Integrating FxCop into Visual Studio

At my previous company we had Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) which has Code Analysis (FxCop) integrated into Visual Studio. To turn it on one enters project properties and clicks on the Code Analysis tab. Each rule or group of rules is turned on by checking a box and the rules execute on every build of the project. I love FxCop because it teaches me how to be a better programmer, finds issues in my code, and makes my APIs more user friendly. I was disappointed upon discovering Code Analysis is a VSTS feature.

This post shows two options for getting FxCop 1.36 running on a each Visual Studio 2008 build without maintaining an FxCop project separate from a C# project.  On the downside it will run the same set of rules for each project, which works for my scenario but may pose problems when working with legacy code and new development because the legacy code will probably violate many rules.

This instructions assume the following environment:

• MSbuild Version 3.5.30729.4926
• 64 bit Windows (otherwise you will need to modify the C:\Program Files (x86) paths )
• Visual Studio 2008
• FxCop 1.36

Option #1: Integrating FxCop at the project level.

1. Install FxCop
2. Create a file: C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\v3.5\FxCop.targets with the following text:
   <Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
   
     <PropertyGroup>
       <!-- Add FxCop to the list of targets to build -->
       <BuildDependsOn>$(BuildDependsOn);FxCop</BuildDependsOn>
     </PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Define the FxCop target we added above.-->
     <Target Name="FxCop">
       <Message Text="$(MSBuildToolsPath)" />
       <!-- The Condition attribute allows others to use the same project file without breaking their build when FxCop is not installed-->
       <Exec Command="&quot;$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft FxCop 1.36\FxCopCmd.exe&quot; /file:&quot;$(TargetPath)&quot; /console"
             Condition="Exists('$(ProgramFiles)\Microsoft FxCop 1.36\FxCopCmd.exe')" />
       <!-- When running on a 64 bit machine the $(ProgramFiles) variable will be set to c:\program files (x86) when running a 32 bit process which luckily for us Visual Studio and FxCop are.-->
     </Target>
   </Project>
3. Open the Visual Studio
4. File --> New Project (ctrl+shift+n)
5. Select Other Project Types --> Visual Studio Solutions --> Blank Solution
6. Name the solution FxCopIntegrated and press OK
7. In Solution Explorer (ctrl +alt + L) right click the solution and select add new project.
8. Select Visual C# --> Windows --> Class Library
9. Name the library CodeBandit and press OK.
10. In Solution Explorer right click the CodeBandit project and click unload project.
11. If Visual Studio prompts to save files click "yes"
12. In Solution Explorer right click the CodeBandit project and click "Edit CodeBandit.csproj"
13. Navigate to the line after this (ctrl+g 52 on my machine):
    <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
14.  Add this line to reference the file created in step 2:
    <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\v3.5\FxCop.targets"/>
15. In Solution Explorer right click the CodeBandit project and click reload project.
16. If Visual Studio asks to close CodeBandit.csproj click "yes" and "yes" to save changes if prompted.
17. Build the solution.  On my system I received these warnings:
    CA2210 : Microsoft.Design : Sign 'CodeBandit.dll' with a strong name key.
    CA1014 : Microsoft.Design : Mark 'CodeBandit.dll' with CLSCompliant(true) because it exposes externally visible types.

Option #2 Integrating FxCop across all solutions.

1. Follow the steps from Option #1 to ensure everything is setup and working.
2. Create a file: C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\v3.5\Custom.After.Microsoft.Common.targets with the following text:
   <Project DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
   
     <Import Project="FxCop.Targets"/>
   </Project>
3. Thats it, all the work was performed in Option #1 :)
4. To verify this add a new VB project to the FxCopIntegrated solution.
5. Building the newly added project I get these warnings:
   CA1020 : Microsoft.Design : Consider merging the types defined in 'ClassLibrary2' with another namespace.
   CA2210 : Microsoft.Design : Sign 'ClassLibrary2.dll' with a strong name key.
   CA1014 : Microsoft.Design : Mark 'ClassLibrary2.dll' with CLSCompliant(true) because it exposes externally visible types.
   CA1824 : Microsoft.Performance : Because assembly 'ClassLibrary2.dll' contains a ResX-based resource file, mark it with the NeutralResourcesLanguage attribute, specifying the language of the resources within the assembly. This could improve lookup performance the first time a resource is retrieved.

Thanks to John Robbins for pointing me to an old post by the Code Analysis team showing how to call FxCop in a post build event and having it run over the project without maintaining a separate FxCop project file.

Redirecting Assembly Bindings in .NET 3.5

I spent some time last week digging into assembly binding redirection.  This blog post provides working examples of assembly redirection through config files and publisher policies.

