How can we use managed nuget packages in c++/cli project

user_12390805 0
Viewed 1604

I want to consume managed nuget package in c++/cli project. Is there a way to do that?

For example my scenario is almost like this:

I have created a C# project(MainProject) and added EntityFramework nuget package to that project.

I have created one more C# project(TestCSProject) and added MainProject as reference to that project. Then automatically in references entityframework is also added

I have created one C++/CLI project(TestCLIProject) and added MainProject as reference to that project so that I want to see whether I can use entityframework.

But that didnt happened.

So I want to know how can I use managed nuget package in c++/cli project

c++-cli c++ c#
2 Answers

C++/CLI project can use nuget packages using packages.config (in VS2019 still there is no PackageReference support for C++, PackageReference for NuGet packages in C++ projects). As pointed in the comments, C++/CLI should be used for interop with native code only. Anyway there may be a need sometime to use nuget packages here.

In Visual Studio 2019 the following worked for me for a C++ project referencing .Net Framework:

  1. Go to package manager console: Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Package Manager Console. Then install nuget package(s) (instruction from Microsoft). E.g. EF nuget installation could be like:

Install-Package EntityFramework -Version 6.4.4 -ProjectName TestCLIProject

After nuget installation a packages.config file will be created in the project's folder and added to the project. E.g. after EF nuget installation packages.config could be like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<packages>
    <package id="EntityFramework" version="6.4.4" targetFramework="native" />
</packages>
  1. Add reference(s) to dll(s) from the nuget. Project -> Add Reference... -> Browse... -> locate solution's folder -> go to packages folder -> go to nuget's folder -> locate dll(s)

For example for EF this resulted as .vcxproj was updated with:

  <Reference Include="EntityFramework">
    <HintPath>..\packages\EntityFramework.6.4.4\lib\net45\EntityFramework.dll</HintPath>
  </Reference>
  <Reference Include="EntityFramework.SqlServer">
    <HintPath>..\packages\EntityFramework.6.4.4\lib\net45\EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll</HintPath>
  </Reference>
  1. Project is ready for build. If Visual Studio has opted out Tools -> Options -> NuGet Package Manager -> Automatically check for missing packages during build in Visual Studio, then nugets could be manually restored e.g. in Package Manager Console with Update-Package command.
user_10752820

With the newest Version of VS2022 (Visual Studio 2022 version 17.3) you can now as well use PackageReference in your C++/CLI project. Just make sure you have added

<EnableManagedPackageReferenceSupport>true</EnableManagedPackageReferenceSupport>

to the PropertyGroup with Label="Globals" in your .vcxproj file. Furthermore please be aware that your C++/CLI project must be targeting .NET Core or .NET 5+. As you can read in the current Release notes this doesn't work (and neither is it planned to be supported in the future) for C++/CLI projects targeting .NET Framework.

With this enabled you can now also use the NuGet Package Manager by

  1. In Solution Explorer, right-click "References" and
  2. choose "Manage NuGet Packages"

just like it is described in the Microsoft documentation.

user_133690650
Related