Need a List of Strings as a TFS 2010 Build Process Parameter?

I’ve been hitting my head against the table today trying to have a nice experience for editing a collection of string values as a custom build process parameter in my TFS 2010 build definition.  The problem comes with what editor is actually used to edit the process parameter at design time.  You can specify a custom editor for any of your custom build process parameters which is really handy but I needed the ability to use editors that were out of the box but still provided a sufficient experience to the end user.

My journey towards a solution…

Attempt 1

I began really wanting to have one build process parameter that had the type of Dictionary<string, string>.  That didn’t work out so well because when I went to edit it in my build definition, I received this editor and the add/remove members buttons.

Attempt 2

I gave up on the Dictionary<T, T> approach and decided that I could handle it by specifying two collections of type Collection<string>.  I also attempted to try List<string> and even a String[] but ended up with this editor that seemed to not like System.String.

Attempt 3

I found Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.Workflow.Activities.StringList.  It is a custom type that is known to Team Build 2010 and even has a custom editor that is registered to it that shows up.  That editor is Microsoft.TeamFoundation.Build.Controls.WpfStringListEditor.  Works great for me!  Take a look:

Ed Blankenship