slnutil 3.0.1

.NET 8.0

dotnet tool install --global slnutil --version 3.0.1

This package contains a .NET tool you can call from the shell/command line.

dotnet new tool-manifest
                    

                            if you are setting up this repo

dotnet tool install --local slnutil --version 3.0.1

This package contains a .NET tool you can call from the shell/command line.

#tool dotnet:?package=slnutil&version=3.0.1

The NuGet Team does not provide support for this client. Please contact its maintainers for support.

nuke :add-package slnutil --version 3.0.1

The NuGet Team does not provide support for this client. Please contact its maintainers for support.

slnutil

A collection of utilities for working with .NET Solutions and Projects (.sln and .slnx).

Written by Benjamin Day
Pluralsight Author | Microsoft MVP https://www.benday.com
https://www.honestcheetah.com
info@benday.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@_benday

Key features

Create solutions and projects with unit tests & integration tests for...
- ASP.NET Web API Projects with xUnit
- ASP.NET MVC Projects with xUnit
- .NET MAUI Projects with xUnit & the .NET MAUI Community Toolkit
- .NET MAUI Projects with sample application, viewmodels, and xunit tests. This uses the Benday.Presentation.Controls & Benday.Presentation libraries.
- .NET Core Console application
- Commands Utility application using Benday.CommandsFramework. This helps you to quickly write CLI utilities that run as a dotnet tool.
Create class diagrams for all or part of a project using Mermaid
Update the .NET Framework version for all projects in a solution
Set or increment the assembly version for a project
Set a project property value in a csproj file
Deploy Entity Framework Core Migrations from a DLL (aka. deploy migrations without the source code)
Validate a connection string against SQL Server to make sure it connects
Bulk rename files and folders
Edit json from the command line
Set the connection string in appsettings.json from the command line
Generate C# classes from JSON
Run SQL commands or script files against SQL Server
Check and update versions in Bicep files
Format XML files (single file or recursive)
View assembly information
And lots more...

Suggestions, Problems, or Bugs?

Got ideas for utilities you'd like to see? Found a bug? Let us know by submitting an issue https://github.com/benday-inc/slnutil/issues. Want to contribute? Submit a pull request.

Installing

The slnutil is distributed as a .NET Core Tool via NuGet. To install it go to the command prompt and type
dotnet tool install slnutil -g

Command line syntax

Arguments are typed in the POSIX long option form that git, docker and the dotnet CLI use:

slnutil setprojectproperty --propertyname Nullable --propertyvalue enable
slnutil setprojectproperty --propertyname=Nullable --propertyvalue=enable
slnutil formatxml --filename app.config --write

A boolean argument is a flag and takes no value. The older /name:value form still works but is deprecated -- it prints a warning on stderr and will be removed in a future version.

Run slnutil for the command list, slnutil <command> --help for a command's arguments, or slnutil tui for a terminal interface that lets you browse the commands, fill in a form, and run it.

A command that fails exits with a non-zero exit code, so slnutil can be used in a script or a build pipeline step.

Commands

Command Name	Description
assemblyinfo	View assembly info for a DLL.
rename	Bulk rename for files and folders.
classdiagram	Generate a class diagram for an assembly.
cleanreferences	Simplifies package references in a C# project file. Mostly this fixes stuff in the EF Core references that breaks Azure DevOps & GitHub builds like PrivateAssets and IncludeAssets directives.
createsolution	Create a solution and projects
deployefmigrations	Deploy EF Core Migrations from DLL binaries.
devtreeclean	Clean development folder tree. Removes node_modules, .git, bin, obj, and TestResults folders.
enablecodeanalysis	Enable Roslyn code analysis across a solution. Default mode creates/merges Directory.Build.props at the solution root. Use --per-project to install analyzers directly into each csproj (required for packages.config projects).
findsolutions	Find solution files (sln and slnx) in a folder tree and optionally list projects with reference analysis.
formatjson	Formats JSON files
formatxml	Formats XML files
getconnectionstring	Get database connection string in appsettings.json.
classesfromjson	Create C# classes from JSON with serialization attributes for System.Text.Json.
listpackages-oldstyle	Lists packages referenced in legacy style packages.config files.
listsolutionprojects	Gets list of projects in a solution.
printfile	Reads a text file and prints it to the console character by character. This is helpful for diagnosing encoding issues and weird text issues.
replacetoken	Replace token in file.
runsql	Execute SQL command or SQL script file against a database.
setconnectionstring	Set database connection string in appsettings.json.
setframework	Set the target framework version on all projects.
setjsonvalue	Set a string value in a json file.
setpackageversion	Changes NuGet package references in a C# project file to a new value.
setprojectproperty	Set a project property value on all projects.
setprojectversion	Set the assembly and nuget package version property value on a project.
sortpropertygroup	Sorts the elements in a property group for a csproj file.
sortreferences	Sorts the references in an item group for a csproj file.
base64	Encodes a string value as a base 64 string.
touch	Modifies a file's date to current date time or creates a new empty file if it doesn't exist.
updatebicepversions	Reads bicep file or files and updates the api versions to latest.
updategithubactionsversions	Reads a GitHub Actions YAML file and updates the action versions to latest.
validateconnectionstring	Validate that specified connection string can connect to SQL Server.
wildcardreference	Changes package references in a C# project file to use wildcard version rather than fixed version number.
snippetize	Reads a block of text from the clipboard and formats it for use in a VSCode snippet.

