Winforms: C#: Show Build Date in Form.

Question

I have a .net Winforms App
I am using a Deployment Project to build an MSI installer.

Here's what I want:
When I do a build, I want the Build Date to be stored in the APPLICATION (not USER) Settings.
I then want to display that on the main form.
I do NOT want to update this value manually.

The users HATE trying to communicate with me based on build numbers. If I ask "Are you on 2.1.23 or 2.2.4? The first question is, "Is that the one from March, or June?"
I had this whole thing set up with Echo Date... in the pre-build events, but with the latest VS2019 updates and having to reinstall the Deployment Projects package, this no longer works.

All I want is to update the Build Date at Compile Time.

Notes:
NOT using Core.
NOT using ClickOnce.

Oh, and I also don't want to capture the date that the user first runs the app, like putting a dummy value in the app settings and replacing it if the dummy value is found.

Answer 1

Okay, here is another option using a T4 template found here. Also read pro tip

What the author does not indicate

Under properties for BuildInfo.tt set Custom Tool to TextTemplatingFileGenerator, save the file and BuildInfo.cs is generated.

When saving the .tt file and .cs class is generated then use to get the build date

private void BuildInfo_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    MessageBox.Show(BuildInfo.BuildDateText);
}