Develop Reference

How to copy Nuget Package Dependencies

We are currently refactoring an old win forms app which uses a framework as referenced project across the whole application. I am fairly new to nuget and .net so I hope you don't mind my newbiew question.
We created a nuget package from the csproj (Syncing.nupgk). That package references other packages like Newtonsoft or Consul. When I build the project, my syncing.dll gets copied to the bin folder of the win forms project, but other dlls (newtonsoft.dll, consul.dll) are copied outside in a packages folder with a structure lib\net45 etc.
How I can tell visual studio that I also need the newtonsoft.dll in the bin folder of the project as it is a dependencie of my syncing.dll
thx!

I usually use nuspec file for this purpose. In your case, you would have Syncing.csproj.nuspec which looks something like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2012/06/nuspec.xsd">
<metadata>
<id>Syncing</id>
<authors></authors>
<owners></owners>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>true</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<licenseUrl></licenseUrl>
<projectUrl></projectUrl>
<iconUrl></iconUrl>
<description></description>
<language></language>
<tags></tags>
<dependencies>
<group targetFramework=".NETStandard2.0">
<dependency id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="12.0.2" exclude="Build,Analyzers" />
...
</group>
</dependencies>
</metadata>
</package>
You can look at these two links for more info:
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/reference/nuspec
- This is how I'm using .nuspec file to publish the instrumentation library on https://github.com/borkke/opentracing-csharp-mongo/blob/master/src/OpenTracing.Contrib.Mongo/OpenTracing.Contrib.Mongo.csproj.nuspecnuget

How to share source code via NuGet packages for use in .NET Core projects

I want to make small pieces of source code (e.g. helper classes) available for use in .NET Core projects (.csproj).
At this point I packaged the source code with NuGet in many different ways according to different blog posts and the official nuget docs. I used a nuspec file to control where my source files will end up in the nuget package, e.g.:
<files>
<file src="*.cs" target="content/LruCache" />
<file src="*.cs" target="contentFiles/cs/any/LruCache" />
</files>
I did not include any msbuild targets file or install script.
Whenever I install the NuGet package into a .NET Core project (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/csproj) I simply don't get anything there. No source files will be included into my project. I tried different settings for the <PackageReference/> node in the .csproj (PrivateAssets, etc.) without success.
Is it meant to be possible at all? If so, how should it be done?
Background:
The reason for doing this is some kind of diamond problem where we have projects B and C both using helper class A and a third project D using B and C.
In this situation I don't want to deal with assembly version conflicts when different (incompatible) versions of A have been used in B and C.

Is it meant to be possible at all? If so, how should it be done?
The answer is yes. Since you test project type is .net core. You should use contentFiles instead of content. content is used for packages.config. Check the Using the contentFiles element for content files and blog NuGet ContentFiles Demystified for more details.
So your .nuspec file should be:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2011/08/nuspec.xsd">
<metadata>
<id>MyTestCore</id>
<version>5.0.0</version>
<authors>TestContentFile</authors>
<owners>TestContentFile</owners>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description>Package Description</description>
<contentFiles>
<files include="any/any/Test.cs" buildAction="content" flatten="true" copyToOutput="true"/>
</contentFiles>
</metadata>
<files>
<file src="contentFiles/any/any/Test.cs" target="contentFiles/any/any/LruCache" />
</files>
</package>
The nuget package should look like:
Note: When you create a new package, do not forgot to remove the nuget cache for this package in the C:\Users\<UserName>\.nuget\packages folder, otherwise, it always install the old package.
With this method, the source files will be included into your project.
Hope this helps.

Creating .nupkg from .csproj file in Visual Studio 2017: Properties not updated correctly

