Running on full .NET framework with referenced assemblies

[skyflyer]

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but I can't find good/definitive information about this. The ASP.NET 5 RC1 MVC app had the option to be run either on full .NET framework or on .NET Core. The target monikers from RC1 are obviously not relevant anymore.

The reason I'm asking is because I'd like to reference existing .NET assemblies in the new MVC app which are not portable assemblies.

In the blank dotnet new app, I see only netcoreapp1.0 moniker:

 "frameworks": {
    "netcoreapp1.0": {
      "imports": "dnxcore50"
    }
  }

while the MVC app has the following moniker:

  "frameworks": {
    "netcoreapp1.0": {
      "imports": [
        "dotnet5.6",
        "dnxcore50",
        "portable-net45+win8"
      ]
    }
  }

The "imports" suggest that it should be possible to run on full .NET CLR (I'm guessing) but I can't reference assemblies (.NET Core projects only support referencing .NET framework assemblies in this release. To reference other assemblies, they need to be included in a NuGet package and reference that package) nor can I reference a .NET nuget package (for instance, try log4net) -- (The dependency log4net 2.0.5 does not support framework .NETCoreApp,Version=v1.0.). So, are we unable to run the "new MVC" framework on full .NET? Is this a tooling issue (and if so, what would be the workaround) or RC2 issue or is it actually designed that way (to be run only on .NET core and not on full .net framework)?

To be as concrete as possible, we're looking into upgrading existing infrastructure in a corporate environment and we need to reference (among other stuff) IBM DB2 and CTG assemblies, which are not (and who knows when and if) .NET core "compatible").

I'm guessing it should be possible by wrapping existing DLL in a "project.json" wrapper project while defining target framework moniker compatible with netstandard1.5 and somehow referencing the wrapped project from the MVC, but I'm not sure whether this is a way to go and whether it is a supported approach. I got the idea from Corefx documentation.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[pranavkm]

You could target net451 in your projects - for e.g. https://github.com/aspnet/Mvc/blob/dev/samples/MvcSandbox/project.json#L37

[skyflyer]

@pranavkm thanks, for the pointer; I tried that -- my project wouldn't build if I add the net451 target framework moniker to project.json. The errors are along the following line:
Error NU1002 The dependency System.Diagnostics.Process 4.1.0-rc2-24027 does not support framework .NETFramework,Version=v4.5.1.

If I move the dependencies under the frameworks/netcoreapp1.0 element, the net451 does not build (missing dependencies, obviously).

I suppose I should use different dependencies for full .NET?

The referencing of the existing assembly is still unclear to me, though; previously we had a dnu wrap command to wrap an assembly; currently, there is no dotnet wrap command; Perhaps something like dotnet pack? Or is this because the tooling is "preview 1" and we should manually wrap the existing DLL?

I created a directory in the src folder (sibling of MVC Website project directory) and I put the simplest DLL in there with the following project.json:

{
  "dependencies": {
  },
  "frameworks": {
    "net451": {
      "bin": {
        "assembly": "ClassLibrary1.dll",
        "pdb": "ClassLibrary1.pdb"
      },
      "dependencies": {
      }
    }
  },
  "runtimes": {
    "win": { }
  },
  "version": "1.0.0-*"
}

I couldn't create a NuGet package:

C:\tmp\DeleteWeb\src\WrapLib>dotnet pack
Producing nuget package "WrapLib.1.0.0" for WrapLib
NuGetResources.CannotCreateEmptyPackage

nor could I reference this project.json project from the existing project.

So, in other words, recipe on how to target the full .NET framework and how to reference an existing assembly would be very nice.

[Eilon]

BTW I set up a quick mtg for Monday to discuss this.

[Jupakabra]

Yes, why default templates don't provide .NET framework (Windows only) templates?

[Eilon]

@Jupakabra that template is effectively Windows-only anyway, unless you use Mono.

[Eilon]

@skyflyer there are a few things going on here:

1. If you're using netcoreapp then you cannot use .NET 4.x assemblies/packages
2. If you're using net4xx then you can use the frameworkAssemblies section of project.json to reference DLLs that are installed by .NET Framework (the stuff in the GAC)

Either way, in general you should be able to "wrap" a DLL (either one that's on disk, or one that's built from a csproj) and then reference that from your app's project.json file.

@pakrym will see if we have a good sample we can share with you for how to do a wrapped project.

[skyflyer]

@Eilon, sounds good, but doesn't answer the question entirely. I'll tried searching for information, but came empty handed.

It would be nice if target framework monikers would be documented (or is it just me and I can't find them)?

And also, it would be nice if it was documented how to reference an existing dll with RC2 tooling.

Sure, this is not an MVC-only issue (and I should direct the question in another tracker), but the issues at hand relate to "how to run the new MVC on a full .NET framework". Given your answer, I suspect "File new project" and "changing netcoreapp to net451 framework should do the trick (will test it again ASAP tomorrow, but I tried that before and documented my failure above (3 days ago))? What about MVC dependencies?

[javiercn]

@skyflyer You can look at mappings and names in https://github.com/NuGet/NuGet.Client/blob/dev/src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Frameworks/DefaultFrameworkMappings.cs

[skyflyer]

All,

I managed to get it working with the following steps:

1. remove netcoreapp framework from project.json and replace it with an empty net451

2. add relevant NuGet dependencies in the main dependencies section of the project file

3. add a blank Class library project

4. reference an existing DLL in a Class Library project: I used a snippet from the web to reference the DLL on the disk using the following syntax:

   "net451": {
     "bin": {
       "assembly": "external\\ClassLibrary1.dll",
       "pdb": "external\\ClassLibrary1.pdb"
     }
   }
   

5. I referenced the class library project from the web project

6. It compiles and runs fine, even though Visual Studio Intellisense is not happy and is complaining that the "type or namespace ClassLibrary1 can not be found", which is strange, since it compiles and runs just fine.

It runs from visual studio and from the command line using dotnet run. I've uploaded the solution for reference. I've also reported the Visual Studio Intellisense error through their feedback mechanism.

[kotylo]

Indeed, RC2 broke the adding of .NET DLLs. Your method worked, but didn't have any Intellisense, which is a must.
But it works if you pack them using nuget and install via local nuget server for example.

How to create a package is here.
First option (from dll) didn't work for me, so I did it from csproj using this command: nuget pack MyProject.csproj

[inianp]

Kotylo, Did you create a class library (core) project to reference DLLs/legacy (.NET 4.x) projects. Or directly created packages out of legacy csproj? Do you mind uploading your sample project to Github? I'm having lot of trouble referencing legacy DLL/projects (.NET 4.x). RC1 allowed us to directly reference legacy projects. I'm struggling to upgrade to RC2. I have a bunch of legacy projects (DLLs) to use in RC2.

I tried creating a class (Core) project and plain Class library project and referenced legacy projects and created Nuget packages and tried to install them in core project. Either way, it still complains "The dependency xxx could not be resolved"

Thanks much.