The console tool helps you determine how flexible your application is. The tool understands the following commands:
Command | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
analyze | Analyzes the portability of an application | Examples |
listTargets | Lists .NET platforms available for analysis | ApiPort.exe listTargets |
listOutputFormats | Lists available report output formats | ApiPort.exe listOutputFormats |
docId | Searches for matching docIds | ApiPort.exe docId <options> |
dump | Outputs the analysis request that will be sent to the service | Example |
Arguably the most important function of the tool is its ability to analyze an assembly. This can take in a file, collection of files, or a directory of assemblies.
Analyzing a file against specific targets and outputting an HTML report
ApiPort.exe analyze -f Foo.dll -t ".NET Framework, Version=4.6.2" -t
".NET Standard, Version=1.6" -r HTML -o AnalysisReport.html
The -f
flag followed by a path represents the file or directory that the
analysis should be performed on; in this case, it is Foo.dll
. The multiple
uses of -t
followed by target names tells the tool what .NET platforms we want
to analyze the input assembly(ies) against. -r
is the output format of the
report. -o
is the output name for that report.
So, our analysis will be performed on Foo.dll
against
.NET Framework, Version=4.6.2
and .NET Standard, Version=1.6
and output as
an HTML file, AnalysisReport.html
.
Analyzing a directory against the default targets and outputting default report format
ApiPort.exe analyze -f C:\git\Application\bin\Debug
This will analyze all
assemblies that exist under C:\git\Application\bin\Debug
recursively, and analyzes those assemblies against the default .NET platforms.
(Note: The default platforms can be obtained by running ApiPort.exe listTargets
and looking for targets that have an (*) in them.)
Analyzing a directory and show breaking changes
ApiPort.exe analyze -f C:\git\Application\bin\Debug -b
The -b
flag will show any APIs that may have different behavior between
versions of .NET Framework due to breaking changes that have been made. The
entire list of breaking changes in .NET Framework can be found by examining
Application Compatibility in the .NET Framework.
For the list of breaking changes we analyze against, look here.
Analyzing a directory and show any non-portable APIs
ApiPort.exe analyze -f C:\git\Application\bin\Debug -p
The -p
flag will highlight any APIs that are not portable against the default
target .NET platforms. (No explicit -t
arguments were specified, so we use the
default targets.)
Analyzing a directory and show APIs that may cause PlatformNotSupportedException or NotImplementedException
ApiPort.exe analyze -f C:\git\Application\bin\Debug -x
The -x
flag or --showExceptionApis
will give a list of APIs currently being used that may throw on
the target .NET Platforms. In JSON reports, this list will be labeled "ThrowingMembers" and contain
information on which platforms throw which exceptions and group them together by DocID. In Excel reports,
a tab labeled "Exceptions" will be added if there are exception throwing APIs found and will include information on assembly
name, throwing API DocID, the exception thrown, and the corresponding target platforms that are thrown on. Currently this
this argument is only supported with remotely generated JSON and Excel reports.
The portability analyzer has a version that targets .NET Core. Possible reasons for using the .NET Core application include:
- Working on machine without .NET Framework 4.6 installed
- Working on a non-Windows OS
From Commandline
- Execute
build.cmd
- Execute
dotnet.exe .\bin\Release\ApiPort\netcoreapp1.0\ApiPort.dll [Any other arguments to ApiPort]
In Visual Studio 2017
- Compile solution
- Set
ApiPort
as Start-up Project - Start debugging (F5)
The tool by default will gather the results and submit to a webservice that will analyze the data to determine which APIs need to be addressed. There are two alternate modes that can be used to alter this workflow.
ApiPort.exe dump -f [path to file or directory]
The dump
command will output the data that would otherwise be sent to the service.
This is a good option if you would like to see what data will be collected. A file,
which by default is ApiPortAnalysis.json
, will be created with the information that
would sent to the .NET Portability service.
Another option is to enable full offline access. This mode will not get automatic updates and no official releases of it are available. In order to use this mode, the solution must be manually built. To do so, please follow these steps:
- Clone the project:
git clone https://github.com/Microsoft/dotnet-apiport
- Compile using the
build.cmd
orbuild.sh
script as normal - If in Visual Studio, set the project
ApiPort.Offline
as the startup project, or if from command line, go tobin\[Configuration]\ApiPort.Offline\net46\win7-x64
and runApiPort.exe
from this directory.
There is a .NET Core build of the offline mode, but HTML reports will not be generated when running on .NET Core. Other than that, the functionality is expected to be the same.
If you have issues with proxies, please add your proxy information to the catalog script:
- Edit
.\init.ps1
- Replace the line with
Invoke-WebRequest
with:
- If your proxy uses your default credentials:
Invoke-WebRequest $url -OutFile $OutputPath -Proxy [Proxy Address] -ProxyUseDefaultCredentials
- Otherwise:
Invoke-WebRequest $url -OutFile $OutputPath -Proxy [Proxy Address] -ProxyCredential [Credentials]
- Run
build.cmd
Additional reports can be generated in offline mode. Any implementation of Microsoft.Fx.Portability.Reporting.IReportWriter
can be
used. An assembly with the name of Microsoft.Fx.Portability.Writers.[NAME].dll
will be searched for any available implementations.