Diagnostic error while loading solution and projects with MSBuildWorkspace

Question

I'm trying to write a class in .Net Core using the Roslyn compiler to compile my project and return me the ClassDefinitions in that project. I am going to use that information to generate code using T4.

It's a .Net Core 3.1 project.

I can't find any good documentation on what packages I should use to accomplish this.

In the Solution getter after loading the Solution I get no documents in the Documents property and 1 Diagnostic message for each project it is trying to load:

System.ApplicationException: 'Msbuild failed when processing the file 'C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.GroupTool.Web\Wur.GroupTool.Web.csproj' with message: The SDK resolver type "WorkloadSdkResolver" failed to load. Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The system cannot find the file specified.  C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.GroupTool.Web\Wur.GroupTool.Web.csproj
Msbuild failed when processing the file 'C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.GroupTool.Core\Wur.GroupTool.Core.csproj' with message: The SDK resolver type "WorkloadSdkResolver" failed to load. Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The system cannot find the file specified.  C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.GroupTool.Core\Wur.GroupTool.Core.csproj
Msbuild failed when processing the file 'C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.GroupTool.Core.Tests\Wur.GroupTool.Core.Tests.csproj' with message: The SDK resolver type "WorkloadSdkResolver" failed to load. Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The system cannot find the file specified.  C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.GroupTool.Core.Tests\Wur.GroupTool.Core.Tests.csproj
Msbuild failed when processing the file 'C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.Roslyn.Metadata\Wur.Roslyn.Metadata.csproj' with message: The SDK resolver type "WorkloadSdkResolver" failed to load. Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The system cannot find the file specified.  C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.Roslyn.Metadata\Wur.Roslyn.Metadata.csproj
Msbuild failed when processing the file 'C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.Roslyn.Metadata.Tests\Wur.Roslyn.Metadata.Tests.csproj' with message: The SDK resolver type "WorkloadSdkResolver" failed to load. Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The system cannot find the file specified.  C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.Roslyn.Metadata.Tests\Wur.Roslyn.Metadata.Tests.csproj
'

I have these packages installed (yes, even tried the prerelease):

Also had to set the 'runtime' in the 'Exclude Assets' property:

Here's my class:

using Microsoft.Build.Locator;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Syntax;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.MSBuild;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace Wur.Roslyn.Metadata
{
    public class RoslynProjectProvider
    {
        public string PathToSolution { get; private set; }
        public string ProjectName { get; private set; }

        public RoslynProjectProvider(string pathToSolution, string projectName)
        {
            PathToSolution = pathToSolution;
            ProjectName = projectName;
        }

        private MSBuildWorkspace _Workspace;

        public MSBuildWorkspace Workspace
        {
            get
            {
                if (_Workspace == null)
                {
                    MSBuildLocator.RegisterDefaults();

                    _Workspace = MSBuildWorkspace.Create();
                }

                return _Workspace;
            }
        }

        private Solution _Solution;

        public Solution Solution
        {
            get
            {
                if (_Solution == null)
                {
                    _Solution = Workspace.OpenSolutionAsync(PathToSolution).Result;

                    if(Workspace.Diagnostics.Count > 0)
                    {
                        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

                        foreach (var diagnostic in Workspace.Diagnostics)
                        {
                            sb.Append(diagnostic.Message).Append(Environment.NewLine);
                        }

                        throw new ApplicationException(sb.ToString());
                    }
                }

                return _Solution;
            }
        }

        private Project _Project;

        /// <summary>
        /// Singleton Project in a solution
        /// </summary>
        public Project Project
        {
            get
            {
                if (_Project == null)
                {
                    _Project = Solution.Projects.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Name.Equals(ProjectName, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase));

                    if (_Project == null)
                    {
                        throw new ApplicationException($"Cannot find project {ProjectName}");
                    }
                }

                return _Project;
            }
        }

        private Compilation _Compilation;

        /// <summary>
        /// Singleton compilation of the project
        /// </summary>
        public Compilation ProjectCompilation
        {
            get
            {
                if (_Compilation == null)
                {
                    _Compilation = Project.GetCompilationAsync().Result;
                }

                return _Compilation;
            }
        }

        private List<ClassDeclarationSyntax> _Classes;

        public List<ClassDeclarationSyntax> Classes
        {
            get
            {
                if (_Classes == null)
                {
                    _Classes = new List<ClassDeclarationSyntax>();

                    foreach (var document in Project.Documents)
                    {
                        var tree = document.GetSyntaxTreeAsync().Result;

                        var semanticModel = ProjectCompilation.GetSemanticModel(tree);

                        foreach (var type in tree.GetRoot().DescendantNodes().OfType<ClassDeclarationSyntax>())
                        {
                            _Classes.Add(type);
                        }
                    }
                }

                return _Classes;
            }
        }
    }
}

And a unit test to test the class:

public class UnitTest1
{
    [Fact]
    public void Test1()
    {
        var provider = new RoslynProjectProvider(@"C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.Grouptool\Wur.Grouptool.sln", "Wur.GroupTool.Core");

        var classes = provider.Classes;
    }
}

== EDIT ==

It asks for version 5.0.0.0 but the version of System.Runtime is lower. Could that be the problem here?

