These are Build instructions for P4API.net and its required DLL and various test utilities
With the 2021.2 release, P4API.NET has been extended to support .NET CORE and to be cross-platform on three Target OS's (Windows, Linux, OSX)
P4API.NET consists of a DLL written in C++ which contains the Perforce C++ API, which is wrapped by a layer of C# code which exports the .NET interface.
Within this directory are several subprojects. p4bridge, p4bridge-unit-test, p4bridgeStressTest, p4api.net and p4api.net-unit-test
p4apicore.net.sln - This solution includes projects p4api.net.csproj and p4api.net-unit-test.csproj. Both of the projects target frameworks .NET Framework 4.6.2, .Net Core 6.0 and .NET Standard 2.0.
It only includes the C# portions of the project. It can be built using the
dotnet build p4apicore.net.slncommand. This solution can be opened by the "dotnet" executable on any supported platform, or by VS2019+ on windows only. This is the primary solution to be used for building and/or debugging P4API.NET and its unit tests.
Sample Console Applications for .NET 6.0 are provided here: consoleApps/ControlCTest.sln and consoleApps/P4DotNetConsole.sln
Sample Applications for .NET framework are provided here: examples/examples.sln
The workspace file p4apinet.code-workspace opens the P4API.NET C# source tree for the assembly and its Unit Tests.
This workspace has not been customized for C# and cannot be used to build the distribution on any platform.
The workspace file p4bridge.code-workspace shows the P4BRIDGE C++ source tree and the source for the p4bridge-unit-test. This workspace has not been customized for C++ and CMake and cannot be used to build the distribution on any platform.
Enhancing these workspaces to actually do builds is an exercise for the reader ;)
C++ is used for the p4bridge, p4bridge-unit-test and p4bridgeStressTest projects, which are all in subdirectories of the p4api.net top-level directory. All C++ builds use Cmake.
The p4bridge, p4bridge-unit-test and p4bridgeStressTest projects require cmake 3.20 or better, (for CMake Profile support).
The default installation of cmake on ubuntu will require updating. to update to the latest version on ubuntu, follow package updating instructions here: CMake APT repository
We've included some sample setup scripts for copying the P4API and openssl libraries into their expected source subdirectories. They are found in the root p4api.net directory. look for setuplibrary.bat, setuplibrary_linux.sh and setuplibrary_osx.sh
These scripts are just examples, they represent what I had to do to get my environment to work correctly, they will need to be edited to work in your environment.
The library directories must be in place before building the p4bridge project.
The p4bridge DLL is required by P4API.NET and is a C++ project built by cmake.
The same p4bridge DLL will work in both .NET Core and .NET Framework Assemblies.
The source and build instructions for the bridge DLL is in the p4bridge subdirectory.
The bridge-unit-test is a C++ project which provides a test suite for the p4bridge. The source, build and configuration instructions for these tests is in the p4bridge-unit-test subdirectory.
The p4bridgeStressTest is a C++ project which provides a performance test for the p4bridge. The source and instructions for this test is in the p4bridgeStressTest subdirectory.
IMPORTANT! - The C++ bridge must have already been built before building P4API.NET.
Make sure you have an updated .NET 6.0 SDK (or better) installed for your platform. download from here: Microsoft .NET Downloads
in the p4api.net root folder run
dotnet build p4apicore.net.sln
This will create The .NET DLL in p4api.net\bin\Debug\net60\p4api.net.dll, p4api.net\bin\Debug\net462\p4api.net.dll, p4api.net\bin\Debug\netstandard2.0\p4api.net.dll
And the Unit test in \p4api.net-unit-test\bin\Debug\net60\p4api.net-unit-test.dll, \p4api.net-unit-test\bin\Debug\net462\p4api.net-unit-test.dll, \p4api.net-unit-test\bin\Debug\netstandard2.0\p4api.net-unit-test.dll
It will also copy the p4bridge.dll from the appropriate place in the ../p4bridge output into the default output directory.
On Windows, you can specify a specific Configuration and Platform with parameters:
dotnet build p4apicore.net.sln -c Release -p:Platform=x86
On Windows, if no Platform is specified the default is 'x64'. On Windows, If no Configuration is specified the default is 'Debug'.
As part of the P4API.NET project build, the (previously build) p4bridge DLLs are copied into proper runtime locations.
- Using the dotnet command, in the p4api.net root folder run:
dotnet test p4apicore.net.sln
Filter on the dotnet framework to run upon
dotnet test p4apicore.net.sln -f net60Filter on the specific test to run
dotnet test p4apicore.net.sln -f net60 --filter TestName
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Visual Studio 2019 can be used to debug the .NET unit tests if you are running in Windows. Open p4apicore.net.sln, then use the Test Explorer Window to run and manage the tests. One unique feature of the VS2019 debugger is that it makes it possible to debug both .NET C# and the P4BRIDGE C++ in the same session.
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JetBrains Rider can also be used to debug the .NET unit tests on all platforms, just open p4apicore.net.sln and the Unit Tests will show up in the Unit Test Explorer window.
Unfortunately, you cannot debug through the C++ code using Rider.
- This only works on WINDOWS with DOTNET CORE so far.
- Build the four varieties of p4bridge first
dotnet pack p4apicore.net.sln
This will create an Assembly DLL in .\bin\p4api.net\bin\Debug\net6.0\p4api.net.dll and a nuget package in: p4api.net\bin\Debug\p4api.net.VERSION.nupkg
Deploy this package to a local test repository with:
nuget add c:\dev\p4dotnetdev\p4api.net\p4api.net\bin\Debug\p4api.net.2021.2.xxx.yyyy.nupkg -Source C:\dev\local-nuget
nuget list -Source c:\dev\local-nuget -PreRelease p4api.net
returns: 2022.2.xxx.yyyy