NetLah.Abstractions - .NET Library

NetLah.Abstractions is .NET library of reusable classes for retrieving .NET assembly build time ApplicationInfo, AssemblyInfo.

NetLah.AssemblyInfo.BuildTime.Target is MSBuild target for assembly build-time generation.

Nuget package

Build Status

Getting started

This solution come from the idea of Gérald Barré on Meziantou's blog Getting the date of build of a .NET assembly at runtime

1. Add/Update PackageReference to .csproj

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="NetLah.Abstractions" Version="1.0.0" />
  <PackageReference Include="NetLah.AssemblyInfo.BuildTime.Target" Version="1.0.0" PrivateAssets="All" />
</ItemGroup>

2. Output during build

Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 17.0.0+c9eb9dd64 for .NET
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

  Determining projects to restore...
  All projects are up-to-date for restore.
  SampleApp -> C:\Work\NetLah\abstractions\samples\SampleApp\bin\Debug\net6.0\SampleApp.dll
  SampleApp [buildTime] := 2021-11-08T21:26:28 (net6.0)

Build succeeded.
    0 Warning(s)
    0 Error(s)

Time Elapsed 00:00:01.84

2. Retrieve build datetime of assembly

var asm = new AssemblyInfo(typeof(AssemblyInfo).Assembly);
Console.WriteLine($"AssemblyTitle:{asm.Title}");
Console.WriteLine($"Version:{asm.InformationalVersion} BuildTime:{asm.BuildTimestampLocal}; Framework:{asm.FrameworkName}");

The output:

AssemblyTitle:NetLah.Abstractions
Version:0.2.0-rc2.2 BuildTime:2021-11-08T21:26:28+08:00; Framework:.NETStandard,Version=v2.0

3. Or Retrieve build datetime of entry assembly

var appInfo = ApplicationInfo.Initialize(null);
Console.WriteLine($"AppTitle:{appInfo.Title}");
Console.WriteLine($"Version:{appInfo.InformationalVersion} BuildTime:{appInfo.BuildTimestampLocal};Framework:{appInfo.FrameworkName}");

Output:

AppTitle:SampleApp
Version:0.2.0-rc2.2 BuildTime:2021-11-08T21:26:56+08:00; Framework:.NETCoreApp,Version=v6.0

4. Use Directory.Build.targets to declare build date time attribute to all projects inside the solution

• Set build date time to projects that already include packageReference NetLah.AssemblyInfo.BuildTime.Target

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Update="NetLah.Abstractions" Version="1.0.0" />
  <PackageReference Update="NetLah.AssemblyInfo.BuildTime.Target" Version="1.0.0" PrivateAssets="All" />
</ItemGroup>

• Set build date time to all projects

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Update="NetLah.Abstractions" Version="1.0.0" />
  <PackageReference Include="NetLah.AssemblyInfo.BuildTime.Target" Version="1.0.0" PrivateAssets="All" />
</ItemGroup>