Old Format:

The pre visual studio 2017 format that was used by source before 2020 was maintained by ProjectChecker.exe on teamcity (and locally).

The core settings that were maintained were:

Target Framework - .Net 4.8
Tools Version - 15.0
LangVersion - C# 7.3, VB 15
General settings including WarningLevel, NoWarn, Prefer32Bit, Debug symbols, Optimize, etc.
RootPath - the root of our folder structure which all of our repository folders sit in; defined as a relative path from the project file location.
Import NormailsePdbBuildRoot targets
Output paths
- Core projects -> $(RootPath)Output
- Core Plugin projects -> $(RootPath)Output\Plugins
- Community Plugin projects -> $(RootPath)Output\Plugins\CommunityPlugins
ReferencePath (output path isn't needed to be included as it's automatically used)
- Core projects -> $(RootPath)3rdParty
- Plugins -> $(RootPath)Output;$(RootPath)3rdParty
Project references
- Convert dll references to project references if within same solution
- Convert project references to dll references if within different solution (cannot use project references as the the build configuration to use is defined in the solution not the project i.e. debug will be used by default when building release)
- Set copy local (private) to false
Dll references
- Remove version and PublicKeyToken information
- Remove HintPath
- Set specific version to false
- Set copy local (private) to false if part of .Net framework
- Source solution
  - Set copy local (private) to true if not part of .Net framework
- Plugins solution
  - Set copy local (private) to false if project from Source solution
  - Set copy local (private) to false if (directly) referenced by project from Source solution
  - Set copy local (private) to true for everything else (i.e. only referenced by a plugin)

Note: ProjectChecker.exe was only run on Source.sln and SourceCommunityPlugins.sln (i.e. doesn't get run on the Not to be distributed plugins).

Old TIME.csproj

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003" DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="15.0">
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props" Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props')" />
  <PropertyGroup>
    <ProjectGuid>{EEC5CF45-EBEE-4CEB-9335-A383C4749688}</ProjectGuid>
    <OutputType>Library</OutputType>
    <RootNamespace>TIME</RootNamespace>
    <AssemblyName>TIME</AssemblyName>
    <StartupObject />
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.8</TargetFrameworkVersion>
    <LangVersion>7.3</LangVersion>
    <NoWarn>1591,1587</NoWarn>
    <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
    <RootPath>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\</RootPath>
    <ReferencePath>$(RootPath)3rdParty</ReferencePath>
    <OutputPath>$(RootPath)Output</OutputPath>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|AnyCPU' ">
    <OutputPath>$(RootPath)Output</OutputPath>
    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
    <BaseAddress>285212672</BaseAddress>
    <CheckForOverflowUnderflow>false</CheckForOverflowUnderflow>
    <DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
    <FileAlignment>4096</FileAlignment>
    <NoWarn>1591,1587</NoWarn>
    <Optimize>false</Optimize>
    <RemoveIntegerChecks>false</RemoveIntegerChecks>
    <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
    <DebugType>portable</DebugType>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <CodeAnalysisRuleSet>AllRules.ruleset</CodeAnalysisRuleSet>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
    <OutputPath>$(RootPath)Output</OutputPath>
    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
    <BaseAddress>285212672</BaseAddress>
    <CheckForOverflowUnderflow>false</CheckForOverflowUnderflow>
    <DefineConstants>TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <DebugSymbols>false</DebugSymbols>
    <FileAlignment>4096</FileAlignment>
    <NoWarn>1591,1587</NoWarn>
    <Optimize>true</Optimize>
    <RemoveIntegerChecks>false</RemoveIntegerChecks>
    <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
    <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
    <DebugType>portable</DebugType>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <CodeAnalysisRuleSet>AllRules.ruleset</CodeAnalysisRuleSet>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="CsvHelper">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="gdal_csharp">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="LZ4">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="MathNet.Numerics">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel">
      <EmbedInteropTypes>True</EmbedInteropTypes>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Validation">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="ogr_csharp">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="PresentationCore">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Core">
      <RequiredTargetFramework>3.5</RequiredTargetFramework>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Data">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Drawing">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Reactive">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Xml">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\TIME.NetCDF\TIME.NetCDF.csproj">
      <Project>{D3F02F27-C0B1-4ED9-86D3-AA1733270179}</Project>
      <Name>TIME.NetCDF</Name>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </ProjectReference>
    <Reference Include="PresentationFramework">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.IO.Compression">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Windows.Forms">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Xaml">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="WindowsBase">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>False</Private>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="SciChart.Charting">
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <Private>True</Private>
    </Reference>
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="BinarySerializer.cs" />
    <!-- Compiles removed for reability --> 
    <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Properties\Resources.Designer.cs">
      <AutoGen>True</AutoGen>
      <DependentUpon>Resources.resx</DependentUpon>
      <DesignTime>True</DesignTime>
    </Compile>
    <Compile Include="DataTypes\IO\CsvFileIo\GeneralCsvFileIo.Load.cs" />
    <Compile Include="DataTypes\IO\CsvFileIo\TimeSeriesInfo\BigModTimeseriesInfo.cs" />
    <None Include="key.snk" />
    <None Include="Properties\Settings.settings">
      <Generator>SettingsSingleFileGenerator</Generator>
      <LastGenOutput>Settings.Designer.cs</LastGenOutput>
    </None>
    <Compile Include="Properties\Settings.Designer.cs">
      <AutoGen>True</AutoGen>
      <DependentUpon>Settings.settings</DependentUpon>
      <DesignTimeSharedInput>True</DesignTimeSharedInput>
    </Compile>
    <Compile Include="Science\Algebra\Algorithms.cs" />

