NetLah.Abstractions 0.1.1

NetLah.Abstractions - .NET Library

NetLah.Abstractions is a library which contains a set of reusable classes for storage and retrieve .NET assembly build date time at runtime. These libray classes are ApplicationInfo, AssemblyInfo, AssemblyBuildDateAttribute.

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 with PrivateAssets=build in .csproj

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="NetLah.Abstractions" Version="0.1.1" PrivateAssets="build" />
</ItemGroup>

2. Output during build

Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 16.10.1+2fd48ab73 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\net5.0\SampleApp.dll
  AssemblyBuildDate := [set] 2021-06-10T05:28:33

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

Time Elapsed 00:00:01.84

2. Retrieve build datetime of assemly

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:0.0.0-alpha.0.1 BuildTime:2021-05-09T12:26:28+08:00; Framework:.NETStandard,Version=v2.1

3. Or Retrieve build datetime of entry assemly

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:0.0.0-alpha.0.1 BuildTime:2021-05-09T12:26:56+08:00; Framework:.NETCoreApp,Version=v5.0

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

• Set build date to projects that already include packageReference NetLah.Abstractions

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Update="NetLah.Abstractions" Version="0.1.1" PrivateAssets="build" />
</ItemGroup>

• Set build date to all projects

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="NetLah.Abstractions" />
  <PackageReference Update="NetLah.Abstractions" Version="0.1.1" PrivateAssets="build" />
</ItemGroup>