This example will use the following command line utilities and versions:

• csc - C# compiler (Version 3.5.30729.4926)
• sn - .Strong Name Utility (Version 3.5.30729.1)
• gacutil - Global Assembly Cache Tool (Version 3.5.30729.1)
• al - assembly linker (Version 8.00.50727.42)

Helpful utilities not covered in this article:

• fuslogvw - Assembly Binding Log Viewer for viewing the CLR binding process.
• Assembly Cache Viewer - For viewing assemblies installed in the GAC.

To get started lets create a program calling a method in another assembly which outputs the callee's assembly version.  These steps also create assemblies for use in the later examples.

1. Open a Visual Studio Command Prompt and navigate to a working directory where some files can be created.
2. Create and save a file named demo.cs containing the following text:
   
   using System;
   using System.Reflection;
   
   
   [assembly: AssemblyVersionAttribute("2.0.0.0")]
   
   
   public static class Demo
   {
       public static void Main()
       {
           Console.WriteLine("Version " + Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version.ToString());
       }
   }
3. from a command prompt type "sn -k key.snk"
4. type "csc /target:library /keyfile:key.snk demo.cs"
5. type "echo f | xcopy demo.dll .\bin\v2\demo.dll"
6. Change the AssemblyVersionAttribute in demo.cs replacing "2.0" with "3.0"
7. csc /target:library /keyfile:key.snk demo.cs
8. echo f | xcopy demo.dll .\bin\v3\demo.dll
9. Change the AssemblyVersionAttribute in demo.cs replacing "3.0" with "4.0"
10. csc /target:library /keyfile:key.snk demo.cs
11. echo f | xcopy demo.dll .\bin\v4\demo.dll
12. Change the AssemblyVersionAttribute in demo.cs replacing "4.0" with "1.0"
13. csc /target:libarary /keyfile:key.snk demo.cs
1. echo f | xcopy demo.dll .\bin\v1\demo.dll
14. Create and save a file named demo.cs containing the following text:
    
    public static class Program
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            Demo.Main();
        }
    }
15. csc /reference:demo.dll program.cs
16. program.exe
17. The output should read: Version 1.0.0.0

Redirecting 1.0 to 2.0 version in the GAC.

1. gacutil /i .\bin\v2\demo.dll
2. sn -T demo.dll
3. Note the Public key token as we'll need that in the assemblyIdentity publicKeyToken attribute in the next step.
4. Create program.exe.config with the following text:
   
   <?xml version="1.0"?>
   <configuration>
    <runtime>
     <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
       <assemblyIdentity name="demo" publicKeyToken="keyFromSn-T" />
       <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0" newVersion="2.0.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
     </assemblyBinding>
    </runtime>
   </configuration>
5. program.exe
6. The output should read:  Version 2.0.0.0

Redirecting 1.0 to Version 3.0 using a URL:

1. Replace the program.exe.config text with the following:
   
   <?xml version="1.0"?>
   <configuration>
    <runtime>
     <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="demo" publicKeyToken="keyFromSn-T" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0" newVersion="3.0.0.0"/>
           <!--to use an absolute filepath use href="file://D:/Projects/...." or it can point to a web resource: href="http://www.fake.com/demo.dll"-->
        <codeBase version="3.0.0.0" href="./bin/v3/demo.dll" />
       </dependentAssembly>
     </assemblyBinding>
    </runtime>
   </configuration>
2. program.exe
3. The output should read: Version 3.0.0.0

Redirecting 1.0 to Version 4.0 in the GAC using a publisher policy.

1. Create a policy.config file in the working directory with this text:
   
   <?xml version="1.0"?>
   <configuration>
    <runtime>
     <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
       <assemblyIdentity name="demo" publicKeyToken="keyFromSn-T" />
       <bindingRedirect oldVersion="1.0.0.0" newVersion="4.0.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
     </assemblyBinding>
    </runtime>
   </configuration>
2. al /link:policy.config /out:policy.1.0.demo.dll /keyfile:key.snk
3. gacutil /i policy.1.0.demo.dll
4. gacutil /i .\bin\v4\demo.dll
5. delete the program.exe.config in the working directory or erase the bindingredirect element.  The bindingredirects seem to be applied first and will break this example.
6. program.exe
7. The output should read: Version 4.0.0.0

A new life with Microsoft Dynamics CRM...

Friday January 15th was my last day at Urban Science where I learned a lot about software development and made a lot of great friends.

On Monday January 18th I started a new job at Sonoma Partners.  We specialize in customizing and implementing Microsoft Customer Relationship Management software for our customers.

If you are a technologist, programmer, personal contact, or professional contact in the Chicago area give me a call and lets get together.

If you are a potential Microsoft CRM customer, give me a call and lets make a deal ;)