I'm trying to build a Source Generator. Right now, just the most basic static method that returns "Hello World".
The generator project builds, but the generated code is not available, the debugger never starts, and the build output shows
CSC : warning CS8032: An instance of analyzer Generator.StaticPropertyEnum.helloWorld cannot be created from ...\bin\Debug\net5.0\Generator.StaticPropertyEnum.dll : Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified..
Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.AnalyzersMicrosoft.Net.Compilers.ToolsetVisual Studio: version 16.8.3
.NET SDK: 5.0.101
Generator.csproj
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp" Version="3.9.0-2.final" PrivateAssets="all" />
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Analyzers" Version="3.0.0" PrivateAssets="all" />
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
Test csproj
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
<IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="16.7.1" />
<PackageReference Include="xunit" Version="2.4.1" />
<PackageReference Include="xunit.runner.visualstudio" Version="2.4.3">
<IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
<PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
</PackageReference>
<PackageReference Include="coverlet.collector" Version="1.3.0">
<IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
<PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
</PackageReference>
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\Generator.StaticPropertyEnum\Generator.StaticPropertyEnum.csproj" OutputItemType="Analyzer" ReferenceOutputAssembly="false"/>
</ItemGroup>
</Project>
Generator
[Generator]
public class helloWorld : ISourceGenerator
{
public void Execute(GeneratorExecutionContext context)
{
context.AddSource("HelloWorld-generated.cs", @"
using System;
namespace HelloWorld
{
public static class Hello
{
public static string SayHello() {
return ""HelloWorld"";
}
}
}");
}
public void Initialize(GeneratorInitializationContext context)
{
#if DEBUG
if(!Debugger.IsAttached) Debugger.Launch();
#endif
}
}
Source Generators must be .NET Standard 2.0 to run in Visual Studio 2019+ or .NET Standard 1.x to run in Visual Studio 2017+.
as @Yair-Halberstadt mentioned in a different answer, the specific error listed is due to the fact that currently source generator projects need to target netstandard2.0.
However if you get the CS8032 error with a different assembly (for example Microsoft.CodeAnalysis, Version=3.0.x ...) your problem is probably caused by a SDK version mismatch.
For example on my computer I have SDK 5.0.302 which has version 3.10.0 of Microsoft.CodeAnalysis and Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.
While the Generator project uses nuget to get these packages, the build of the project referencing the generator resolves these files from the SDK.
This is why reverting to 3.8.0 has worked for some commentators, the SDK version they have installed contains 3.8.0 of these references.
I have source generator that targets netstandard2.0 and net5.0 for nullability support.
<TargetFrameworks>net5.0;netstandard2.0</TargetFrameworks>
<Nullable>enable</Nullable>
and sample library that targets same frameworks.
It crashes when project is being built within Visual Studio, but builds ok from the terminal.
To solve this, I've changed target framework when referencing it as a generator with SetTagetFramework and now it compiles without any warnings or errors.
<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\MyGenerator\MyGenerator.csproj"
OutputItemType="Analyzer" ReferenceOutputAssembly="false"
SetTargetFramework="TargetFramework=netstandard2.0" />
</ItemGroup>