In my company, we are creating C# client/server applications as follows:
We create three project inside one single Visual Studio solution:
Product.General
Product.Client
Product.Server
The "General" project contains functionality, to be used by both client and server parts.
In order to make this work, we compile the "Product.General" and add the binary as a reference to the "Product.Client" and "Product.Server" projects.
In our source code, this looks as follows:
In the "General" project:
namespace Product.Customer.Configuration
{
public class SettingManager
{
...
}
}
In the "Server" project:
using Product.Customer.Configuration;
...
var settingManager = ...<SettingManager>();
I don't like, because amongst other first you need to get the "General" part compiled before you can even start working on your "Client" or "Server" project.
How can I get such a system to work, without needing to add compiled binaries into projects' references?
Thanks in advance
You should add the reference with Add Project Reference and then select the General Project like this. and whenever you are making changes just do Ctrl+Shift+B to build the solution.
If you're working with Visual Studio, right click on the References menu in the Product.Client or Product.Server project, click Add Reference in the popup select the Projects tab and then add a checkmark where needed (in your case Product.General) (see vivek nuna's answer). I assume it's basically the same in something liked Rider.
If you're not using Visual Studio, but are using the new .NET (not .NET Framework) you can use the dotnet cli tool like so
dotnet add path/to/Product.Client.csproj reference path/to/Product.General.csproj
If the working directory of the shell your using contains a .csproj file, you can omit the first path/to/*.csproj, so doing something like this should work
cd Product.Client
dotnet add ../Product.General/Product.General.csproj
If you're not using Visual Studio or some other IDE and for some reason can't use the dotnet cli tool, then you can manually edit the .csproj files, like so
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="path/to/Product.General.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>
I am building a few different C# libraries that both depend on a single C# file we'll call Dep.cs, and these dll's need to be used together in a Unity project. I'd like to set up these projects in the following way:
The C# libraries can be built independently of one another using Visual Studio
C# libraries (i.e. dll's) can be imported into a Unity project without conflicting symbols
The C# library projects (i.e. the source code for each library via git submodule for example) can be imported into a Unity project without conflicting sources.
I've solved (1) by including Dep.cs in each library project that requires it, though this causes issue with (2). And I've solved (3) by putting the dependency in a folder like Dependencies~ so that Unity ignores the file (this way no duplicate classes are found).
I'm having trouble solving (2) however. I thought I'd be able to add Dep.cs as reference in the VS solution but This doesn't seem to work. I've heard of Assembly References but I am not sure if they do what I need.
You can use "Add File as Link" from Visual Studio "Add Existing File" screen. It also works well with git submodule, just place Dep.cs anywhere in a parent folder or in the solution's root directory.
To get the same result you can also directly edit the .csproj file and add a compile instruction:
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="..\..\Path\To\YourFile.cs" Link="YourFile.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
This method solves all the issues you mentioned.
To solve my problem I decided to modify the external scripts to be internal this way both dll's can compile with that source and not conflict with one another. The rest of the setup in my question remained the same so this solved (2) for me without compromising (1) and (3).
How can I always run a custom script in Visual Studio 2015, even if nothing has changed... but using VS without VS++ installed?
I effectively want to do the same as this question however, my installation of Visual Studio 2015 does not have VC++ installed (as everything we do is either C# or VB.Net) so I do not have access to the same project properties pages.
Using the accepted answer as a starting point, and this article for more details I have added the following to my project file, but I simply cannot get it to run the custom script unless a file in the project has changed...
<PropertyGroup>
<ItemDefinitionGroup>
<CustomBuildStep>
<Command>MyScript.vbs</Command>
<Outputs>$(TargetName).missing</Outputs>
<Inputs>$(TargetFileName)</Inputs>
</CustomBuildStep>
</ItemDefinitionGroup>
</PropertyGroup>
<PropertyGroup>
<CustomBuildAfterTargets>ClCompile</CustomBuildAfterTargets>
<CustomBuildBeforeTargets>Link</CustomBuildBeforeTargets>
</PropertyGroup>
I have done a lot of searching for values for <CustomBuildAfterTargets> and <CustomBuildBeforeTargets> but I cannot find anything official or otherwise. It's highly frustrating for the MS article not to provide details on possible values.
