When I build a specific project there is an undesired file being copied into the output from a nuget package during the _CopyFilesMarkedCopyLocal task. I can't determine from the logs or a search of project references why the file is marked CopyLocal. Is there anything logged that could help? Or is there a property or item group that I can start printing out debug messages to track it down?
The file is part of a Nuget package, but it isn't directly referenced in the project where the copy happens.
The project where the copy happens is part of a large complex .NET Framework application. The project has 5 PackageReference , and 1 ProjectReferences. The ProjectReference project has an additional 17 PackageReferences and 7 ProjectReferences and the tree keeps going.
NuGet will generate obj\...nuget.g.props/.targets file that contains the reference.
This can be controlled via Dependency asset attributes - e.g. setting ExcludeAssets="contentfiles" on the PackageReference.
Using a binary log (adding -bl to msbuild/dotnet build invocations) and opening it in the structured log viewer gives you good search options in the logical build tree and the files / log output which can help find these files.