[Feature]: Centralized package management update package version property when passed as parameter.

[asimeonov]

NuGet Product(s) Involved

NuGet.exe

The Elevator Pitch

When Directory.Packages.props is used for centralized management we can use PropertyGroup defined variable for package version. Can updating one of the packages that are under this version change the version in PropertyGroup not replacing the version. I know that this may lead to mistakes but it will be more convent when updating internal feeds with packages that should be synchronized to fixed versions.

Sample Directory.Packages.props:

<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <EfCoreVersion>6.0.3</EfCoreVersion>
    <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>true</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore" Version="$(EfCoreVersion)" />
    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer" Version="$(EfCoreVersion)" />
    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design" Version="$(EfCoreVersion)" />
    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.InMemory" Version="$(EfCoreVersion)" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Additional Context and Details

No response

[nkolev92]

cc @jeffkl Do we have any duplicates for this?

Is this even feasible? I know this can be very complicated to do.

[jeffkl]

This works today just fine, you just have to declare the properties at the top of Directory.Packages.props or an import before that. For example, Directory.Packages.props is imported before the project's contents so you can't declare these properties in a project. You can set the property and do a <PackageVersion Update="" /> in the project if needed.

The example above should work just fine.

[nkolev92]

The question is more about whether the tooling such as dotnet add package or VS Package Manager installation can update the property instead of the item attribute.

[jeffkl]

The question is more about whether the tooling such as dotnet add package or VS Package Manager installation can update the property instead of the item attribute.

Ah thanks, I'll leave this open for tracking.

@tmeschter do you have any rough estimate how much work it would be for project system to determine that a <PackageVersion /> Version attribute is being set by a property and update that property value instead?