    <Compile Include="Science\Mathematics\Functions\InterpolatedFunction.cs">
      <SubType>Code</SubType>
    </Compile>
    <Compile Include="Science\Mathematics\Functions\LinearPerPartFunction.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Science\VectorOperations\PolygonTools\Winding.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Science\VectorOperations\UnionGEORegions.cs" />
    <None Include="Science\Statistics\ClassDiagram.cd" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\coordinate_axis.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\datum_shift.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\ellipsoid.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\gcs.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\gcs.override.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\gdal_datum.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\gt_datum.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\gt_ellips.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\pcs.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\pcs.override.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\prime_meridian.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\projop_wparm.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\s57agencies.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\s57attributes.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\s57attributes_aml.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\s57attributes_iw.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\s57expectedinput.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\s57objectclasses.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\s57objectclasses_aml.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\s57objectclasses_iw.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\stateplane.csv" />
    <RootContent Include="Resources\GDAL\unit_of_measure.csv" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Service Include="{82A7F48D-3B50-4B1E-B82E-3ADA8210C358}" />
    <Service Include="{B4F97281-0DBD-4835-9ED8-7DFB966E87FF}" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Client.3.5">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <ProductName>.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Client Profile</ProductName>
      <Install>false</Install>
    </BootstrapperPackage>
    <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.2.0">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <ProductName>.NET Framework 2.0 %28x86%29</ProductName>
      <Install>false</Install>
    </BootstrapperPackage>
    <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.3.0">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <ProductName>.NET Framework 3.0 %28x86%29</ProductName>
      <Install>false</Install>
    </BootstrapperPackage>
    <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.3.5">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <ProductName>.NET Framework 3.5</ProductName>
      <Install>false</Install>
    </BootstrapperPackage>
    <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.3.5.SP1">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <ProductName>.NET Framework 3.5 SP1</ProductName>
      <Install>true</Install>
    </BootstrapperPackage>
    <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Windows.Installer.3.1">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <ProductName>Windows Installer 3.1</ProductName>
      <Install>true</Install>
    </BootstrapperPackage>
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Folder Include="Resources\Toolkit\" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <EmbeddedResource Include="Resources\FinderBlackList.txt" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
  <Import Project="$(RootPath)RiverSystem\Solutions\PostAndPreBuildScript.targets" />
  <Import Project="$(RootPath)RiverSystem\Solutions\IncludeGlobalAssembly.targets" />
  <Target Name="CopyRootContent" AfterTargets="AfterBuild">
    <Copy DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" SourceFiles="@(RootContent)" SkipUnchangedFiles="true" />
  </Target>
  <Import Project="$(RootPath)RiverSystem\Solutions\NormalisePdbBuildRoot.targets" />
</Project>

New Format:

The new format released with visual studio 2017. Main changes are:

cs files are included by default. They need to be included if you are doing special things with them (e.g. linking xaml files to their cs backing file)
project references now bring in implicit references of what it references (e.g. A →B and B → C, now A implicitly references C)
- this includes everything C references as well (e.g. if C reference wpf then A will reference wpf)
Choose/When msbuild constructs don't seem to work the same
AssemblySearchPaths is used instead of ReferencePaths

