How to update dependencies not referenced directly as PackageReference via NuGet?

Question

This question is similar to one described here.

When using "legacy"-style .csproj project files we have a separate packages.config file where all dependencies are listed, including transitive ones. This enables a use case when one installs a package with dependencies and then decides which transitive dependencies can be manually updated. So, the benefits are:

Dependencies are easily identifiable due to presence of a flat list
Fine-grain control over all dependency versions

E.g., after installing Autofac.WebApi2.Owin from NuGet, we have a picture like this:

Transitive dependencies which are clearly viewable can be manually updated very easily.

When using the new Sdk-style .csproj projects NuGet references are added as <PackageReference/> to the project file itself and transitive dependencies are referenced by MSBuild silently:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net462</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Autofac.WebApi2.Owin" Version="4.0.0" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

So, to update transitive dependencies, one would have to

Identify them (e.g. via obj/project.assets.json)
Add all of them explicitly to the project
Perform updates

And this has to be done after each update and for every (!) transitive dependency in the project which is clearly almost impossible.

Possible resolutions:

Adding transitive dependencies to the project automatically
Show transitive dependency updates in NuGet GUI

Unfortunately, no such feature was found in the documentation.

So, is there an easy way to get the best from two worlds?

I have update the answer with more info, you can check if it help you. Now what about this issue? Would you please let me know the latest information about this issue? — Leo Liu
– Leo Liu, Commented Sep 19, 2017 at 2:11
@Leo-MSFT Thanks for the answer, it's valid but unfortunately doesn't fully achieve the goal. To update dependencies I'd still have to manually go through the full tree. So, no flat list with one-click updates. — Andrey Kamyshanov
– Andrey Kamyshanov, Commented Sep 25, 2017 at 10:54

Andrey Kamyshanov · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-25 10:55:11Z

5

Not possible at the moment but a discussion is open on Github.

answered Sep 25, 2017 at 10:55

Andrey Kamyshanov

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Comments

Leo Liu · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-18 08:16:25Z

So, is there an easy way to get the best from two worlds?

I think NuGet already have an easy way to get the best from two worlds.

When using the new Sdk-style .csproj projects, you will notice that there is a tree structure of transitive dependencies in the Reference:

With this structure, we can not only get presence of a flat list can also clearly know the specific dependencies between packages. In the "legacy"-style .csproj, we could to know the flat list, but we could not know the specific dependencies between each package. We need select each package, then check it`s Dependencies. This is very inconvenient.

Besides, we generally do not go over the package itself and update its dependencies directly, this will bring a lot of conflict between dependencies. When you using the new Sdk-style, NuGet hides all dependencies of each package, so that the NuGet Package Manager UI and project file .csproj looks very simple.

If you still want to update one of dependence individually, you can install it, nuget will prompt you, you are update package from version 1 to version 2:like, Autofac:

In this case, you can update dependencies not referenced directly as PackageReference via NuGet.

For more detail info, you can refer to below blog:

https://blog.nuget.org/20170316/NuGet-now-fully-integrated-into-MSBuild.html

Rachel · Accepted Answer · 2023-10-23 15:48:03Z

1

VS Nuget Package Manager now shows transitive dependencies, see this post.

I can use this feature in VS v17.7.5

answered Oct 23, 2023 at 15:48

Rachel

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2 Comments

Mike Rosoft Over a year ago

It appears that this is an experimental feature which is enabled for some (randomly selected?) users of Visual Studio and is not generally available. Or else, is it possible to somehow forcibly enable it? (I have checked the feature flags, but didn't find any which is relevant to this feature.) For the record, I have Visual Studio 17.7.6 and don't see the feature.

Tom Lint Over a year ago

@MikeRosoft I had the same question, and it appears, from discussion with the NuGet folks over on GitHub, that this feature only shows up on the project level.

Fowl · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-21 02:08:20Z

0

The ability to control transitive package reference updates is now being tracked in https://github.com/NuGet/Home/issues/5553

answered Nov 21, 2022 at 2:08

Fowl

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