TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.Plugin 1.11.0

TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.Plugin

MSBuild integration for Dataverse plugin assembly projects. Configures Visual Studio project type GUIDs for CRM plugin development, brings in Microsoft.CrmSdk.CoreAssemblies and Microsoft.PowerApps.MSBuild.Plugin, applies automatic Git-based versioning, merges referenced managed dependencies into the output DLL via ILRepack so the Dataverse sandbox can load all required types from a single assembly, and exposes metadata targets that allow Solution projects to discover and integrate plugin assemblies during build.

Installation

<PackageReference Include="TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.Plugin" Version="0.0.0.1" PrivateAssets="All" />

Or use the SDK approach:

<Project Sdk="TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Sdk/0.0.0.1">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <ProjectType>Plugin</ProjectType>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

How It Works

The package sets ProjectType to Plugin and configures ProjectTypeGuids for CRM plugin recognition in Visual Studio.

Build-time targets

• _ApplyPluginVersionBeforeBuild (runs before BeforeBuild) -- executes GenerateVersionNumber followed by ApplyPluginVersionNumber to set AssemblyVersion, FileVersion, Version, and PackageVersion from Git.
• AssemblyMergeDependencies (runs after Build) -- uses ILRepack to merge every managed DLL that landed in $(OutDir) into the main plugin assembly, so the Dataverse sandbox (which loads a single assembly) can resolve all referenced types without sibling DLLs. By default, sandbox-provided assemblies are skipped: Microsoft.Xrm.Sdk*, Microsoft.Crm.Sdk.Proxy, Newtonsoft.Json, System.*, mscorlib, netstandard (configurable via $(AssemblyMergeExcludes)). Idempotent — always reads the raw compiler output from $(IntermediateOutputPath) so the target can safely re-run within the same Solution build. Merged types keep their original public names (Internalize=false) to preserve Dataverse's reflection-based plugin type detection. Disable per-project with <AssemblyMergeSkip>true</AssemblyMergeSkip>.

Integration targets

These targets are called by TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.Solution when it discovers this project via ProjectReference:

• GetProjectType -- returns Plugin so the Solution build knows how to handle this reference.
• GetPluginAssemblyInfo -- returns PluginRootPath, PluginAssemblyId, TargetFramework, PublishFolderName, and AssemblyName for automatic plugin assembly metadata generation in the solution.

Plugin step attributes

Plugin steps can be declared on the plugin class instead of hand-written SdkMessageProcessingSteps/*.xml. The Solution build turns them into steps (see the Solution package README).

using TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.Plugin;

[PluginStep("Update", "account", PluginStage.PostOperation,
    Name = "NameChanged",
    FilteringAttributes = new[] { "name", "telephone1" })]
[PluginStepImage(PluginImageType.PreImage, "PreImage", "name", "telephone1", StepName = "NameChanged")]
public class AccountPlugin : PluginBase

The attributes ship as internal source files compiled into the plugin, so the plugin gets no extra runtime dependency. They stay within C# 7.3, which is what net462 projects default to.

PluginStep takes the message, the primary entity and the stage. Messages that are not tied to an entity (Associate, Disassociate, an unbound custom action) use PluginStep(message, stage). Optional settings:

Messages with a built-in id: Create, Update, Delete, SetState, SetStateDynamicEntity, Assign, Retrieve, RetrieveMultiple, Associate, Disassociate and RetrieveExchangeRate. These are the same in every environment. For a custom action, copy the SdkMessageId from its workflow definition into MessageId.

PluginStepImage takes the image type, name and attributes (none = all columns); StepName binds it to a step when the class declares more than one, EntityAlias and MessagePropertyName override the defaults, and Id pins the image id.

Not covered by attributes, keep these as hand-written step XML (they are left alone): steps for non-class plugin types such as Power Fx expressions, and steps that impersonate a specific user.

MSBuild Properties

Related Packages

• Depends on: TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.Tasks, Microsoft.PowerApps.MSBuild.Plugin, Microsoft.CrmSdk.CoreAssemblies, ILRepack.Lib.MSBuild.Task
• Consumed by: TALXIS.DevKit.Build.Dataverse.Solution projects via ProjectReference