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Old-style (non-SDK) projects

Projects in the old format (<Project ToolsVersion="15.0" ...> without Sdk=, usually .NET Framework with packages.config) work with bro format, with a few extra steps:

  • Restore with Visual Studio's MSBuild first, from a Developer Command Prompt:
msbuild -t:restore -p:RestorePackagesConfig=true

dotnet restore can't restore packages.config, and for the other old-style projects it writes restore output that Visual Studio's MSBuild then rejects ("Your project file doesn't list 'win' as a RuntimeIdentifier"). So format restores only the SDK-style projects when it finds old-style ones, and says so (the -p:RestorePackagesConfig=true part only matters with packages.config). If a build complains like that anyway (something ran dotnet restore), run the MSBuild restore again. - Reference assemblies. dotnet format loads the projects with the .NET SDK, which needs the .NET Framework reference assemblies: without them every project is skipped ("Required references did not load"). Install the targeting pack (the .NET Framework Developer Pack, or Visual Studio's ".NET Framework 4.x targeting pack"), or use the Microsoft.NETFramework.ReferenceAssemblies.net462 NuGet package (the version your projects target) and point MSBuild at it with an environment variable, which reaches both msbuild and dotnet format: set TargetFrameworkRootPath=%NUGET_PACKAGES%\microsoft.netframework.referenceassemblies.net462\1.0.3\build. - Install StyleBro.Analyzers the packages.config way, like StyleCop was: Visual Studio's package manager (or Install-Package StyleBro.Analyzers in its console) writes all three parts, or add them by hand. In packages.config:

<package id="StyleBro.Analyzers" version="0.8.0-alpha.1" targetFramework="net462" developmentDependency="true" />

In the project (paths relative to it; the packages folder is next to the solution):

<ItemGroup>
  <Analyzer Include="..\packages\StyleBro.Analyzers.0.8.0-alpha.1\analyzers\dotnet\cs\StyleBro.Analyzers.dll" />
  <Analyzer Include="..\packages\StyleBro.Analyzers.0.8.0-alpha.1\analyzers\dotnet\cs\StyleBro.CodeFixes.dll" />
</ItemGroup>
<!-- at the end, after the Microsoft.CSharp.targets import: the preset and the baseline -->
<Import Project="..\packages\StyleBro.Analyzers.0.8.0-alpha.1\build\StyleBro.Analyzers.targets" Condition="Exists('..\packages\StyleBro.Analyzers.0.8.0-alpha.1\build\StyleBro.Analyzers.targets')" />

plus an <Error Condition="!Exists('...StyleBro.Analyzers.targets')" ... /> line in the project's EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports target, as NuGet adds for every package with build targets. Don't use a PackageReference there: it makes NuGet restore the project the PackageReference way, its packages.config packages are no longer restored, and a fresh clone doesn't build. A PackageReference in a Directory.Build.props that also serves SDK-style projects needs a condition that keeps it away from them:

<PackageReference Include="StyleBro.Analyzers" Version="0.8.0-alpha.1" PrivateAssets="all" Condition="'$(UsingMicrosoftNETSdk)' == 'true' or !Exists('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\packages.config')" />

bro names the packages.config projects and says this in its report. - --diff leaves packages.config projects out: the copy it formats has no git-ignored packages folder, and dotnet restore can't restore packages.config. It previews the other projects and names the ones it left out; only when every project uses packages.config does it stop. Other old-style projects preview like format runs: unrestored, so the preview has no StyleBro changes for them, and it says which. To see the changes in the packages.config projects, on a clean working tree: run the command without --diff, restore with MSBuild as above, run bro format, and review git diff (git checkout . undoes it). - Next to multi-targeted projects, the old-style ones get a dotnet format run of their own (== old-style projects): they have no target framework for the per-framework runs. When dotnet format can't load them there, it says so, and --verify-no-changes says Not verified instead of clean. - If StyleCop came in through packages.config or an <Analyzer Include="..\packages\StyleCop.Analyzers.1.0.2\..."> hint path, bro migrate reads its version there: rules that version doesn't have stay off.