.csproj file explained - propetygroups, targetframework, ItemGroup

.csproj file is a xml file used in a .NET project. Let's break down each section and understand its purpose:

Project Information

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

• Specifies that this project file uses the Microsoft.NET.Sdk SDK style, which is the new SDK-based project format introduced in .NET Core and continued in .NET 5 and later versions.

PropertyGroup

<PropertyGroup>
  <TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>
  <AssemblyName>WebDriver</AssemblyName>
  <RootNamespace>OpenQA.Selenium</RootNamespace>
  <LangVersion>10.0</LangVersion>
</PropertyGroup>

• TargetFramework: Specifies that this project targets .NET Standard 2.0.
• AssemblyName: Defines the assembly name as WebDriver.
• RootNamespace: Sets the root namespace to OpenQA.Selenium.
• LangVersion: Specifies the language version (C# 10.0 in this case).

Additional Project Properties

<PropertyGroup>
  <!-- Project metadata -->
  <AssemblyTitle>WebDriver</AssemblyTitle>
  <Company>Selenium Committers</Company>
  <Copyright>Copyright © Software Freedom Conservancy 2018</Copyright>
  <Product>Selenium</Product>
  <Version>4.0.0</Version>
  <AssemblyVersion>4.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
  <FileVersion>4.0.0.0</FileVersion>

  <!-- Package metadata for NuGet -->
  <PackageId>Selenium.WebDriver</PackageId>
  <Authors>Selenium Committers</Authors>
  <Title>Selenium WebDriver</Title>
  <PackageProjectUrl>https://selenium.dev</PackageProjectUrl>
  <RepositoryType>GitHub</RepositoryType>
  <RepositoryUrl>https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium</RepositoryUrl>
  <Description>
    <!-- Description of the package -->
  </Description>
  <PackageTags>selenium webdriver browser automation</PackageTags>
  <PackageLicenseExpression>Apache-2.0</PackageLicenseExpression>
  <PackageIconUrl>https://selenium.dev/images/selenium_logo_square_green.png</PackageIconUrl>
  <PackageIcon>logo.png</PackageIcon>

  <!-- Generate XML documentation -->
  <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
</PropertyGroup>

• Defines metadata about the project and package for NuGet distribution. This includes package ID, authors, versioning information, package URLs, description, tags, licensing, and icons.

ItemGroup

<ItemGroup>
  <!-- InternalsVisibleTo attribute for unit testing -->
  <InternalsVisibleTo Include="WebDriver.Common.Tests" />
</ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup>
  <!-- References to external packages -->
  <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="13.0.1" />
</ItemGroup>

• InternalsVisibleTo: Specifies that the internals of this assembly are visible to the WebDriver.Common.Tests assembly, allowing internal members to be tested.
• PackageReference: Adds a reference to the Newtonsoft.Json NuGet package.

Content and None Items

<ItemGroup>
  <!-- Custom content files -->
  <None Remove="Settings.StyleCop" />
  <None Remove="WebDriver.ruleset" />
</ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup>
  <!-- Assets to be packed into the NuGet package -->
  <None Include="assets\Selenium.WebDriver.targets" Pack="true" PackagePath="build\" />
  <None Include="assets\Selenium.WebDriver.targets" Pack="true" PackagePath="buildTransitive\" />

  <None Include="$(BaseImagePath)\selenium_logo_small.png" Pack="true" PackagePath="logo.png" Visible="false" />

  <None Include="$(BaseSeleniumManagerPath)\linux\selenium-manager" Pack="true" PackagePath="manager\linux" Visible="false" />
  <None Include="$(BaseSeleniumManagerPath)\macos\selenium-manager" Pack="true" PackagePath="manager\macos" Visible="false" />
  <None Include="$(BaseSeleniumManagerPath)\windows\selenium-manager.exe" Pack="true" PackagePath="manager\windows" Visible="false" />
</ItemGroup>

• None Items: These items are files included in the project but not compiled. They are marked with Pack="true" to be included in the NuGet package under specific paths (PackagePath attribute).
• Remove Attribute: Removes certain files from the project (Settings.StyleCop and WebDriver.ruleset).

Custom Targets

<Target Name="GenerateSeleniumManagerBinaries" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
  <!-- Executes Bazel commands to build Selenium manager binaries -->
  <Exec Command="bazel build //dotnet/src/webdriver:manager-linux //dotnet/src/webdriver:manager-windows //dotnet/src/webdriver:manager-macos" />

  <!-- Sets the base path for Selenium manager binaries -->
  <PropertyGroup>
    <BaseSeleniumManagerPath>..\..\..\bazel-bin\dotnet\src\webdriver\manager</BaseSeleniumManagerPath>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Target>

<Target Name="GenerateAtoms" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
  <!-- Executes Bazel commands to build JavaScript atoms -->
  <Exec Command="bazel build //javascript/webdriver/atoms:get-attribute.js //javascript/atoms/fragments:is-displayed.js //javascript/atoms/fragments:find-elements.js" />

  <!-- Includes JavaScript resources as embedded resources -->
  <ItemGroup>
    <!-- Defines embedded resources from Bazel output -->
  </ItemGroup>
</Target>

<Target Name="GenerateCdp" BeforeTargets="CoreCompile">
  <!-- Executes Bazel commands to generate CDP (Chrome DevTools Protocol) bindings -->
  <Exec Command="bazel build //dotnet/src/webdriver/cdp:generate-v85 //dotnet/src/webdriver/cdp:generate-v124 //dotnet/src/webdriver/cdp:generate-v125 //dotnet/src/webdriver/cdp:generate-v126" />

  <!-- Includes generated CDP bindings as compile items -->
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="..\..\..\bazel-bin\dotnet\src\webdriver\cdp\**\*.cs" LinkBase="DevTools\generated" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Target>

• Custom Targets: These targets execute commands (bazel build) to perform tasks before specific build events (PrepareForBuild, CoreCompile). They generate Selenium manager binaries, JavaScript atoms, and CDP bindings, integrating them into the build process.