Table of Contents

Producing NuGet packages

Important

This section might include some information that is only applicable to Skyline employees and/or links that are only accessible to Skyline employees.

Automatic creation and publishing of NuGet packages is supported via the Skyline CI/CD pipelines on Jenkins and GitHub:

Tip

To create a new solution or project that produces a NuGet package, make use of the Visual Studio templates available at https://github.com/SkylineCommunications/Skyline.DataMiner.VisualStudioTemplates.

General

The rules below mainly focus on NuGet packages that are published to nuget.org. We highly recommend that you use the same rules for internal NuGet packages as well, as that will make it easy to transfer them to nuget.org when necessary.

Mandatory rules for nuget.org

  • NuGet needs to include a license file

  • NuGet needs to be signed, as only signed packages can be published on nuget.org

    Note

    If the NuGet is created via SLC SE Repository Manager, the pipeline will take care of signing and publishing.

Project type

Make use of the SDK project style. This gives the advantage of using dotnet tools in the pipeline and has the latest features. It also cleans up the .csproj file, which reduces potential merge conflicts.

Using SDK-style projects, you can still target .NET Framework:

<PropertyGroup>
    ...
    <TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework> => <TargetFramework>net462</TargetFramework>
    ...
</PropertyGroup>
Note

If you use SDK project style, open your repository jenkins file with a text editor and make sure the master file being used is the "MasterFiles\Custom Solution\JenkinsSDK".

Dependencies

If there is a dependency on a DataMiner DLL (from the Skyline DataMiner/Files folder), use the corresponding NuGet (Skyline.DataMiner.Files.XXX).

If no corresponding NuGet is available there, contact the BOOST team. They can then include this DLL in the automatic NuGet creation from DataMiner versions.

If there is a dependency on multiple DataMiner DLLs that are by default included in a QAction/EXE, then make use of the DevPacks (Skyline.DataMiner.Dev.XXX).

Target Framework

If possible, try to target .NET Standard 2.0, as this will give the most flexibility for use somewhere else. For more information and guidelines, refer to Cross-platform targeting.

If you have a dependency on .NET Framework (e.g. Skyline.DataMiner.Dev.*), you will need to target .NET Framework as well.

Important

Prior to DataMiner 10.1.11 (RN 30755), when a .NET Standard 2.0 NuGet is used in a QAction or EXE, you need to manually add a reference to .NET Standard to the project file of the project consuming the package.

<ItemGroup>
  <Reference Include="netstandard" />
</ItemGroup>

When .NET Framework 4.6.2 is targeted, you will get a warning icon, but this can be ignored.

Naming conventions

Mandatory rules

  • NuGet must have a name that starts with Skyline.DataMiner..

  • NuGet must have a name that is unique.

  • NuGet must have a name that is limited to 100 characters in total.

    Note

    The name depends on the branch name, so the pipeline will check this.

  • Use the syntax Skyline.DataMiner.<Categories>.<Name>.

    Optionally, at the end you could have '.Protocol', '.Automation', '.Common', etc. to specify where it can be used (usage of SLManagedScripting, SLManagedAutomation, etc.):

    • Skyline.DataMiner.<Categories>.<Name>.Common: Shared code that can run either in an Automation script or in a protocol. Communicates with DataMiner via SLNet or DataMinerSystem.

    • Skyline.DataMiner.<Categories>.<Name>.Automation: Acts as entry point for Automation (methods for IEngine) or has a dependency on classes from SLManagedAutomation.

    • Skyline.DataMiner.<Categories>.<Name>.Protocol: Acts as entry point for protocol (methods for SLProtocol) or has a dependency on classes from SLManagedScripting.

    Another situation is the module that it has to do with. An example of this are the CI/CD packages:

    • Skyline.DataMiner.CICD.DMApp.Common: Common code for creating a package.

    • Skyline.DataMiner.CICD.DMApp.Automation: Specific code to convert an Automation solution to a .dmapp package.

    • Skyline.DataMiner.CICD.DMApp.XXX: Specific code to convert XXX solution/repository to .dmapp package)

Reserved names

  • Skyline.DataMiner.Files.XXX: DataMiner DLLs. Autogenerated by tool from BOOST team.
  • Skyline.DataMiner.Dev.XXX: DevPacks. Autogenerated by tool from BOOST team.
  • Skyline.DataMiner.CICD.XXX: Managed by BOOST team.

Existing names

  • Skyline.DataMiner.Core.XXX

    • Holds the packages dealing with direct (usually very generic) DataMiner features (AppPackage creation/installation, DataMinerSystem, InterAppCalls, etc.).

    • This also applies for DxMs, except for packages that can communicate with external data sources.

  • Skyline.DataMiner.Utils.XXX

    • Holds all the utilities like helpers, parsers, etc.

      E.g. SNMP trap parsing, rate calculations, table context menu, etc.

  • Skyline.DataMiner.ConnectorAPI.XXX

    • Holds InterAppCall messages that are specific to a connector, giving a given DataMiner connector some functions that can be called/triggered/consumed by other DataMiner components (other connectors, Automation scripts, etc.).

  • Skyline.DataMiner.DataSources.XXX

    • Holds the packages that can communicate with external data sources. This also includes packages like OpenConfig.Gnmi that rely on the CommunicationGateway DxM.

  • Skyline.DataMiner.ProjectAPI.XXX

    • Holds project-specific packages. There is no real use for these packages outside of the project scope.
    • For example: Skyline.DataMiner.ProjectAPI.[CustomerName].[ProjectName].XXX

Versioning conventions

We want to adhere to the Semantic Versioning for NuGet packages.

A specific version number is in the form Major.Minor.Patch[-Suffix], where the components have the following meanings:

  • Major: Breaking changes (API breaking changes, DataMiner minimum dependency changes, etc.)
  • Minor: New features, but backwards compatible
  • Patch: Backwards compatible bug fixes only
  • -Suffix (optional): A hyphen followed by a string denoting a pre-release version.

Package Metadata Conventions

Mandatory metadata

<PropertyGroup>
    ...
    <!-- Make the XML documentation available in IntelliSense -->
    <GenerateDocumentationFile>True</GenerateDocumentationFile>
    <GeneratePackageOnBuild>True</GeneratePackageOnBuild>
    <PackageRequireLicenseAcceptance>True</PackageRequireLicenseAcceptance>
    ...
    <Authors>SkylineCommunications</Authors>
    <Company>Skyline Communications</Company>
    <Description>{Short description about the NuGet}</Description>
    ...
    <PackageTags>Skyline;DataMiner</PackageTags>
    <PackageProjectUrl>https://skyline.be</PackageProjectUrl>
    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
    <PackageLicenseFile>LICENSE.txt</PackageLicenseFile>
    <PackageIcon>Icon.png</PackageIcon>
    ...
</PropertyGroup>

Authors

This has to be without whitespace.

Description

If there is a dependency on a minimum DataMiner version, include this in the description.

To improve ease of use, you can add an entry point or refer to the readme.

<Short description describing the NuGet>
[Minimum Required DataMiner: 10.1.11]
Code Entry Point: var dms = protocol.GetDms();
Refer to the readme for more information.

PackageTags

Skyline and DataMiner are mandatory. Extra tags can be added if desired.

PackageReadmeFile

Always include a readme file to explain the purpose of the NuGet and how to use it.

For an example, refer to DataMinerSystem.Common

PackageLicenseFile and PackageIcon

When NuGet packages are created via the SLC SE Repository Manager, the manager will automatically add the default license and icon file.

Propose changes