I did also try adding the <DisableFastUpToDateCheck> attribute as per one of the answers, but that still rebuilds the project so isn't what I want.
I'm writing an application that will enable the creation of SQL files within visual studio. The user will enter commands via the Package Manager console which will generate sql scrips and deposit them in a specific directory within the Visual Studio Project.
The problem I have is that, when the files are generated, they are present on the file system, but not in Visual Studio. This is expected of course, as I need to then go and actively include the files within Solution explorer, but this isn't what I want. I want the files to "Magically" appear in solution explorer immediately after they're generated.
I've seen various solutions to similar problems mostly featuring amendments to the .csproj file such as this
<Compile Include="Sql\**\*.sql" />
but this isn't what i'm looking for. What i'm after is similar to how, for example, Entity Framework or MvcScaffolding work, where files / folders just magically drop into the project when commands run in PMC. I'm aware this runs off T4 templating, but that seems like too complex a solution for a simple issue like this.
I should qualify that there's no voodoo going on in the creation of the files, just plain old File.Create() stuff.
I'm open to any suggestions.
Thanks.
Check out this answer for a solution that worked for me. I have the same use-case where code outputs flat files and I need to include this output in the project.
At the end of your .csproj file add the following:
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="Sql\**\*.sql" />
</ItemGroup>
</Target>
IMHO, T4 is the way to go. You don't want to be bothering with older technologies for what you are trying to do.
Having said that, I wonder why is it required for the files to be added to the solution explorer? is it for source control purposes? (usually you don't want to source control auto generated files, you want to source control the original model).
Note that you could always click the 'show all' button and the files will appear in the solution explorer, without actually being a part of the solution.
When using Visual Stdio 2008, you can make a C++ project build with an internal tool rather than having the IDE invoke MSVC directly. This improves the consistency of builds across platforms if a cross-platform build system is used.
However, I cannot figure out how to do the same as a C# project. It would be possible to simply register it as a native project with C# sources, however, you lose some of the advantages gained through having a C# project. More importantly, it will mean that allowing a project to build both directly and with an external tool (which is sadly necessary) will require two separate projects, rather than merely creating an alternate build configuration to invoke the external tool.
Does anyone know if it's possible to prevent Visual Studio from invoking csc by itself and instead call an external tool?
EDIT: Apparently there has some misunderstanding. The goal here is not to compile anything outside of Visual Studio. Instead, it's to allow Visual Studio to serve as the IDE but not the build system. There is already a (Scons-based) build system capable of compiling the C# and C++ sources, and Visual Studio has been configured to invoke Scons for compilation of C++ projects. I'm trying to configure it so that when you hit the 'Build' button, it will invoke Scons for the C# projects as well as the C++ ones.
Edit: Your question is still answered using MSBuild(if you are simply looking to compile outside the IDE). The IDE(Visual Studios) is simply a "fancy" way of constructing the build files that are built by MSBuild. Visual Studios isn't building the files, it simply is invoking MSBuild which ships with the .NET Framework 2.0 and up which compiles your code based on the project file that you create. If Scons can read and process an MSBuild file then I'm sure you can invoke it to build your project. But considering the fact that C# is a Microsoft language, I think you will be hard-pressed to find a value-add in not using MSBuild since I'd assume both the language and build tool are very tuned to work together. - End Edit
You can use MSBuild to compile your C# project. If you open your .csproj file in a text editor you will see that it is a MSBuild file. If you want to write some C# outside of the IDE you can construct a build file using the .csproj file as a starting point and invoke MSBuild to compile your apps. The IDE is just a way of abstracting the editing of the MSBuild file away for you.
If you are really industrious you can create a set of custom tasks to do things in your custom build process like move files around and versioning. MSBuild Community Tasks are a great example of using custom code to do task for you during MSBuild.
Given all the other answers, what MSBuild does when either VS or MSBuild perform a build can be found in the Targets files that ship with .Net. These can be be found in the FrameWork directory on your system. In my case:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v3.5
Contains Microsoft.Common.targets among others. This file contains the following snippit:
<!--
============================================================
Build
The main build entry point.
