ktsu.Sdk

A comprehensive, robust MSBuild-based SDK for .NET projects that standardizes configuration, metadata management, and package workflows. Features intelligent project structure detection, hierarchical solution discovery, and path-based namespace generation. Supports multiple .NET versions (.NET 5.0+, .NET Standard 2.0/2.1) with optimizations for .NET 9.0.

Key Features

🏗️ Intelligent Project Structure

• Hierarchical Solution Discovery: Automatically finds solution files up to 5 directory levels above the project
• Path-Based Namespace Generation: Creates namespaces from directory structure between solution and project
• Smart Project Detection: Automatically detects primary, console, GUI, and test project types
• Nested Project Support: Works seamlessly with deeply nested project structures

🛡️ Robust Error Handling

• Safe Array Operations: Prevents index-out-of-bounds errors in MSBuild expressions
• Null-Safe String Operations: Comprehensive null/empty checks for all string manipulations
• Graceful Fallbacks: Provides sensible defaults when metadata files or properties are missing
• Comprehensive Validation: Built-in validation for all file operations and property access

📦 Advanced Package Management

• Multi-Target Support: .NET 9.0, 8.0, 7.0, 6.0, 5.0, .NET Standard 2.0/2.1
• MSBuildSdk Packaging: Properly configured for MSBuild SDK project packaging
• Automatic Metadata Integration: Seamlessly includes markdown files in package metadata
• Package Validation: Built-in API compatibility and package validation
• Source Link Integration: Automatic source linking for debugging

🔧 Development Workflow

• Automatic Project References: Smart cross-project referencing based on project types
• Internals Visibility: Automatic InternalsVisibleTo configuration for test projects
• GitHub Integration: Built-in support for GitHub workflows and CI/CD
• Cross-Platform Support: Compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Documentation Generation: Automated XML documentation file generation

Project Structure

• Sdk: Core SDK implementation with MSBuild props and targets (for all project types)
• Sdk.ConsoleApp: Console application SDK support with cross-platform console configurations
• Sdk.ImGuiApp: ImGui application SDK for modern GUI applications
• Sdk.WinApp: Windows application SDK for platform-specific GUI applications (WinForms, WPF, etc.)
• Sdk.Test: Testing infrastructure and configuration for unit tests
• Sdk.WinTest: Windows-specific testing infrastructure and configuration

Usage

To use this SDK in your project:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk"> <Sdk Name="ktsu.Sdk" /> <PropertyGroup> <!-- Your project-specific properties here --> </PropertyGroup> </Project>

Add sdk extensions to your project (for specific project types):

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk"> <Sdk Name="ktsu.Sdk" /> <Sdk Name="ktsu.Sdk.ConsoleApp" /> <PropertyGroup> <!-- Your project-specific properties here --> </PropertyGroup> </Project>

Project Type Detection

The SDK automatically detects different project types in your solution:

• Primary Project: The main project of your solution (YourSolution, YourSolution.Core)
• Console Projects: Command-line interface projects (YourSolution.ConsoleApp, YourSolutionConsoleApp, YourSolution.CLI, YourSolutionCLI)
• GUI App Projects: Application projects (YourSolution.App, YourSolutionApp, YourSolution.WinApp, YourSolutionWinApp, YourSolution.ImGuiApp, YourSolutionImGuiApp)
• Test Projects: Test projects (YourSolution.Test, YourSolution.Tests, YourSolutionTest, YourSolutionTests, YourSolution.WinTest, YourSolutionWinTest)

Each project type receives appropriate default settings, references, and output configurations (console apps vs. GUI apps).

Intelligent Namespace Generation

The SDK creates intelligent namespaces based on your project's directory structure:

Examples:

MySolution/src/Core/Utils/MyProject.csproj → ProjectNamespace: src.Core.Utils.MyProject MySolution/libs/MyLib/MyLib.csproj → ProjectNamespace: libs.MyLib (already ends with project name) MySolution/MyApp/MyApp.csproj → ProjectNamespace: MyApp (directory equals project name)

Final Namespace Pattern: {AuthorsNamespace}.{ProjectNamespace} where AuthorsNamespace comes from AUTHORS.md

Hierarchical Solution Discovery

The SDK automatically searches for solution files up the directory hierarchy:

MyProject/ ← Level 3: Check here ├── MyProject.sln ← Found! Use this directory └── apps/ ← Level 2: Check here └── frontend/ ← Level 1: Check here └── src/ ← Level 0: Start here (project directory) └── MyApp.csproj

This enables the SDK to work with any nested project structure without configuration.

Metadata Files

This SDK supports the following metadata files at the solution root:

• README.md: Project documentation (this file)
• AUTHORS.md: Project authors and contributors
• LICENSE.md: Project license information
• CHANGELOG.md: Version history and changes
• DESCRIPTION.md: Detailed project description
• VERSION.md: Current version information
• TAGS.md: Project tags for NuGet packages
• COPYRIGHT.md: Copyright information
• AUTHORS.url: URL to authors' information
• PROJECT_URL.url: URL to project information

These files are automatically included in the NuGet package and used to populate package metadata.

Advanced Configuration Features

Automatic Project References

Projects automatically reference the primary project and expose internals to test projects. Cross-references are intelligently configured based on project types and naming conventions.

Robust Error Handling

The SDK includes comprehensive error handling to prevent common MSBuild failures:

• Safe Array Access: Prevents "index out of bounds" errors when accessing file lists or string arrays
• Null Property Checks: All string operations include null/empty validation
• File Existence Validation: All file operations verify existence before processing
• Graceful Degradation: Missing metadata files don't cause build failures

Standardized Package Creation

Library projects are automatically configured for NuGet packaging with:

• Automatic Metadata Population: Uses markdown files for package description, changelog, etc.
• Source Link Integration: Enables source code debugging for published packages
• Package Validation: Built-in API compatibility and package structure validation
• Multi-Framework Support: Targets multiple .NET versions simultaneously

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Projects are configured with multiple runtime identifiers:

• Windows: win-x64, win-x86, win-arm64
• macOS: osx-x64, osx-arm64
• Linux: linux-x64, linux-arm64

Advanced Testing Support

• Automatic InternalsVisibleTo: Test projects automatically access internal members
• Test Project Detection: Identifies and configures test projects with appropriate settings
• Multi-Platform Testing: Test configurations for both standard and Windows-specific tests

Requirements

• .NET SDK 5.0 or later (optimized for .NET SDK 9.0)

License

See the LICENSE.md file for license information.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.