assemblyinfo

View assembly info for a DLL.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Required	String	Assembly to view

rename

Bulk rename for files and folders.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
rootdir	Optional	String	Starting directory for the rename operation
from	Required	String	String to search for and replace
to	Required	String	Replacement value
prefix	Optional	String	Prefix all matching values with this value
preview	Optional	Boolean	Preview changes
recursive	Optional	Boolean	Recurse the directory tree

classdiagram

Generate a class diagram for an assembly.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
namespace	Optional	String	Filter by namespace
filename	Required	String	Path to assembly that you want a class diagram for.
hideinheritance	Optional	Boolean	Hide inheritance relationships.
typenamesmatchexact	Optional	Boolean	Exact match for type names. Default is contains.
localonly	Optional	Boolean	Only show methods and properties that are declared locally. Don't show inherited members.
typenames	Optional	String	Show types that exist in this comma separated list. Default search is contains match that matches by substring.

cleanreferences

Simplifies package references in a C# project file. Mostly this fixes stuff in the EF Core references that breaks Azure DevOps & GitHub builds like PrivateAssets and IncludeAssets directives.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
solutionpath	Optional	String	Solution file to use
preview	Optional	Boolean	Preview changes only

createsolution

Create a solution and projects

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
rootdir	Optional	String	Starting directory. If not supplied, the tool uses the current directory.
type	Required	String	Type of solution to create. Valid values are: webapi, mvc, console, commands, maui, maui-demo
namespace	Required	String	This is the root namespace for the solution. For example: Benday.SampleApp
verbose	Optional	Boolean	verbose

deployefmigrations

Deploy EF Core Migrations from DLL binaries.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
binariesdir	Optional	String	Path to EF Core migration binaries. Defaults to current directory.
startupdll	Optional	String	Path to EF Core startup DLL.
migrationsdll	Optional	String	Path to EF Core migrations DLL.
dbcontextname	Optional	String	Name of the EF Core DbContext class.
namespace	Optional	String	Root namespace of the EF Core migrations DLL.
verbose	Optional	Boolean	Output results as comma-separated values

devtreeclean

Clean development folder tree. Removes node_modules, .git, bin, obj, and TestResults folders.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
rootdir	Optional	String	Starting directory. If not supplied, the tool uses the current directory.
keepgit	Optional	Boolean	If true, skips delete of .git folders and preserves any git repositories. Default value is true. Set this value to false to delete .git folders.
keepnodemodules	Optional	Boolean	If true, skips delete of node_modules folders. Default value is false.

enablecodeanalysis

Enable Roslyn code analysis across a solution. Default mode creates/merges Directory.Build.props at the solution root. Use --per-project to install analyzers directly into each csproj (required for packages.config projects).