== EDIT ==

Remark to first answer: Ok, got it working finally. Had to download the .Net Core 3.1.404 SDK from here: dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-core/thank-you/…. Added the path as you suggested and voila it started working.

It works fine in the unit test but not in the T4 template. When I try to run the custom tool I get the following Exception (enabled binding logging):

Severity    Code    Description Project File    Line    Suppression State
Error       Running transformation: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=4.2.2.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
File name: 'System.Runtime, Version=4.2.2.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.TextTemplating9A1960153A0EC5389F1AC1A553BA062D21024CF3A0BEA5F9915226007DBBA0457E39D7A79FF10F4293C4331881904FF0454986C06541AC3156F88310BB537850.GeneratedTextTransformation.TransformText()
   at System.Dynamic.UpdateDelegates.UpdateAndExecute1[T0,TRet](CallSite site, T0 arg0)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.TextTemplating.TransformationRunner.PerformTransformation()

=== Pre-bind state information ===
LOG: DisplayName = System.Runtime, Version=4.2.2.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
 (Fully-specified)
LOG: Appbase = file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = NULL
Calling assembly : Wur.Roslyn.Metadata, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null.
===
LOG: This bind starts in LoadFrom load context.
WRN: Native image will not be probed in LoadFrom context. Native image will only be probed in default load context, like with Assembly.Load().
LOG: Using application configuration file: C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\16.0_966a030a\devenv.exe.config
LOG: Using host configuration file: 
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config.
LOG: Post-policy reference: System.Runtime, Version=4.2.2.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PublicAssemblies/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PublicAssemblies/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/TestWindow/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/TestWindow/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Platform/Debugger/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Platform/Debugger/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/DataCollectors/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/DataCollectors/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/DataCollectors/x86/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/DataCollectors/x86/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PublicAssemblies/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PublicAssemblies/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/TestWindow/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/TestWindow/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Platform/Debugger/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Platform/Debugger/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/DataCollectors/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/DataCollectors/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/DataCollectors/x86/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/Common7/IDE/PrivateAssemblies/DataCollectors/x86/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Projects/FB-IT/grouptool/sources/Wur.GroupTool/Wur.Roslyn.Metadata/bin/Debug/netcoreapp3.1/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Projects/FB-IT/grouptool/sources/Wur.GroupTool/Wur.Roslyn.Metadata/bin/Debug/netcoreapp3.1/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Projects/FB-IT/grouptool/sources/Wur.GroupTool/Wur.Roslyn.Metadata/bin/Debug/netcoreapp3.1/System.Runtime.EXE.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Projects/FB-IT/grouptool/sources/Wur.GroupTool/Wur.Roslyn.Metadata/bin/Debug/netcoreapp3.1/System.Runtime/System.Runtime.EXE.    Wur.GroupTool.Core.ViewModels   C:\Projects\FB-IT\grouptool\sources\Wur.GroupTool\Wur.GroupTool.Core.ViewModels\ViewModels\Web\PlayGround.tt    1

Is it possible it just doesn't find it because it's not there. There's no 4.2.2.0 version in my directories:

timur · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-20T02:56:47.970

2

SDK version mismatch

It appears that when you install latest Visual Studio (I've got 16.8.3) - MSBuildLocator defaults to using the .NET 5 MSBuild:

JsonConvert.SerializeObject(MSBuildLocator.QueryVisualStudioInstances(VisualStudioInstanceQueryOptions.Default)); 
// ouputs in VS 2019: 
// [{"Version":"5.0.101","VisualStudioRootPath":"C:\\Program Files\\dotnet\\sdk\\5.0.101\\","Name":".NET Core SDK","MSBuildPath":"C:\\Program Files\\dotnet\\sdk\\5.0.101\\","DiscoveryType":4}]
// just thought I'd try the same in LINQPad 5 and here's the output:
// [{"Version":{"Major":16,"Minor":8,"Build":30804,"Revision":86,"MajorRevision":0,"MinorRevision":86},"VisualStudioRootPath":"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\2019\\Community","Name":"Visual Studio Community 2019","MSBuildPath":"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\2019\\Community\\MSBuild\\Current\\Bin","DiscoveryType":2}]

And when you do MSBuildLocator.RegisterDefaults() - it grabs the first instance from the above list.

Then, it appears that loading .NET Core 3.1 project with .NET 5 MSBuild ends up with error:

Msbuild failed when processing the file '...' with message: The SDK resolver type "WorkloadSdkResolver" failed to load. Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=5.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'. The system cannot find the file specified.