I use Visual Studio 2017, MSBuild version 15.4.8.50001.
I want to create a .nupkg file by reading directly from my .csproj file. Following the instructions here, I updated the first PropertyGroup in my .csproj file to this:
<PropertyGroup>
<Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
<Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">AnyCPU</Platform>
<ProjectGuid>{24BAFE05-8B92-4EAA-8790-03C0768ACC57}</ProjectGuid>
<OutputType>Library</OutputType>
<AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder>
<RootNamespace>D</RootNamespace>
<AssemblyName>D</AssemblyName>
<TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.6.1</TargetFrameworkVersion>
<FileAlignment>512</FileAlignment>
<PackageId>MyCompany.Nuget.D</PackageId>
<PackageVersion>1.0</PackageVersion>
<Author>Me</Author>
<Title>Nuget Experiment Project D</Title>
<Description>Top-level class in the diamond dependency structure</Description>
</PropertyGroup>
I opened the command prompt, navigated to the folder containing my .csproj file, and ran the command nuget spec, as documented here.
However, the resulting .nuspec file looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package >
<metadata>
<id>$id$</id>
<version>$version$</version>
<title>$title$</title>
<authors>$author$</authors>
<owners>$author$</owners>
<licenseUrl>http://LICENSE_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</licenseUrl>
<projectUrl>http://PROJECT_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</projectUrl>
<iconUrl>http://ICON_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</iconUrl>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description>$description$</description>
<releaseNotes>Summary of changes made in this release of the package.</releaseNotes>
<copyright>Copyright 2017</copyright>
<tags>Tag1 Tag2</tags>
</metadata>
</package>
As you can see, none of the properties I defined in my .csproj file are correctly populated in my .nuspec file.
What am I doing wrong?
EDIT: I initially accepted this answer, but now I don't think it is correct.
I changed the PackageVersion property in my .csproj file to 2.0:
<PackageVersion>2.0</PackageVersion>
If, as the answer claims, the properties in .nuspec are indeed updated during packing by reading from my .csproj file, the new .nupkg file should have the name MyCompany.Nuget.D.2.0.0.nupkg.
However, the new .nupkg file is still named D.1.0.0.nupkg:
EDIT: I followed the instructions included in Leo-MSFT's answer, and changed the AssemblyInfo.cs file to the following:
[assembly: AssemblyTitle("NewD")]
[assembly: AssemblyDescription("Some dummy description")]
[assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("")]
[assembly: AssemblyCompany("MyCompany.Me")]
[assembly: AssemblyProduct("NewD")]
[assembly: AssemblyCopyright("Copyright MyCompany 2017")]
[assembly: AssemblyTrademark("")]
[assembly: AssemblyCulture("")]
[assembly: AssemblyVersion("3.0.0.0")]
[assembly: AssemblyFileVersion("1.0.0.0")]
According to this page, $id$ is retrieved from the AssemblyName field in my .csproj file, and $version$, $author$, $description$ and $copyright$ are retrieved from AssemblyInfo.cs. For that reason, I also updated the AssemblyName field in my .csproj file to MyCompany.NugetTest.D.
I navigated to the folder containing my .sln file, and ran nuget spec "D\D.csproj" as suggested in the answer. The generatednuspec`` file looked like this:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package >
<metadata>
<id>D\D.csproj</id>
<version>1.0.0</version>
<authors>Me</authors>
<owners>Me</owners>
<licenseUrl>http://LICENSE_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</licenseUrl>
<projectUrl>http://PROJECT_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</projectUrl>
<iconUrl>http://ICON_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</iconUrl>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description>Package description</description>
<releaseNotes>Summary of changes made in this release of the package.</releaseNotes>
<copyright>Copyright 2017</copyright>
<tags>Tag1 Tag2</tags>
<dependencies>
<dependency id="SampleDependency" version="1.0" />
</dependencies>
</metadata>
</package>
I changed id to SuperUniqueD, and ran nuget pack D.csproj. The package D.3.0.0.nupkg was then created.
Why is the package still named D? Shouldn't it be named MyCompany.NugetTest.D if the value is read from the AssemblyName field in the .csproj file (according to documentation), or NewD if it is read from AssemblyInfo.cs?

none of the properties I defined in my .csproj file are correctly populated in my .nuspec file. What am I doing wrong?
That because you navigated to the folder containing your .csproj file, you should navigate to the folder containing your .sln file or include full path in your command without navigation, the command like:
Navigate to solution folder:
C:\Workspaces\NuGet Experimentation\D>nuget spec "D\D.csproj"
Without navigation:
C:\Users\Admin>nuget spec "C:\Workspaces\NuGet Experimentation\D\D\D.csproj"
The tokens in the form $<token>$ are be replaced during the packaging process with values from the project's Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs file. The settings info of this file are included in the .sln file. If you navigate to the folder containing your .csproj file, NuGet could not find the location of AssemblyInfo.cs, so NuGet will use the default value $<token>$ instead of the value from the AssemblyInfo.cs file. Using above methods, you will get the .nuspec file like:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package >
<metadata>
<id>C:\Workspaces\NuGet Experimentation\D\D\D.csproj</id>
<version>1.0.0</version>
<authors>Admin</authors>
<owners>Admin</owners>
<licenseUrl>http://LICENSE_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</licenseUrl>
<projectUrl>http://PROJECT_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</projectUrl>
<iconUrl>http://ICON_URL_HERE_OR_DELETE_THIS_LINE</iconUrl>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description>Package description</description>
<releaseNotes>Summary of changes made in this release of the package.</releaseNotes>
<copyright>Copyright 2017</copyright>
<tags>Tag1 Tag2</tags>
<dependencies>
<dependency id="SampleDependency" version="1.0" />
</dependencies>
</metadata>
</package>
In order to select a package ID that is unique across nuget.org, you also need to modify the Id of .nuspec manually. See Create the .nuspec package manifest file for more detail info.
For the Edit question:
However, the new .nupkg file is still named D.1.0.0.nupkg.
Just like answer the first question "The tokens in the form $$ are be replaced during the packaging process with values from the project's Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs file."
So if you want to generate the package with update version, you should update the Assembly Version in the AssemblyInfo.cs file, then use the pack cammand line to generate the nuget package: nuget pack xx.csproj.
See Replacement tokens for more info about tokens.
Update for Edit:
I changed id to SuperUniqueD, and ran nuget pack D.csproj. The package
D.3.0.0.nupkg was then created.
Since you are using the command: nuget pack D.csproj, you should change the Id in your project file rather than .nuspec file:
If you changed the Id in the .nuspec, you should pack it with .nuspec file: nuget pack D.csproj.nuspec

