nunit3-console.exe unable to find dll when AppendTargetFrameworkToOutputPath is added to project

[ThisWholeDev]

I just recently upgraded some of our projects to the SDK style project but have ran into an issue where adding <AppendTargetFrameworkToOutputPath>false</AppendTargetFrameworkToOutputPath> is failing because nunit3-console.exe is failing to find any of the correct dll's because it is still looking in Debug\net472 folder

I was able to reproduce the issue by creating a new project with the following csproj:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <TargetFramework>net472</TargetFramework>
        <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
        <AppendTargetFrameworkToOutputPath>false</AppendTargetFrameworkToOutputPath>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="NUnit" Version="3.12.0" />
        <PackageReference Include="NUnit.ConsoleRunner" Version="3.12.0" />
        <PackageReference Include="NUnit.Runners" Version="3.12.0" />
        <PackageReference Include="NUnit3TestAdapter" Version="3.16.1" />
        <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="16.5.0" />
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Command being ran:

"{packageLocation}\nunit.consolerunner\3.12.0\tools\nunit3-console.exe" TestExample.sln

The output from the previous command:

PS C:\git\test> & "{packagesLocation}\nunit.consolerunner\3.12.0\tools\nunit3-console.exe" TestExample.sln --trace=Debug
NUnit Console Runner 3.12.0 (.NET 2.0)
Copyright (c) 2021 Charlie Poole, Rob Prouse
Monday, March 15, 2021 10:48:57 AM

Runtime Environment
   OS Version: Microsoft Windows NT 6.2.9200.0
   Runtime: .NET Framework CLR v4.0.30319.42000

Test Files
    TestExample.sln


Errors, Failures and Warnings

1) Invalid : C:\RepoLocation\test\TestExample\bin\Debug\net472\TestExample.dll
File not found: C:\RepoLocation\test\TestExample\bin\Debug\net472\TestExample.dll

Test Run Summary
  Overall result: Failed
  Test Count: 0, Passed: 0, Failed: 0, Warnings: 0, Inconclusive: 0, Skipped: 0
  Start time: 2021-03-15 14:48:57Z
    End time: 2021-03-15 14:48:58Z
    Duration: 0.536 seconds

Results (nunit3) saved as TestResult.xml

I have tried running the command with --trace=Debug and --inprocess as the bug report suggested and there is no difference.

The versions of all of the packages is as show above.

If I am missing something please let me know. We only call the console from our build process so I am a bit unfamiliar with the console runner.

[CharliePoole]

This is actually an extension issue related to #34

Both are actually instances of an (as yet unwritten) issue about the project loader extension not supporting SDK-format projects.

I'm moving this issue to the project loader repo for follow-up.

In the short term, your workaround is to stop running solution files using the console runner. If you have a relatively small fixed list of test assemblies, run them directly for now. Or create a .nunit project file, which will allow you to define your own configs. Note that while "config" in a .csproj file can't incorporate platforms a <config> element in a .nunit file can represent anything you want and use any path you want.

[makersky]

I had similar problem, adding

  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
    <OutputPath>bin\x64\Debug\</OutputPath>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
    <OutputPath>bin\x64\Release\</OutputPath>
  </PropertyGroup>

to csproj test file solved the issue.

[CharliePoole]

@makersky Yes, that solves a specific problem... i.e. a project that defaults the OutputPath. The more general problem is that SDK-style projects can default a lot of things!

Still I think I'll add this suggestion in the docs somewhere.

[CharliePoole]

Fixed by adding a check for the specific property but a more general approach is needed overall for the future.

[CharliePoole]

🎉 This issue has been resolved in version 3.9.0 🎉

The release is available on:

• GitHub Release
• NuGet Package
• Chocolatey Package