PP file output is not generated during the build

PP file output is not being generated during the build.

Steps

1. dotnet new
2. dotnet add package contentfilesexample -v 1.0.2
3. dotnet restore
4. Add to Program.cs Console.WriteLine(ExampleReader.GetDataText());
5. dotnet build

Expected

ExampleReader will be in the current namespace from the pp file.

Actual

ExampleReader does not exist

Originally reported here https://github.com/NuGet/Home/issues/4803 //cc @damianh

From @natidea

I took a look at the pp file transformation issue and found a couple of things:

• For the ContentFilesExample package, I don’t see pp files listed as dependencies in the assets file. They occur in the “libraries” but we are only processing content from the active TFM here: Microsoft.PackageDependencyResolution.targets#L213
• For the LiteGuard package, I do see the pp files in the dependencies, but they were not being processed because CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies=false here: Microsoft.PackageDependencyResolution.targets#L414 I was able to fix this by setting the property in my project file:

    <CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies>true</CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies>

Now I can use the Guard.

So somewhere along the way, some concepts may have been crossed. We default CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies to true in that target file, but it gets set to false in Microsoft.NET.Sdk.BeforeCommon.targets#L57. Perhaps the real issue is that the produce content assets task is tied to ResolveLockFileCopyLocalProjectDeps and should instead be triggered in some other way.

[mynkow]

Please move this to milestone: 2.1.0

[adamralph]

@ahmoh I’d argue that the ability to edit the source code of the package was a problem with the old system. What happens when a new version of the package is released? Editing the code is effectively forking the package. Source code packages are the wrong mechanism to distribute code which is intended to be edited. You should be using templates for that.