============================================================
-->
<PropertyGroup>
<BuildDependsOn>
BeforeBuild;
CoreBuild;
AfterBuild
</BuildDependsOn>
</PropertyGroup>
<Target
Name="Build"
Condition=" '$(_InvalidConfigurationWarning)' != 'true' "
DependsOnTargets="$(BuildDependsOn)"
Outputs="$(TargetPath)"/>
This means that redifining this Target you can make MSBuild an VS do anything you want. The top of the mentioned file contains an important messagge:
Microsoft.Common.targets
WARNING: DO NOT MODIFY this file unless you are knowledgeable about MSBuild and have
created a backup copy. Incorrect changes to this file will make it
impossible to load or build your projects from the command-line or the IDE.
This file defines the steps in the standard build process for .NET projects. It
contains all the steps that are common among the different .NET languages, such as
Visual Basic, C#, and Visual J#.
My suggestion would be to read all you can about MSBuild and it's build file syntax and try redifining the Build target in your project(s). My impression is that after reading up on MSBuild you'll probably find an easier way to meet your requierements. You can find an example of redifining a Target like this in one of the answers of this so question .
Edit:
How to redefine a target?
Redefining is essentially defining the same target 'after' it has been defined. So for instance in your .*proj file(s) define a Build Task after the <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" /> line that imports all targets needed to in this case build a C# project. An example could be
<Target
Name="Build"
Condition=" '$(_InvalidConfigurationWarning)' != 'true' "
DependsOnTargets="BeforeBuild"
Outputs="$(TargetPath)">
<Exec Command="nmake" />
</Target>
I found a question in the same direction here, where it is suggested to edit the registry. I am pretty sure there is no other way to change the compiler used by Visual Studio because there is no trace of csc.exe in any solution, config, csproj file or whatsoever, nor in the Visual Studio 9.0 folder / subfolders within the Program Files dir.
Registry locations can be found in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Components\74ACAA9F1F0087E4882A06A5E18D7D32
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Components\9055DA7481CC1024CB23A6109FD8FC9B
but those keys may differ dependng on your installation. Conclusion: changing the compiler used by VS seems next to impossible.
Addition: The following MSDN article deals with the same question for an custom C++ compiler, and Ed Dore's answer seems to confirm my theory that there's no way to choose an custom compiler for use within VS.
Under 'Tools' > 'External Tools' you should be able to define an outside tool to do activities for you. The Command should be the path to the executible for your external tool.
Hope this helps some.
You don't have to maintain different project files to build using an external tool. MSBuild is designed to build using the same project files that Visual Studio uses.
Here's an article that describes it.
Customize Your Builds in Visual Studio Using the Standalone MSBuild Tool
It's for VS2005, but should apply to VS2008 as well.
Looking through the answers, it seems clear to me that integrating scons into Visual Studio in a way that is compatible with the debugger and so on is not going to happen...
An option you might to consider, and I understand you don't want to change build systems, but bear with me, is to use a meta-build system, ie 'cmake'. http://www.cmake.org/
Cmake doeesn't actually build the project. What it does is to create build files for you, that you can use to build the project, and on Windows, the build files it creates for you are: Visual Studio project files. You can simply load those directly into your IDE, and compile, and use normally!
CMake is I feel very easy to use, and provides a high level of transparence and maintainability.
The exact same CMakeLists.txt files on linux will causes linux makefiles to be generated.
On mingw, they can generate mingw makefiles.
There are numerous generators available within cmake. The list is here:
http://www.cmake.org/cmake/help/cmake-2-8-docs.html#section_Generators
http://springrts.com is a huge opensource rts game that used to use scons as its cross-platform build system and now uses cmake.
I understand that you don't really want to have to change build systems, so it is a medium to long term solution.
Cmake is in any case one more option, to add to those of using a custom build tool, or using msbuild, or running the scons build from the commandline by hand.
Edit your project file and update the CscToolPath keys to point to the directory containing your tool and add CscToolExe keys that holds the name of the directory:
<PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|.NET 3.5' ">
.
.
.
<CscToolPath>path\to\custom\tool\directory</CscToolPath>
<CscToolExe>exe name</CscToolExe>
.
.
.
</PropertyGroup>
I have not tested this, and the CscToolExe key may cause problems, in which case I would simply rename the external tool executable to "csc.exe".
You can build your solution from the command line like this:
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5>msbuild.exe "C:\path\Your Solution.sln"