Ideas needed: Concise syntax for [System.IO.Path]::Combine()

Combining paths is a common operation in a build system. Now that MSBuild is cross-platform, it’s even more fraught with danger due to the vagaries of slash directions.

Most MSBuild projects just use $(Path1)\$(Path2). This works and is concise but has some downsides:

• Has an explicit slash direction
• Can result in doubled slashes (if Path1 has a trailing slash)
• Isn’t obviously a path-combining expression–it’s indistinguishable from string concatenation (because that’s what it is).

The most-obviously-correct approach is $([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(Path1)', '$(Path2)')). That doesn’t have any of those downsides, but is verbose and hard to read (and type).

It would be great if we could have a concise syntax that called the cross-platform supported system API, but wasn’t unreadable. Ideas welcome!

[dasMulli]

Is there any resolution for “extension methods” for properties? If so, one could make a method similar to how string instance methods can be used:

$(PublishDir.Sub('pkg').Sub('stage0'))

[eerhardt]

To make things more concise, is there a way you could you drop the $([MSBuild]::). part and if there is no prefix/class imply [MSBuild]?

Say: $(::NormalizeDirectory($(Path1), $(Path2))