Adjust an Uno Solution for a faster build with Visual Studio 2022
The Uno Platform template provides a cross-targeted Class library that includes multiple target frameworks. While building with the command line dotnet build -f net7.0-ios
only builds the application's head and the class library for net7.0-ios
, Visual Studio builds all the target frameworks, regardless of the project head's target framework.
Considering that during development, it is common to work on a single platform at a given time, here's a suggested set of modifications that can be performed on the solution to restrict the active build platform:
Let's create a set of solution filters to ensure that individual project heads can be loaded:
- Create a new app template with iOS, Android, WebAssembly and Windows targets selected.
- Right click on the .Mobile and .Wasm projects and select Unload Project
- On the top level Solution node, right-click to select Save As Solution Filter, name the filter MyApp-Windows-Only.slnf
- Right-click on the Mobile project, select Reload Project
- Unload the .Windows project, then save a new solution filter called MyApp-Mobile-Only.slnf
- Repeat the operation with the .Wasm project, with a solution filter called MyApp-Wasm-Only.slnf
These solution filters will prevent Visual Studio to restore NuGet packages for TargetFrameworks that will be ignored by the configuration done below.
Now, next to the solution file, create a file named
targetframework-override.props
:<Project> <Import Project="solution-config.props" Condition="exists('solution-config.props')" /> <!-- Override the TargetFrameworks list with the one specified in MyAppTargetFrameworkOverride --> <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(MyAppTargetFrameworkOverride)'!=''"> <TargetFrameworks>$(MyAppTargetFrameworkOverride)</TargetFrameworks> </PropertyGroup> </Project>
Also next to the solution file, create a file named
solution-config.props.sample
:<Project> <PropertyGroup> <!-- Uncomment the following line to enable single-target framework builds in order to get faster performance when debugging for a single platform. Once this file is modified, use the appropriate solution filter to avoid NuGet restore issues. Available target frameworks can be found in the project heads of your solution. --> <!-- <MyAppTargetFrameworkOverride>net7.0-ios</MyAppTargetFrameworkOverride> --> </PropertyGroup> </Project>
Next, in all projects of the solution which are cross-targeted (with multiple TargetFrameworks values), add the following lines right after the
PropertyGroup
which defines<TargetFrameworks>
:<!-- Import the TargetFramework override configuration --> <Import Project="../../targetframework-override.props" />
The file should then look like this:
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk"> <PropertyGroup> <TargetFrameworks>net7.0-windows10.0.18362;net7.0;net7.0-ios;net7.0-android</TargetFrameworks> </PropertyGroup> </Project> <!-- Import the TargetFramework override configuration --> <Import Project="../../targetframework-override.props" />
Note
If the template is created with
dotnet new
, the path will instead be../targetframework-override.props
Create a copy of the file
solution-config.props.sample
next to itself, and name itsolution-config.props
If using git, add this specific file to the
.gitignore
so it never gets committed. This way, each developer can keep their own version of the file without corrupting the repository.Commit your changes to the repository.
At this point, your solution is ready for single-TargetFramework use.
For example, to work on net7.0-ios
:
- Before opening the solution, open the
solution-config.props
file and uncommentMyAppTargetFrameworkOverride
to containnet7.0-ios
- Open the
MyApp-Mobile-Only.slnf
solution filter in Visual Studio 2022 - You should only see the .Mobile and Class Library projects in your solution
- When building and debugging the app, you'll only now build for the target specified in
solution-config.props
.
Important
When changing the MyAppTargetFrameworkOverride
value, make sure to close the solution and reload it so the build system recognizes properly the change.