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
solutionpath	Optional	String	Solution to update. If omitted, searches the current directory for a .sln or .slnx file.
analysis-level	Optional	String	Value for the AnalysisLevel MSBuild property. Default 'latest-Recommended' surfaces meaningful diagnostics out-of-the-box. Use 'latest-Minimum' to start very quiet, or 'latest-All' / 'latest' for maximum coverage.
analyzer-version	Optional	String	Version of Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.NetAnalyzers to reference for .NET Framework projects. If omitted, queries nuget.org for the latest stable version.
codestyle-version	Optional	String	Version of Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CodeStyle to reference for .NET Framework projects (when --enforce-code-style is enabled). If omitted, queries nuget.org for the latest stable version.
enforce-code-style	Optional	Boolean	Enable code style enforcement (IDE* rules) during build. For .NET 5+ sets EnforceCodeStyleInBuild=true. For .NET Framework installs Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CodeStyle. Default: true.
dry-run	Optional	Boolean	Preview what would change without writing any files.
create-editorconfig	Optional	Boolean	Also create a starter .editorconfig at the solution root if one doesn't already exist.
per-project	Optional	Boolean	Install analyzers into each project individually (modifies csproj + packages.config) instead of using Directory.Build.props. Required for solutions where projects use packages.config.
lang-version	Optional	String	If set, writes <LangVersion> to each project (e.g. '9.0', 'latest'). Unblocks IDE rules whose remedy needs newer C# syntax (e.g. IDE0062 needs C# 8+). Leave unset to keep the compiler default.
keep-existing-rulesets	Optional	Boolean	By default this command removes any <CodeAnalysisRuleSet> elements from each csproj because they typically silence Roslyn analyzers (e.g. the VS-scaffolded MinimumRecommendedRules.ruleset). Pass this flag to leave them in place.

findsolutions

Find solution files (sln and slnx) in a folder tree and optionally list projects with reference analysis.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
rootdir	Optional	String	Path to start search from. Defaults to current directory.
listprojects	Optional	Boolean	List projects in solutions
csv	Optional	Boolean	Output results as comma-separated values
json	Optional	Boolean	Output results as JSON
skipreferences	Optional	Boolean	Skip checking project references when listing projects in solutions

formatjson

Formats JSON files

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Path to file or wildcard to files
recursive	Optional	Boolean	Apply to matching files recursively
write	Optional	Boolean	Write changes back to the file

formatxml

Formats XML files

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Path to file or wildcard to files
recursive	Optional	Boolean	Apply to matching files recursively
write	Optional	Boolean	Write changes back to the file

getconnectionstring

Get database connection string in appsettings.json.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Path to json config file
name	Required	String	Name of the connection string to get

classesfromjson

Create C# classes from JSON with serialization attributes for System.Text.Json.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Optional: file source for the JSON to convert to C# classes.
clipboard	Optional	Boolean	Optional: read JSON from clipboard instead of a file or console input.
innerclasses	Optional	Boolean	Optional: generate inner classes for nested JSON objects.

listpackages-oldstyle

Lists packages referenced in legacy style packages.config files.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
rootdir	Optional	String	Path to start search from

listsolutionprojects

Gets list of projects in a solution.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
solutionpath	Optional	String	Solution to examine. If this value is not supplied, the tool searches for a sln file automatically.
pathonly	Optional	Boolean	Only show the project paths. Don't show the framework versions.

printfile

Reads a text file and prints it to the console character by character. This is helpful for diagnosing encoding issues and weird text issues.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
input	Required	String	Path to the text file to read and print.

replacetoken

Replace token in file.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Required	String	Path to file
token	Required	String	Token to replace
value	Required	String	String value to set

runsql

Execute SQL command or SQL script file against a database.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionstring	Required	String	Connection string to the database
query	Optional	String	SQL query to execute
sqlfile	Optional	String	Path to SQL file to execute
display	Optional	Boolean	Display results of query (for SELECT statements)

setconnectionstring

Set database connection string in appsettings.json.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Path to json config file
name	Required	String	Name of the connection string to set
value	Required	String	Connection string value

setframework

Set the target framework version on all projects.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
solutionpath	Optional	String	Solution to examine. If this value is not supplied, the tool searches for a sln file automatically.
version	Required	String	Framework version to set projects to.

setjsonvalue

Set a string value in a json file.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Path to json config file
level1	Required	String	First level json property name to set
level2	Optional	String	Second level json property name to set
level3	Optional	String	Third level json property name to set
level4	Optional	String	Fourth level json property name to set
value	Optional	String	String value to set
increment-int	Optional	Boolean	Increment the existing value or use the '/value' as the value if it does not exist or isn't an integer.
increment-minor-version	Optional	Boolean	Increment the minor version of the existing value or use the '/value' as the value if it does not exist or isn't an integer.
increment-patch-version	Optional	Boolean	Increment the patch version of the existing value or use the '/value' as the value if it does not exist or isn't an integer.
bool	Optional	Boolean	Set value into the json as boolean

setpackageversion

Changes NuGet package references in a C# project file to a new value.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
solutionpath	Optional	String	Solution file to use
preview	Optional	Boolean	Preview changes only
filter	Optional	String	Filter package by name. If package name starts with this value, it gets updated.
version	Required	String	Package version to reference

setprojectproperty

Set a project property value on all projects.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
solutionpath	Optional	String	Solution to examine. If this value is not supplied, the tool searches for a sln file automatically.
propertyname	Required	String	Name of the property to set.
propertyvalue	Required	String	Value for the property.

