I've tried following multiple examples (like Shawn Wildermuth's youtube video), but I simply cannot get the most basic IncrementalGenerator to work.

I have two projects, a console project

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\ClassLibrary1\ClassLibrary1.csproj" OutputItemType="Analyzer" ReferenceOutputAssembly="false"/>
  </ItemGroup>
 
</Project>

And a generator project

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>
      <LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
      <EnforceExtendedAnalyzerRules>true</EnforceExtendedAnalyzerRules>
  </PropertyGroup>

    <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Analyzers" Version="3.11.0">
            <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
            <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
        </PackageReference>
        <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp" Version="4.13.0" />
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

The generator project has a single generator class

using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Syntax;
using System.Collections.Immutable;

namespace ClassLibrary1;

[Generator]
public class Class1 : IIncrementalGenerator
{
    public void Initialize(IncrementalGeneratorInitializationContext context)
    {
        var provider = context.SyntaxProvider.CreateSyntaxProvider(
                static (syntaxNode, _) => syntaxNode is ClassDeclarationSyntax,
                static (ctx, _) => (ClassDeclarationSyntax)ctx.Node)
            .Where(x => x != null);

        var compilation = context.CompilationProvider
            .Combine(provider.Collect());


        context.RegisterSourceOutput(compilation, Execute);
    }

    private void Execute(SourceProductionContext arg1, (Compilation Left, ImmutableArray<ClassDeclarationSyntax> Right) arg2)
    {
        var theCode = """
                      namespace Generated;

                      public static class GeneratedClass
                      {
                          public static string GetCode()
                          {
                              return "Hello from the generated code!";
                          }
                      }
                      """;

        arg1.AddSource("GeneratedClass.g.cs", theCode);
    }
}

The console project will not recognize the generated class if I try to use it and the build fails if I reference it. When I build the solution I get a successful build output of both projects. If I put breakpoints in the generator class, they never get hit. I am using Visual Studio 2022.

What do I need to enable/configure to get this to work?

I've tried following multiple examples (like Shawn Wildermuth's youtube video), but I simply cannot get the most basic IncrementalGenerator to work.

I have two projects, a console project

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\ClassLibrary1\ClassLibrary1.csproj" OutputItemType="Analyzer" ReferenceOutputAssembly="false"/>
  </ItemGroup>
 
</Project>

And a generator project

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>
      <LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
      <EnforceExtendedAnalyzerRules>true</EnforceExtendedAnalyzerRules>
  </PropertyGroup>

    <ItemGroup>
        <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Analyzers" Version="3.11.0">
            <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
            <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
        </PackageReference>
        <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp" Version="4.13.0" />
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

The generator project has a single generator class

using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis;
using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Syntax;
using System.Collections.Immutable;

namespace ClassLibrary1;

[Generator]
public class Class1 : IIncrementalGenerator
{
    public void Initialize(IncrementalGeneratorInitializationContext context)
    {
        var provider = context.SyntaxProvider.CreateSyntaxProvider(
                static (syntaxNode, _) => syntaxNode is ClassDeclarationSyntax,
                static (ctx, _) => (ClassDeclarationSyntax)ctx.Node)
            .Where(x => x != null);

        var compilation = context.CompilationProvider
            .Combine(provider.Collect());


        context.RegisterSourceOutput(compilation, Execute);
    }

    private void Execute(SourceProductionContext arg1, (Compilation Left, ImmutableArray<ClassDeclarationSyntax> Right) arg2)
    {
        var theCode = """
                      namespace Generated;

                      public static class GeneratedClass
                      {
                          public static string GetCode()
                          {
                              return "Hello from the generated code!";
                          }
                      }
                      """;

        arg1.AddSource("GeneratedClass.g.cs", theCode);
    }
}

The console project will not recognize the generated class if I try to use it and the build fails if I reference it. When I build the solution I get a successful build output of both projects. If I put breakpoints in the generator class, they never get hit. I am using Visual Studio 2022.

What do I need to enable/configure to get this to work?

• c#
• incremental-generator

• To break when the generator runs, add a Debugger.Break somewhere early in the generator code, like in Initialize, the JIT dialog box should then ask you which instance of VS (or a new one) you want to use – Simon Mourier Commented yesterday
• I've tried that, but everything builds, and the console application can run, without the break every being hit. SO I feel like I'm missing something that "registers" the generator class or something. – Valyrion Commented yesterday

1 Answer 1

I updated my VS installation to 17.13.5 and that appears to have fixed the issue.