The properties in the .nuspec file are indeed updated from your .csproj file properties. However, there is one exception in this case. When generating NuGet packages from projects, the version of the NuGet package corresponds to the Assembly Version. So, if within your project, you open the AssemblyInfo.cs file and update the Assembly Version to 2.0.0.0 from 1.0.0.0 and build the project, the resultant package that gets generated on nuspec pack will have the name with the version 2.0.0.

I think this is correct nuspec properties.
This $id$ and other tokens are replaced with the values from the .csproj file at packing time.

Created nuget package's dll can not be accessable from package's loaded project

I want to create a nuget package of my .net core class library.
I copied the nuget.exe file to the root folder of my Solution
Run nuget spec and Solution.nuspec file created. I modified it as below:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package >
<metadata>
<id>Solution</id>
<version>1.0.0</version>
<authors>cc Team</authors>
<owners>cc</owners>
<licenseUrl></licenseUrl>
<projectUrl></projectUrl>
<iconUrl></iconUrl>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description></description>
<releaseNotes></releaseNotes>
<copyright>Copyright 2017</copyright>
<tags>c# .net</tags>
<dependencies>
<dependency id="NETStandard.Library" version="1.6.1" />
</dependencies>
<references>
<reference file="Solution.dll" />
</references>
</metadata>
<files>
<file src="Solution.dll" target="lib\netstandard1.6\Solution.dll"/>
file's node src value outpupath of my solution. (bin\Release\netstandard1.6\Solution.dll)
Run nuget pack Solution.nuspec and Solution.nupkg file created.
I put it to my package source.
Create a new .net core class library and select my Solution nuget package from local package source. It added to my project. There is no error or warning. But When I try to access a class from my Solution nuget package, it couldn't be found.I dowloaded 'Nuget Package Explorer' and opened my Solution.nupkg. Icould see Solution.dll and Solution.pdb file under lib --> netstandart1.6.
Then I searched about the error and found this :
"scripts": {
"postcompile": [
"dotnet pack --no-build --configuration %compile:Configuration%"
]
}
After compile my Solution project it creates Solution.1.0.0-0.nupkg file and Solution.1.0.0-0.symbols. I put it to my local package source but these packages are not listed in the 'Nuget Package Manager'.
Do you have any idea?

My experience is creating package from solution sometimes crappy. Creating the package from the project file could solve the problem.

After I clean 'C:\Users\XXX.nuget\packages\Solution' folder and add package again fix my problem.
Because there is bad formatted nutget package which I tried before.

Creating a nuget package with a post build action

I have a custom made command line tool, which performs some code generation operations. Basically, it takes one assembly as input and, through reflection, searches for certaing custom attributes, used to trigger generation of external (JavaScript) files.
Everything works (almost) fine, but the distribution and execution of the tool is somewhat disorganized. I would like to pack it as a Nuget package (hosted in a private repository), which would essentially contain the tool and a build target that should trigger the execution of the tool.
How should I package the tool? I read about the special Nuget tool, content, and build folders, and I don't know where to put what, and how to setup a custom target.
I don't know if the question is "too broad", but even if I know pretty exactly what I need, I'm in kind of a blank page syndrome.

I would put the tool into the build directory inside the NuGet package and then have a custom MSBuild .targets file in the same build directory. This MSBuild .targets file would then be written in such a way so it is called at some point during the build process.
\build
\MyPackage.targets
Then your build targets file would insert itself into the build process:
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDependsOn>
$(BuildDependsOn);
MyCustomTarget
</BuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target Name=“MyCustomTarget“>
<!-- Execute tool -->
</Target>
The above should run the MyCustomTarget as the last item during the build.

In post build action specify $(SolutionDir).nuget\nuget.exe pack $(ProjectPath) -IncludeReferencedProjects.
Also you can specify nuspec file. As described here https://docs.nuget.org/create/nuspec-reference.
Example:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package >
<metadata>
<id>SDK</id>
<version>$version$</version>
<title>$title$</title>
<authors>$author$</authors>
<owners>$author$</owners>
<requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
<description>$description$</description>
<releaseNotes>Initial release</releaseNotes>
<copyright>Copyright 2016</copyright>
<tags>SDK</tags>
</metadata>
<files>
<file src="tools\install.ps1" target="tools\install.ps1" />
</files>
</package>