setprojectversion

Set the assembly and nuget package version property value on a project.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
solutionpath	Optional	String	Solution to examine. If this value is not supplied, the tool searches for a sln file automatically.
project	Required	String	Project name to update.
increment	Optional	Boolean	Increment the minor value.
value	Optional	String	Value for the property.

sortpropertygroup

Sorts the elements in a property group for a csproj file.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
project	Optional	String	Project file to edit. If this value is not supplied, the tool looks for a csproj file in the current directory.

sortreferences

Sorts the references in an item group for a csproj file.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
project	Optional	String	Project file to edit. If this value is not supplied, the tool looks for a csproj file in the current directory.

base64

Encodes a string value as a base 64 string.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
value	Required	String	Value to encode as base64

touch

Modifies a file's date to current date time or creates a new empty file if it doesn't exist.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Required	String	Path to file

updatebicepversions

Reads bicep file or files and updates the api versions to latest.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Name of the bicep file, if you want to update just one file.
previewversions	Optional	Boolean	Allow preview versions for resources.
preview	Optional	Boolean	Do not save changes only preview the changes.

updategithubactionsversions

Reads a GitHub Actions YAML file and updates the action versions to latest.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Name of the GitHub Actions YAML file to update.

validateconnectionstring

Validate that specified connection string can connect to SQL Server.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
filename	Optional	String	Path to json config file
name	Required	String	Name of the connection string to validate

wildcardreference

Changes package references in a C# project file to use wildcard version rather than fixed version number.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
solutionpath	Optional	String	Solution file to use
preview	Optional	Boolean	Preview changes only
filter	Required	String	Filter package by name. If package name starts with this value, it gets updated.

snippetize

Reads a block of text from the clipboard and formats it for use in a VSCode snippet.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description

Product	Compatible and additional computed target framework versions.
.NET	net8.0 is compatible. net8.0-android was computed. net8.0-browser was computed. net8.0-ios was computed. net8.0-maccatalyst was computed. net8.0-macos was computed. net8.0-tvos was computed. net8.0-windows was computed. net9.0 is compatible. net9.0-android was computed. net9.0-browser was computed. net9.0-ios was computed. net9.0-maccatalyst was computed. net9.0-macos was computed. net9.0-tvos was computed. net9.0-windows was computed. net10.0 is compatible. net10.0-android was computed. net10.0-browser was computed. net10.0-ios was computed. net10.0-maccatalyst was computed. net10.0-macos was computed. net10.0-tvos was computed. net10.0-windows was computed.

Product

.NET

Compatible target framework(s)

Included target framework(s) (in package)

Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.

This package has no dependencies.

Version	Downloads	Last Updated
3.0.1	37	9/9/2026
3.0.0	46	9/8/2026
2.41.1	139	8/15/2026
2.41.0	129	7/17/2026
2.40.0	157	5/19/2026
2.38.0	146	5/18/2026
2.37.0	182	4/10/2026
2.35.1	207	3/5/2026
2.35.0	158	3/4/2026
2.33.0	199	1/20/2026
2.32.1	363	12/17/2025
2.32.0	343	12/17/2025
2.31.0	287	11/4/2025
2.30.0	288	11/3/2025
2.29.0	300	10/2/2025
2.28.0	360	9/4/2025
2.27.0	277	9/4/2025
2.26.0	623	7/21/2025
2.25.0	484	6/11/2025
2.24.0	345	5/16/2025

