squirrel commandline excludes *.xml

[austinejei]

Hello guys,

After running the squirrel commandline, i have realized that it always excludes all xml files even though i have explicitly stated it in my nuget package:

<file src="*.*" target="lib\net45\" exclude="*.nupkg;*.vshost.*"/>
<file src="**" target="lib\net45\" exclude="*.nupkg;*.vshost.*"/>

[anaisbetts]

I don't think this is the case by design, you're saying that the input nupkg file has XML files in it, but the output packages don't?

[austinejei]

Exactly. After running setup.exe, the .xml files are missing.

[anaisbetts]

Can you open the generated full NuGet package (rename it to Zip) and see if the XML files are there?

[austinejei]

Yes i did. No XML files.

[austinejei]

Any help please......?

[anaisbetts]

@austinejei I have no idea why XML files wouldn't show up - I'd try to debug through Squirrel. Since it's during the packaging step, it's straightforward to clone the Squirrel.Windows project and set the debug parameters to point to package your app

[austinejei]

ok. thanks

[austinejei]

any luck @paulcbetts

[anaisbetts]

@austinejei Sorry, to be clear I was saying that you should debug through Squirrel.

[IanElsinga]

I am experiencing the same issue - trying Squirrel for the first time - it's a showstopper for me. If this gets fixed I'll give it another go. Thanks.

[anaisbetts]

@IanElsinga I appreciate the feedback but open-source developers aren't obliged to fix bugs that affect you in order to get your "business". If you want it fixed, I will be glad to give you (or anyone else!) guidance on how to fix it.

[bddckr]

The only related functionality I can find is that Squirrel will be removing the .xml file that comes along with a .dll:

Squirrel.Windows/src/Squirrel/ReleasePackage.cs

Lines 264 to 271 in 250fe4c

	void removeDeveloperDocumentation(DirectoryInfo expandedRepoPath)
	{
	expandedRepoPath.GetAllFilesRecursively()
	.Where(x => x.Name.EndsWith(".dll", true, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture))
	.Select(x => new FileInfo(x.FullName.ToLowerInvariant().Replace(".dll", ".xml")))
	.Where(x => x.Exists)
	.ForEach(x => x.Delete());
	}

I can't see Squirrel removing any other .xml files without a matching .dll file, so perhaps try to confirm whether that's the issue for you.

If it is I suggest forking, commenting out that linked method's body or the call to it and confirming whether that's the behavior that is giving you an issue.

[IanElsinga]

Thanks, I believe that is the issue - will this be remaining the way it is? There are situations where the associated .xml file is required, Swagger, for example, or in my case https://github.com/jacobslusser/ScintillaNET. I could indeed fork and modify it but then I will lose the ability to easily keep squirrel up to date in my projects without forking every time there is a nuget update.

Thanks for finding this.

[austinejei]

Thanks @bddckr, i'll have a look at it. My issue is similar to @IanElsinga My swagger page was not showing up because of *.xml files not present.
I shall look into this and give feedback.
Would you be willing to accept a pull request tho? Perhaps an extra switch parser for "squirrel.exe" where you can either remove or keep *.xml files

For example, "Squirrel.exe --releasify MyApp.1.0.0.nupkg --keepXML

[bddckr]

Haha I'm just a user as you guys are, maybe @paulcbetts can chime in.

I do think Squirrel having an opinion on a lot of things and pushing best practices that were figured out by the authors over all this time is a great resource. That being said adding flags to override specific functionality to allow people who hopefully know what they're doing to change that default behavior is hopefully a welcome addition. 🤞

[IanElsinga]

My opinion is that you can already control exactly what files are to be published using a .nuspec file, so file inclusion/exclusion control is already in place. Adding another point of exclusion is redundant and adds unneeded complexity.

I could be wrong, and I am under the weight of pressing deadlines and can't dig into the source of this project myself at this time so I greatly appreciate anything anyone else is able to do to rectify this!

[bddckr]

I already provided you with the source code and instructions to change it. Fork + clone + edit + compile isn't that hard 😉

[anaisbetts]

The only related functionality I can find is that Squirrel will be removing the .xml file that comes along with a .dll

@bddckr Nice research finding this, I am definitely in favor of 🔥 ing this feature - it made sense when we were flattening dependencies but we don't do that anymore

[drzeusis]

is anyone else having this problem in 2021?