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c#.netvisual-studiovisual-studio-2017multitargeting

How do you run unit tests for a specific target framework in Visual Studio 2017/2019?

I am really loving the new .csproj format. It is so much better than that dreaded (limited) project.json.

However, there is one thing that I am trying to work out. I have merged my (multiple) test projects into a single multi-targeted project. 

<TargetFrameworks>netcoreapp1.0;net40;net35</TargetFrameworks>

But, there doesn't seem to be any tooling in Test Explorer in Visual Studio to select the target framework - it always just runs the first one. I found a workaround - to add a <TargetFramework> element with a specific framework...

<TargetFramework>net35</TargetFramework>

But, is there any way to select the target framework without resorting to hand-editing the MSBuild (.csproj) file? I am looking for some option in the GUI to do this - specifically so I don't have to remember to edit the .csproj file in order to switch frameworks before debugging a test or to remember to have to remove this line before the release.

Solution

  • It turns out that Microsoft has finally fixed this in Visual Studio 2019 (not sure exactly when).

    If you specify multiple target frameworks:

    <TargetFrameworks>netcoreapp2.1;net451</TargetFrameworks>

    The GUI now displays:

    enter image description here

    and lets you run tests on all target platforms at once.