AssemblyAttribute 1.0.1

AssemblyAttribute

Reusable base attribute designed to streamline the process of using auto-versioning scripts in C# project files.

Usage

The BaseAssemblyAttribute abstract class accepts any number of strings via params string[], but since it is an abstract class it cannot be used directly.
You can use it to create your own assembly attributes, or just as example code - the implementation is very simple.

ExtendedVersionAttribute

Derives from BaseAssemblyAttribute and acts as a method to retrieve the full version string and an array of its segments after being split by all occurrences of ., -, or + via the ExtendedVersionAttribute.Version and ExtendedVersionAttribute.VersionSegments properties, respectively.
I use it with my auto-versioning scripts so I can retrieve the latest git tag in the local repository directly in the code, and that's what this guide will focus on.

1. Add the AssemblyAttribute(https://www.nuget.org/packages/AssemblyAttribute nuget package) to your project.
2. Open the .csproj project file in the editor.
   For .NET Core projects, you can do this by Right-Clicking on the project in the solution explorer & selecting the Edit Project File option.
3. Add an element within the PropertyGroup tag to store the version number:

   <ExtendedVersion></ExtendedVersion>
   

4. Add a new ItemGroup element within the Project tag to add the attribute to that assembly, and pass in the value of the PropertyGroup variable from the previous step:

   <ItemGroup>
     <AssemblyAttribute Include="AssemblyAttribute.ExtendedVersion">
       <_Parameter1>$(ExtendedVersion)</_Parameter1>
   
     </AssemblyAttribute>
   </ItemGroup>
   

5. You can now retrieve the ExtendedVersionAttribute with the properties you passed in the csproj file in your code with:

   System.Reflection.Assembly.GetCallingAssembly().GetCustomAttribute<ExtendedVersionAttribute>();
   //                         ▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
   //  Adapt as needed to get the assembly that corresponds to your csproj file!
   

Now all you have to do is update the version number in your csproj file before *(re)building the solution somewhere in your build script (This example uses PowerShell):
/```ps1 [xml]$CONTENT = Get-Content -Path "<YOUR_CSPROJ_FILE_PATH_HERE>" $CONTENT.Project.PropertyGroup.ExtendedVersion = git describe --tags --abbrev=0