full rebuild keep :Rebuild:

call tools\RunMsBuild.bat x64 Release "sqlite:Rebuild,zlib:Rebuild,win32-lib:Rebuild" %CUSTOM_PROPS%

Reference: Building specific targets in solutions by using MSBuild.exe

Closing as working-as-designed — please reopen if dropping the :Build suffix doesn't resolve it for your scenario.