Style

dotnet-style is a .NET tool that enables users to maintain a consistent and configurable C# code style throughout projects.

It wraps existing and reputable tooling with the goal of providing a single interface for managing C# code style functionality that would otherwise require running these other tools separately. As a developer, this is less ideal because it requires me to remember the unique syntax and overall knowledge for each of the separate tools rather than just learning and using this tool instead to perform the same actions.

Install

The .NET tool is available via NuGet.

Global Tool

If you want to run the .NET tool from any directory on your machine without specifying the tool's location, install it as a global tool so that it is added to a directory visible to your PATH environment variable.

Install dotnet-style as a global .NET tool using the command dotnet tool install style --global

Local Tool

If you prefer to run the .NET tool from select directories, install it as a local tool. This can be beneficial in instances such as working on a shared code repository where you want any developer who clones the repo to have easy access to installing the same tools and versions as everyone else working on the same code.

Install dotnet-style as a local .NET tool using the following steps:

1. Add a dotnet-tools.json manifest file in a .config directory under the current directory using the command dotnet new tool-manifest if the files does not currently exist.

2. Install the .NET tool using the command dotnet tool install style without any additional options.

   • This updates the dotnet-tools.json manifest file with information such as the tool's name and version so that all developers use the same tool.

3. Anyone who wants to use the local tool can run the command dotnet tool restore from within the repo to restore their local .NET tool(s) to match the manifest file.

   • 💡 Quick Tip: You can add this as an MSBuild PreBuildEvent so that developers don't have to worry about manually checking for changes and restoring tools when applicable.

     • Ex:

         <!-- Commands to run before builds -->
         <Target Name="Prebuild Actions" BeforeTargets="PreBuildEvent">
           <Exec Command="dotnet tool restore"/>
         </Target>

Setup

dotnet-style wraps existing tools so you will need to setup the tools you plan to use along with the code style configuration you want to enforce. More information regarding each configurable tool is listed below:

• dotnet-format:
  • This tool is bundled with the .NET 6 SDK and later.
    • If you are using an older version of .NET you'll have to install an older version of the tool as a .NET tool.
  • This tool uses an EditorConfig as the configurable source of truth for C# code style.
    • Create your own .editorconfig file with customized settings and severities if you want to manage code style using this tool.
      • Examples:
        • Roslyn has a pretty comprehensive and highly used EditorConfig.
        • Reference the .editorconfig files throughout dotnet-style repository for extremely customized (probably overkill 😁) examples where there is a default root configuration that is overridden by more specific configurations when needed.
• CSharpier:
  • Install the tool following tool-specific documentation at the resource listed above.
  • Because this is an opinionated code formatter, it only allows for a few configuration options to be specified in a .csharpierrc file as explained in the tool-specific documentation.
    • Example: Reference the .csharpierrc.yaml file located in the the dotnet-style repository for an example of how that repository configures and uses the tool.

Usage

After the dotnet-style is installed you can run the tool by typing dotnet style in a terminal to run the tool as a CLI application.

General CLI Usage

Style v1.0.0
  A customizable dotnet tool that helps maintain a consistent C# coding style.

USAGE
  dotnet style [options]
  dotnet style [command] [...]

OPTIONS
  -h|--help         Shows help text.
  --version         Shows version information.

COMMANDS
  format            Formats C# files according to a defined coding style.
  verify            Verifies that C# files comply with the defined coding style.

You can run `dotnet style [command] --help` to show help on a specific command.

Format Command Usage

Style v1.0.0
  A customizable dotnet tool that helps maintain a consistent C# coding style.

USAGE
  dotnet style format [options]

DESCRIPTION
  Formats C# files according to a defined coding style.

OPTIONS
  -p|--path         The directory containing files to recursively format. Default: "C:\Users\<USER>\source\repos\Style\src".
  -s|--style        Whether to format code using the 'dotnet format' formatter to run code style analyzers and apply fixes. Default: "True".
  -a|--analyzers    Whether to format code using the 'dotnet format' formatter to run third party code style analyzers and apply fixes. Default: "True".
  -w|--whitespace   Whether to format code using the 'dotnet format' formatter to run whitespace formatting. Default: "False".
  -c|--csharpier    Whether to format code using the 'CSharpier' opinionated formatter. Note: If formatting with --whitespace, this option must be disabled to avoid conflicts as they both handle whitespace formatting. Default: "True".
  -v|--verbosity    The output verbosity level. Choices: "Quiet", "Normal", "Verbose". Default: "Normal".
  -h|--help         Shows help text.

Verify Command Usage

Style v1.0.0
  A customizable dotnet tool that helps maintain a consistent C# coding style.

USAGE
  dotnet style verify [options]

DESCRIPTION
  Verifies that C# files comply with the defined coding style.

OPTIONS
  -p|--path         The directory containing files to recursively verify the coding style compliance of. Default: "C:\Users\<USER>\source\repos\Style\src".
  -s|--style        Whether to verify code complies with the coding style used by the 'dotnet format' formatter for code style analyzer settings. Default: "True".
  -a|--analyzers    Whether to verify code complies with the coding style used by the 'dotnet format' formatter for third party code style analyzer settings. Default: "True".
  -w|--whitespace   Whether to verify code complies with the coding style used by the 'dotnet format' formatter for whitespace settings. Default: "False".
  -c|--csharpier    Whether to verify code complies with the coding style used by the 'CSharpier' opinionated formatter. Note: If verifying with --whitespace, this option must be disabled to avoid conflicts as they both handle whitespace formatting. Default: "True".
  -v|--verbosity    The output verbosity level. Choices: "Quiet", "Normal", "Verbose". Default: "Normal".
  -h|--help         Shows help text.

Common Usage Examples

• Simple format usage: dotnet style format
  • This will recursively format C# files starting in your current directory using the C# formatters that are enabled by default.
• Customized format usage: dotnet style format -p ./src -s true -a true -w true -c false -v verbose
  • This will only format code in the .NET project defined within the relative ./src directory using the dotnet-format formatter instead of the CSharpier formatter to avoid opinionated formatting. It also outputs additional information for potential debugging in the event there are errors or you want more details throughout the process.

Note: You can replace format with verify in any of the above examples to verify whether the current C# files comply with coding standards rather than actually modifying any code.

Disclaimers

Since this .NET tool relies on other tools to perform the actual code style functions, there are limitations. For instance, the dotnet format formatter tool does not automatically fix all warnings/errors at the time of writing this. So, depending on how strict you make your configuration, you may still have to manually fix code to ensure compliance with your coding standards.