dotnet/msbuild

Improve understandability of RAR name mismatch

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#502 opened on Feb 22, 2016

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Description

When ResolveAssemblyReferences rejects a file because the names don't match, it isn't always super clear about why.

Primary reference "System.Runtime". (TaskId:24)
...
  Considered "d:\CxCache-Scope\DotNetFxRefAssemblies.Corext.4.5.2\Facades\System.Runtime.dll", but its name "System.Runtime, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" didn't match. (TaskId:24)

It would be nice to have some sort of clearer error, like "version doesn't match", or even just an aligned set of strings for "expected" and "actual", maybe with markers on another line indicating where the diff begins.

[This is a suggestion from an Microsoft dev on an internal alias.]

Contributor guide

Research direction
Inspect the ResolveAssemblyReferences task in the MSBuild source code and modify the error message formatting to show expected vs actual names more clearly.
Tech stack
csharp
Domain
build system
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
1
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Under 1 hour
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
C#
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
80