v3.0.1 - findsolutions: fixed the --json option. The command handed the analysis objects to the serializer directly and those hold FileInfo and DirectoryInfo values. DirectoryInfo exposes Parent and Root as more DirectoryInfo instances and a root directory is its own Root, so the serializer walked that chain until it reported an object cycle. Every property it touched on the way was a filesystem call, which is why it ran for a long time before failing. Results are now projected onto plain classes that hold paths as strings; findsolutions: --json is no longer ignored when --listprojects is not supplied; findsolutions: fixed the table output for a project that has no references. The row was built with the twelve CSV columns no matter which format was being written, so the table formatter rejected it with "Expected 5 columns but received 12 columns". With --skipreferences this affected every project, so that combination could never run;
v3.0 - BREAKING. Upgraded to Benday.CommandsFramework v5. slnutil now returns a real exit code: a failed command exits 1 rather than the 0 that every run reported before, so a script or pipeline step that runs slnutil will start seeing failures it previously ignored; Arguments are now typed in the POSIX long option form -- '--name value', '--name=value', '--name:value' and '--flag' -- which is what usage output, shell completion and validation messages render. The original '/name:value' form still parses and prints a deprecation warning on stderr; Unknown arguments are now a validation failure rather than being ignored, so a misspelled argument name stops the command instead of silently going missing; Added the 'tui' terminal interface -- run 'slnutil tui' to browse the commands, fill in a form, copy the command line it adds up to, and run it; runsql now enforces 'exactly one of sqlcommand or sqlfile' as a declared argument rule, so the requirement appears in usage output and in the --json schema; The --json schema is now an object with SchemaVersion rather than a bare array of commands; createsolution's 'commands' template now generates a v5 tool;
v2.41.1 - findsolutions: fixed cross-solution reference detection. Relative paths written with backslashes were not resolved when running on macOS or Linux, and containment was compared without a directory boundary so a sibling folder sharing a name prefix read as being inside its neighbour. Both made outside-of-solution-root report false when it should have reported true;
v2.41 - Refactored FindSolutions command to default to table formatted output when list projects is requested;
v2.40 - enablecodeanalysis: also installs Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.CodeStyle for IDE rule enforcement (default on; opt out with /enforce-code-style:false); added /codestyle-version to pin the package version;
v2.39 - findsolutions: added target-framework and uses-packages-config columns plus finer-grained reference-type classification (framework-ref, nuget-via-packages-config, fixed PackageReference detection); Added enablecodeanalysis command to streamline VS2026 code
analysis across a solution, with a per-project mode for packages.config solutions;
v2.38 - Fixing bugs in findsolutions command; Updating createsolution to create modern xunit projects;
v2.37 - Added updategithubactionsversions command to update GitHub Actions versions in workflow files;
v2.36 - Added formatjson command to format JSON files;
v2.35 - Added 'gui' support to launch a blazor UI for this command; Updated dependencies and minor bug fixes;
v2.34 - Modified find solutions command to also find .slnx files;
v2.33 - Modified SetJsonValueCommand to allow incrementing patch version numbers;
v2.32.1 - Updated dependencies to fix security vulnerabilities;
v2.32 - Added support for .net10; Added support for slnx files; Modified create solution command to no longer install FluentAssertions library;
v2.31 - Modified classes from json command to 1) detect DateTime property values 2) optionally generate inner classes instead of separate classes;
v2.30 - Added clipboard option to classes from json command to read JSON from clipboard instead of a file or console input;
v2.29 - Added printfile command to read a text file and print it to the console character by character. This is helpful for diagnosing encoding issues and weird text issues.;
v2.28 - Adding run sql command to execute SQL commands or SQL script files against a SQL Server database;
v2.27 - Adding support for json comments to JsonToClasses command;
v2.26 - Added command to sort references in a csproj file.
v2.25 - Added utility to check versions in bicep files and update to latest.
v2.24 - Added option to devtreeclean to preserve node_modules directories.
v2.23 - Added command to sort the values in the first PropertyGroup of a csproj file; Fixing bugs related to Process.Start() timeouts and stream reading in CreateSolutionCommand.
v2.22 - Added set package version command to update NuGet package versions in project files using optional package name filtering.
v2.21 - Modified set framework version command to more gracefully handle OS-specific targeting. Adding net8.0 and net9.0 to target frameworks.
v2.20 - Added prefix option to bulk rename command
v2.19 - Bug fixes; Support in class diagram for protected members; Class diagram option for showing locally defined members
v2.18 - Fixing bugs in formatxml command
v2.17 - Fixing bugs in class diagram generator
v2.16 - Restored the devtreeclean command which had been accidentally removed.
v2.15 - You don't wanna know. It was a mess.
v2.14 - Generate class diagrams for an assembly.
v2.13 - Added xml formatter command that allows recursive file processing.
v2.12 - Command to update or increment package version number and assembly version number.
v2.11 - Added support for setting values as json boolean in via setjsonvalue.
v2.10 - Fixed bug in setprojectproperty command where values were not updated if the property already existed.
v2.9 - Added assembly info viewer.
v2.8 - Added option to devtreeclean to keep git repositories when cleaning a directory tree.
v2.7 - Added wildcard reference command.
v2.6 - Updated nuget package to include Benday.CommandsFramework v3.2.0.
v2.5 - Updated jsontoclasses to add support for hyphens in json property names.