You however can tell MSBuidLocator to initialise environment off specific SDK location: MSBuildLocator.RegisterMSBuildPath. So I tried updating your Workspace getter like so:

public MSBuildWorkspace Workspace
{
    get
    {
        if (_Workspace == null)
        {
            MSBuildLocator.RegisterMSBuildPath("C:\\Program Files\\dotnet\\sdk\\3.1.404");// your version might be different, check `dotnet --list-sdks`
            _Workspace = MSBuildWorkspace.Create();
        }
        return _Workspace;
    }
}

I then had to follow the diagnostic output and install the following packages:

<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.HostModel" Version="3.1.6" />
<PackageReference Include="NuGet.Packaging" Version="5.8.0" />
<PackageReference Include="NuGet.ProjectModel" Version="5.8.0" />

after installing the packages into my project - I was able to successfully list classes in my test solution.

One more thing

that might be tripping you over is lack of reference to Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Workspaces (see this SO answer for a bit more background).

So I ended up changing your constructor like so:

public RoslynProjectProvider(string pathToSolution, string projectName)
{
    var _ = typeof(Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Formatting.CSharpFormattingOptions); // this line forces a reference so MSBuild loads the assembly in question.
    PathToSolution = pathToSolution;
    ProjectName = projectName;
}

I have posted complete working example to GitHub if you'd want to check it out, but it's pretty much all your code packaged to run in VS.

edited Dec 20 '20 at 02:56

answered Dec 15 '20 at 02:25

timur

14,239
2
11
32

Thanks for trying timur. The project needs to reference .Net Core 3.1 not .Net 5.0. The typeof() does not solve the problem either. – Paul Sinnema Dec 15 '20 at 18:20
Are both your projects .net core 3.1? – timur Dec 15 '20 at 20:30
Yes, all projects are 3.1 – Paul Sinnema Dec 17 '20 at 10:22
what does `var vs = MSBuildLocator.QueryVisualStudioInstances().Aggregate(new StringBuilder(), (sb,s) => sb.AppendLine(s.MSBuildPath)).ToString();` output when you put it before `MSBuildLocator.RegisterDefaults();`? – timur Dec 17 '20 at 11:05
C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\5.0.101\ – Paul Sinnema Dec 18 '20 at 19:28
Added some more details to my question – Paul Sinnema Dec 18 '20 at 19:44
yes, that's the behaviour I'm observing after having updated VS to latest version. did you try `RegisterMSBuildPath` as i outlined in my update? – timur Dec 18 '20 at 19:59
Ok, got it working finally. Had to download the .Net Core 3.1.404 SDK from here: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-core/thank-you/sdk-3.1.404-windows-x64-installer. Added the path as you suggested and voila it started working. Thanks a lot for you help. – Paul Sinnema Dec 19 '20 at 00:33
i'll tidy up the answer to focus on your specific issue and update the repo with new code a bit later – timur Dec 19 '20 at 01:39
Now the library is working with the Unit Test but it fails in the template telling me it can’t load type System.Threading.CancellationToken from, there it is again, System.Runtime. – Paul Sinnema Dec 19 '20 at 09:34
A possible bug is the fact that the QueryVisualStudioInstances() does not report the 3.1 SDK. – Paul Sinnema Dec 19 '20 at 10:15
it is a weird behaviour indeed. check out what your generated template's `QueryVisualStudioInstances` shows up – timur Dec 19 '20 at 10:32
I've come to the point where I'm about to give up. I just can't get this to work. At the moment I do a new for the provider it start complaining it can't find System.Runtime. No clue how to fix this. Feedback of VS2019 is non existent. Debug does not give a clue either. – Paul Sinnema Dec 19 '20 at 22:56
do you see any intelligible messages out of your library? – timur Dec 20 '20 at 02:50
Edited the question and added the Exception – Paul Sinnema Dec 20 '20 at 10:23
it appears that your custom tool is running .net full framework 4 - so my crude understanding of the process the tool using this older runtime is trying to invoke roslyn on a project the requires newer SDK. I don't know enough of the environment to make a guess but I would try to either update your tool to .net core 3 or install that specific .net 4 SDK on your machine and try point your code there. – timur Dec 20 '20 at 10:55
on a side note, have you looked into replacing T4 with, say, [CodeDOM](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/reflection-and-codedom/using-the-codedom)? – timur Dec 20 '20 at 10:57
i wonder if this [SO thread](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59610009/net-core-3-1-could-not-load-file-or-assembly-system-runtime-version-4-2-2-0) might be of use – timur Dec 20 '20 at 11:07
Yeah, crossed my mind. I have a library from another project I could port to .Net Core that does just that. But I wanted to give Roslyn a go. – Paul Sinnema Dec 20 '20 at 11:07
and I think [this MS answer](https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/1114518/filenotfoundexception-systemruntime-version4220-wh.html) backs my framework compatibility idea – timur Dec 20 '20 at 11:08

Diagnostic error while loading solution and projects with MSBuildWorkspace

1 Answers1

SDK version mismatch

One more thing