dotnet/msbuild

Improve understandability of RAR name mismatch

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#502 opened on Feb 22, 2016

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help wantedtriaged

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

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.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
C#MSBuild basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60
Research direction
Look at the ResolveAssemblyReferences task implementation in the MSBuild codebase, likely in a file like 'ResolveAssemblyReference.cs'. Investigate how the error message 'didn't match' is generated and consider formatting improvements such as aligning expected and actual names or adding version mismatch hints. Check if there are existing tests for RAR output that need updating.
Improve understandability of RAR name mismatch · dotnet/msbuild#502 | Good First Issue