`dotnet --info` should also show workload info

Background

The dotnet CLI tool has many command line options for showing info about what is installed:

sdk-options:
   ...
  --info            Display .NET information.
  --list-runtimes   Display the installed runtimes.
  --list-sdks       Display the installed SDKs.
  --version         Display .NET SDK version in use.

The most detailed of those options is --info, which includes the details of all the other top-level options, and looks like this:

.NET SDK:
 Version:   7.0.200
 Commit:    534117727b

Runtime Environment:
 OS Name:     Windows
 OS Version:  10.0.22621
 OS Platform: Windows
 RID:         win10-x64
 Base Path:   C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\7.0.200\

Host:
  Version:      7.0.3
  Architecture: x64
  Commit:       0a2bda10e8

.NET SDKs installed:
  3.1.426 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
  6.0.309 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
  7.0.200 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]

.NET runtimes installed:
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 3.1.32 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
  ...
  Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 7.0.3 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]

Other architectures found:
  x86   [C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet]
    registered at [HKLM\SOFTWARE\dotnet\Setup\InstalledVersions\x86\InstallLocation]

Environment variables:
  Not set

global.json file:
  Not found

Learn more:
  https://aka.ms/dotnet/info

Download .NET:
  https://aka.ms/dotnet/download

But wait, there’s even more info for workloads! The versions of workloads are fundamental regarding what is installed. Info on it is available via the dotnet workload list command:

Installed Workload Id      Manifest Version       Installation Source
---------------------------------------------------------------------
maccatalyst                16.2.1035/7.0.100      VS 17.6.33417.168
runtimes-windows           7.0.3/7.0.100          VS 17.6.33417.168
maui-ios                   52.1.0/7.0.100         VS 17.6.33417.168
maui-windows               52.1.0/7.0.100         VS 17.6.33417.168
maui-maccatalyst           52.1.0/7.0.100         VS 17.6.33417.168
android                    33.0.39/7.0.100        VS 17.6.33417.168
ios                        16.2.1035/7.0.100      VS 17.6.33417.168
maui-android               52.1.0/7.0.100         VS 17.6.33417.168

Problem

Quite often when Microsoft receives bug reports we ask users to provide the output of dotnet --info, but for some scenarios that is incomplete information because of the lack of workload details. Then there is a back-and-forth between the customer and Microsoft to get additional details on workloads.

Proposed solution

I propose that dotnet --info also include the list of installed workloads.

The output could look something like this:

.NET SDK:
   ... various stuff ...

.NET SDKs installed:
  3.1.426 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
  6.0.309 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]
  7.0.200 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]

.NET runtimes installed:
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 3.1.32 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
  ...
  Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 7.0.3 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]

.NET workloads installed: <-------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS IS THE NEW PART
  Installed Workload Id      Manifest Version       Installation Source
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  maccatalyst                16.2.1035/7.0.100      VS 17.6.33417.168
  runtimes-windows           7.0.3/7.0.100          VS 17.6.33417.168
  maui-ios                   52.1.0/7.0.100         VS 17.6.33417.168
  maui-windows               52.1.0/7.0.100         VS 17.6.33417.168
  maui-maccatalyst           52.1.0/7.0.100         VS 17.6.33417.168
  android                    33.0.39/7.0.100        VS 17.6.33417.168
  ios                        16.2.1035/7.0.100      VS 17.6.33417.168
  maui-android               52.1.0/7.0.100         VS 17.6.33417.168

Other architectures found:
  ... [more stuff]

[baronfel]

While I appreciate the advantages of controlling this fully from SDK, there’s also some value to consistency. Note that we support dotnet --info even if there’s no SDK installed, in which case the entire output comes from the host. Would be nice if the two outputs were somewhat consistent.

I get that (and generally agree), but I also don’t think the current model lets us have a seamless layout of the runtime-provided parts, and the SDK-provided parts. I’m worried that if the SDK fills the screen with workload (and maybe CLI-environment-variable in the future?) related output, the useful output from the runtime will be pushed to the bottom and the overall layout won’t make sense to the user.

For now I think it’s ok for us to just add installed workload information to the SDK’s layout, but we should consider what better way of laying out/handshaking between the runtime and the SDK information here might look like.

[marcpopMSFT]

Resolving for now as it is fixed as requested but there may be a better design in the future but we’ll wait to get feedback.