Things to look for during dev review:

<Import Project="$(RootPath)TIME\Solutions\IncludeGlobalAssembly.targets" />
<Import Project="$(RootPath)RiverSystem\Solutions\NormalisePdbBuildRoot.targets" />
CopyReferences are done via the Directory.Build.targets (currently lives in time)
AppendTargetFrameworkToOutputPath and AppendRuntimeIdentifierToOutputPath are set by Directory.Build.props
Compile Remove="xxxxxxx" should be deleted

Example:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <StartupObject />
    <LangVersion>7.3</LangVersion>
    <NoWarn>1591,1587</NoWarn>
    <RootPath>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\</RootPath>
    <AssemblyTitle>TIME</AssemblyTitle>
    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
    <RemoveIntegerChecks>false</RemoveIntegerChecks>
    <FileAlignment>4096</FileAlignment>
    <NoWarn>1591,1587</NoWarn>
    <CodeAnalysisRuleSet>AllRules.ruleset</CodeAnalysisRuleSet>
    <BaseAddress>285212672</BaseAddress>
    <TargetFramework>net48</TargetFramework>
    <OutputPath>$(RootPath)Output</OutputPath>
    <AssemblySearchPaths>$(RootPath)3rdParty;$(AssemblySearchPaths);</AssemblySearchPaths>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" Version="4.*" />
    <PackageReference Include="System.IO.Compression" Version="4.*" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="CsvHelper">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="gdal_csharp">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="LZ4">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="MathNet.Numerics">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
      <EmbedInteropTypes>True</EmbedInteropTypes>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Validation">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="ogr_csharp">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="PresentationCore">
      <Private>False</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Reactive">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap">
      <Private>False</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\TIME.NetCDF\TIME.NetCDF.csproj" />
    <Reference Include="PresentationFramework">
      <Private>False</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations">
      <Private>False</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Windows.Forms">
      <Private>False</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="System.Xaml">
      <Private>False</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="WindowsBase">
      <Private>False</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="SciChart.Charting">
      <Private>True</Private>
      <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
    </Reference>
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <EmbeddedResource Update="Properties\Resources.resx">
      <Generator>ResXFileCodeGenerator</Generator>
      <LastGenOutput>Resources.Designer.cs</LastGenOutput>
      <SubType>Designer</SubType>
    </EmbeddedResource>
    <Compile Update="Properties\Resources.Designer.cs">
      <AutoGen>True</AutoGen>
      <DependentUpon>Resources.resx</DependentUpon>
      <DesignTime>True</DesignTime>
    </Compile>
    <None Include="key.snk" />
    <None Include="Properties\Settings.settings">
    <Generator>SettingsSingleFileGenerator</Generator>
      <LastGenOutput>Settings.Designer.cs</LastGenOutput>
    </None>
    <Compile Update="Properties\Settings.Designer.cs">
      <AutoGen>True</AutoGen>
      <DependentUpon>Settings.settings</DependentUpon>
      <DesignTimeSharedInput>True</DesignTimeSharedInput>
    </Compile>
    <None Include="Science\Statistics\ClassDiagram.cd" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Service Include="{82A7F48D-3B50-4B1E-B82E-3ADA8210C358}" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <EmbeddedResource Include="Resources\FinderBlackList.txt" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Remove="ManagedExtensions\IListExtensions.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Management\LegacyFinder.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="DataTypes\IO\CSVFileIO.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Wetlands\Solver\Cluster.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Wetlands\Solver\MultiSolutionCluster.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Wetlands\Solver\SolutionCluster.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Wetlands\Solver\SolutionClusterLogger.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Wetlands\Solver\SolutionClusterPrinter.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Wetlands\Solver\TestCases.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Wetlands\Solver\TestCluster.cs" />
    <Compile Remove="Wetlands\Solver\TestInternalHalving.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <Import Project="$(RootPath)TIME\Solutions\IncludeGlobalAssembly.targets" />
  <Import Project="$(RootPath)RiverSystem\Solutions\NormalisePdbBuildRoot.targets" />
  <Target Name="CopyRootContent" AfterTargets="AfterBuild">
    <Copy DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" SourceFiles="@(RootContent)" SkipUnchangedFiles="true" />
  </Target>
</Project>

Csproj Format

Old Format:

New Format: