Get name of branch into code

Question

I have a question about passing the branch name to my code as a string.

So we are using a git repository and the branch number also refers to the staging environment where the build is placed. Meaning, if my branch is 001, my url is 001.test.myapplication.com.

I am writing automated tests which are executed on the staging environment of the branch. My question is, is it possible to pass the branch number to my code so I can make it part of the URL I want to test on?

I am using visual studio 2017, selenium and specflow.

Tried to get the output from the git command line? – Meikel Jan 24 '18 at 11:49 — Meikel, Jan 24 '18 at 11:49

score 19 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 26 '18 at 09:49

19

I actually found a great solution which perfectly works. Sharing so in the future, others can use it too if they need to.

        ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("git.exe");

        startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
        startInfo.WorkingDirectory = "dir Here";
        startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
        startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
        startInfo.Arguments = "rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD";

        Process process = new Process();
        process.StartInfo = startInfo;
        process.Start();

        string branchname = process.StandardOutput.ReadLine();

answered Jan 26 '18 at 09:49

Anand

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1

This worked very well for me. I'd recommend wrapping the process work in a using statement. – mattkgross Apr 19 '18 at 20:25
1

For running this on mac, I just needed to use "git" instead of "git.exe" and it worked! – Xtro Nov 22 '21 at 23:32

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 24 '18 at 11:52

1

The usual way to do this is to generate a C# file containing this information as part of your build step.

There are already several good answers here:

Embed git commit hash in a .Net dll

answered Jan 24 '18 at 11:52

Kristof

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4

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 29 '22 at 19:17

The git command in the earlier answer didn't work for me anymore in 2022. I use the following pre-build event in Visual Studio project properties:

git.exe branch --show-current > "$(ProjectDir)\Properties\BuildDate.txt"
echo %date% %time% >> "$(ProjectDir)\Properties\BuildDate.txt"

Define BuildDate.txt as an imported resource in the project's resource file, then use it like a regular resource string at runtime.

Get name of branch into code

3 Answers3