checkhintpathtask.html

---
layout: documentation 
title: CheckHintPathTask 
teaser: Checks hint paths in project files on build
navigation:
   - name: MSBuild Tasks
     link: msbuildtasks.html
   - name: Overview
     link: checkhintpathtask.html
---
<h1>Check Hint Path Task</h1>
<a href="https://www.nuget.org/packages/Appccelerate.CheckHintPathTask/">
    <img src="http://img.shields.io/nuget/v/Appccelerate.CheckHintPathTask.svg" title="latest version" />
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    <img src="https://img.shields.io/myget/appccelerate/v/Appccelerate.CheckHintPathTask.svg" title="latest alpha version" />
</a>
<a href="https://github.com/appccelerate/checkhintpathtask/issues">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/github/issues/appccelerate/CheckHintPathTask.svg" title="open issues" />
</a>

<h2>Motivation</h2>
<p>
Visual Studio uses hint paths to locate referenced assemblies.
Unfortunately, Visual Studio or Resharper sometimes make a reference to an assembly at a wrong location. For example to <code>bin\debug</code> instead of <code>packages\MyPackage.1.2.3\net45\</code> (Nuget).
</p>
<p>
The Appccelerate.CheckHintPathTask checks whether all hint paths point to a valid location.
</p>

<h2>Features</h2>
<p>
    <ul class="check dotted">
        <li>checks hint paths of references in the project file</li>
        <li>valid locations can be configured</li>
        <li>integrated in build process</li>
    </ul>
</p>

<h2>Installation</h2>
<p>
You can install the CheckHintPathTask using nuget. The package id is <code>Appccelerate.CheckHintPathTask</code>.
</p>

<h2>Configuration</h2>
<p>
You can overwrite the default behaviour of the CheckHintPathTask by setting properties in the project file.
</p>

<h3>Excluded Reference Prefixes</h3>
<p>
All references with a prefix defined by the property <code>ExcludedReferencePrefixes</code> are excluded.
This is used to exclude all assemblies found in the GAC (global assembly cache). They don't have a hint path.
</p>
<p>
The default values are <code>System,Microsoft,Windows,Presentation</code>.
</p>
<p>
You can overwrite the default values by adding the <code>ExcludedReferencePrefixes</code> property to your project file:
E.g. <code>&lt;ExcludedReferencePrefixes&gt;System,Microsoft,Windows,Presentation,MyPrefix,MyOtherPrefix&lt;/ExcludedReferencePrefixes&gt;
</code>
</p>

<h3>Known Hint Path Prefixes</h3>
<p>
The property <code>&lt;KnownHintPathPrefixes&gt;</code> defines all valid prefixes for hint paths.
</p>
<p>
The default value is <code>..\packages</code> (the folder for nuget packages).
</p>
<p>
You can overwrite the known hint path prefixes by adding the <code>KnownHintPathPrefixes</code> property to your project file:
E.g. <code>&lt;KnownHintPathPrefixes&gt;..\packages,..\ThirdPartyAssemblies&lt;/KnownHintPathPrefixes&gt;</code>.

<h3>TreatWarningsAsErrors</h3>
<p>
The property <code>TreatWarningsAsErrors</code> defines whether hint path violations result in warnings or errors.
</p>
<p>
The default value is <code>false</code>.
<p>
<p>
You can overwrite the behaviour by adding the <code>TreatWarningsAsErrors</code> property to your project file:
E.g. <code>&lt;TreatWarningsAsErrors Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Release'"&gt;true&lt;/TreatWarningsAsErrors&gt;</code>
This will result in errors for invalid hint paths during a releae build.