Unable to load projects in solution, when path contains a variable

[janaka44]

In my .net solution, there are some paths containing a variable name like this:
<ProjectReference Include="$(ConfigSrcDir)\AB.Config\AB.Config.Model\AB.Config.Model.csproj" />

CycloneDx complains with these errors as it cannot locate these projects:

Project file ".......\AB.Config.Model.csproj" does not exist

These variables are defined in a separate file: Directory.Build.targets

Is there a way to either:

1. Let CycloneDx know where these variables are defined ?
   OR
2. manually specify these variable values ?

[mtsfoni]

Yeah that's very difficult. I consider making a build packages that creates sboms when building the project. That might solve your problem.

Manually providing the path could also be an option as a new command line parameter. Kind of like cdx -v ConfigSrcDir:/repos/configs/

[jecook]

Maybe you could use an MSBuildWorkspace to read the solution and project information, instead of parsing those files by hand. Then any variables in the paths will have been handled for you.

This requires adding package references to at least some of these packages. I haven't checked which are actually required or what other languages are supported:

• Microsoft.CodeAnalysis
• Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp
• Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Workspaces
• Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Workspaces.Common
• Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Workspaces.MSBuild
• Microsoft.Build.Locator

Then you can load solutions or individual projects:

    using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.MSBuild;

    using var workspace = MSBuildWorkspace.Create();
    
    var project = await workspace.OpenProjectAsync(@"C:\dev\MyApp\src\MyCode\MyCode.csproj");
    // project.ProjectReferences has all the project references
    // project.Solution provides access to containing solution

    var solution = await workspace.OpenSolutionAsync(@"C:\dev\MyApp\src\MyApp.sln");
    // solution provides access to everything, for example:
    // solution.Projects provides access to all projects in the solution