Custom Tool does not work for linked items

[rainersigwald]

From @hakito on Monday, June 24, 2019 10:15:59 AM

Steps to reproduce

In VS2019

• Add existing item
• Choose a resource file
• Add as link
• Set custom tool to PublicResXFileCodeGenerator

Build the project / solution / run custom tool do not generate a file.

Project file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <TargetFramework>net462</TargetFramework>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
      <EmbeddedResource Include="..\..\I18n\Commons\I18N.resx" Link="Properties\I18N.resx">
        <Generator>PublicResXFileCodeGenerator</Generator>
      </EmbeddedResource>
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Directory contents:

../../I18n/Commons
- I18N.resx

Expected behavior

Generates or updates designer.cs file. It is working for non linked resources and with the old project format.

Actual behavior

Nothing happens

Environment data

msbuild /version output:
16.1.76.45076
OS info: Win 10 Enterprise x64
Visual Studio 2019 16.1.3

Copied from original issue: dotnet/msbuild#4467

[drewnoakes]

@adrianvmsft has fixed this in CPS. One caveat is that adding a linked resx file in VS doesn't set the Generator metadata automatically, but if you add it manually it should work in a future version of VS.

[adrianvmsft]

Meantime, you can work around this issue by setting the CustomToolNamespace property on the resx item (also available in the Properties pane) - this overrides the namespace calculation.

<CustomToolNamespace>Foo.Bar</CustomToolNamespace>