dev_build_docs

Building extgen

extgen is a C#/.NET console tool. The only build dependency is the .NET 9 SDK.

---

Requirements

• .NET SDK 9.x

  dotnet --version

---

Build (Release)

From the repository root:

dotnet restore
dotnet build -c Release

---

Run locally

dotnet run -c Release -- --help

dotnet run -c Release -- --config ./config.json

---

Publish (self-contained binaries)

Publishing creates a distributable output folder under ./publish.

Windows (x64)

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -o ./publish/win-x64

macOS (Apple Silicon)

dotnet publish -c Release -r osx-arm64 --self-contained true -o ./publish/osx-arm64

macOS (Intel)

dotnet publish -c Release -r osx-x64 --self-contained true -o ./publish/osx-x64

Linux (x64)

dotnet publish -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained true -o ./publish/linux-x64

Note

Set --self-contained false if you prefer a smaller output and are comfortable requiring users to install .NET 9.

---

Verify

After building or publishing:

extgen --help
extgen --init ./test_project

config.json and extgen.schema.json should appear in the target folder.

---

Building with Visual Studio

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022 or newer
• .NET 9 SDK
• Workload: .NET desktop development

Steps

1. Open extgen.sln in Visual Studio.
2. Select Release (or Debug) and Any CPU.
3. Build via Build → Build Solution or Ctrl+Shift+B.

Output appears under bin/Release/net9.0/.

To run from Visual Studio: set extgen as the startup project and add command-line arguments under Project → Properties → Debug.

---

Building with Visual Studio Code

Requirements

• VS Code
• .NET 9 SDK
• Extension: C# Dev Kit (recommended)

Steps

1. Open the repository folder in VS Code.
2. Open a terminal and run:

dotnet restore
dotnet build -c Release

To run:

dotnet run -- --help

Debugging

Set a breakpoint in Program.cs and press F5. VS Code generates .vscode/launch.json on first run. Pass arguments by editing the args field:

"args": ["--config", "./config.json"]

---

Cross-Platform Notes

• The same project builds on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• Console SDKs are not required to build extgen itself - only to build the CMake projects that extgen generates.