Hi, is it possible to use the content pipeline to load and parse assets without using visual studio? I mean importing the content pipeline classes and use them directly in our program.

Also is it legal to use the content pipeline this way, if possible, for a PC game?

You can use the assemblies in your own applications, yes, but it is against the EULA to distribute them. They do not come as part of the redist; they are only installed with a full installation of XNA Game Studio.

For some more details with a few links on how to use MSBuild outside of Visual Studio to build content, check out this post of Shawn's: http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnhar/archive/2007/01/23/building-xna-content-without-using-c-express.aspx.

1. yes.
2. no.
That's more then just "importing classes"(whatever it means)... it's all about msbuild...  Check some topics on this forum with this keyword.
Shortly: It's a bit of compiler and more program that is not included in XNA Framework RUntime. Content pipeline compiler is part of msbuild and as such can't  be attached to product by you or anyone else without microsoft's permission.
Some ppl already asks if msbuild could be part of XNA Framework Runtime. That would solve (I think) our and yours problem.

I hope I wrote everything right and is all true. ;)

edit: ehh... nick was 1st...

Debesciak:

Some ppl already asks if msbuild could be part of XNA Framework Runtime. That would solve (I think) our and yours problem.

I doubt that will ever happen. MSBuild is a totally separate product created by (I think, but could be wrong) the Visual Studio team. There will likely never be away to get it outside of installing Visual Studio, much less included in a simple redist for something like the XNA Framework.

My advice for people wanting to load 3D models at runtime without pre-compiling them is to bite the bullet and write their own model file reader. It isn't that hard and there are lots of C++ libraries you can probably write a wrapper for to make it even easier. Textures and effects already can be loaded in straight from files, so that part is already taken care of for you. All that really leaves is audio which, again, can be done using other .NET libraries or by wrapping (or finding a wrapper for) a native library.

msbuild is actually available as a standard part of the .NET redist: the missing bit is the Content Pipeline assemblies and importers from the XNA Framework.

I've been pushing for those to be included in our redist (or perhaps a separate tools redist) for a while - there are a bunch of versioning issues involved with that so I'm not sure if/when it will happen, but I know our setup people are looking into the possibility.

MSBuild comes with the .Net runtime install along with the C# compiler!

The bits that are missing are the extensions to MSBuild that are used for content building, the default content pipelines and the xbox deployment stuff. The only way to get those is a full Game Studio Install which implies a full VIsual Studio express install.

Shawn Hargreaves:

msbuild is actually available as a standard part of the .NET redist: the missing bit is the Content Pipeline assemblies and importers from the XNA Framework.

Really? I tried searching before posting, but I found no mention of that anywhere. Learning new stuff everyday, I guess.

I've been pushing for those to be included in our redist (or perhaps a separate tools redist) for a while - there are a bunch of versioning issues involved with that so I'm not sure if/when it will happen, but I know our setup people are looking into the possibility.

Good to know my entire post, then, can be disregarded. Glad to hear it's being looked into. Thanks for the info Shawn.

fazul: if you're not put off by the lack of a redist for this stuff, you should check out the Winforms Content Loading sample on this site.

It might be worth noting that you don't need MSBuild to invoke the Content Pipeline. MSBuild coordinates the build, and from the point of view of a VS project, we need it. However, if you are building your own tool or editor, you can very easily not use MSBuild at all.

It is perhaps easier to think about how it works, and to configure your content builds using MSBuild, but you can bypass it altogether if you like.

The point I'm trying to make is that the most important missing piece is the Content Pipeline, not MSBuild. Not that it helps at all to know that... :-(

Heh... I also didn't know msbuild is included in .net framework.
I knew - and it's preety obvious when you know what msbuild actually is - that content pipeline could be possibly used without it.

Always wondered why it's based on msbuild (I thought it will eventually make problems in the future)... now I simply understand. lol ;)