How to Publish and Install DotNet SDK with NuGet

A package manager, based on a central installation database, is a tool that automatically installs, updates and removes distributions of software. With a package manager, users do not need to manually download an application installer. There are many package managers working for different programming languages and platforms, such as Maven, npm, pip, apt-get, Yum, Homebrew and so on. In this post, let’s take a glimpse of how to publish and install packages with NuGet.

What is NuGet

NuGet is the package manager for the Microsoft development platform. Users could use NuGet via command line tool, Visual Studio or NuGet Package Explorer.

Download

You can also install NuGet Package Manager in Visual Studio. Select the Tools > Extensions and Updates menu option, and then search for NuGet:

NuGet Visual Studio Installation

Once the extension is installed, you can find it from the Tools > NuGet Package Manager menu option:

NuGet installed

How to Publish a Package

Before creating a package, we need to know how to layout the directory structure:

  • tools – the folder is for PowerShell scripts and programs that accessible from the Package Manager Console.
  • lib – the folder is for .dll files which are added as assembly references when the package is installed.
  • content - files in the folder are copied to the root of your application when the package is installed.
  • build – the folder is for MSBuild targets files that are automatically inserted into the .csproj file of the application.

Let’s create a package for Dynamic .NET TWAIN with NuGet Package Explorer. You can either use command line tool or GUI tool according to your preference.

Select the File > New menu option to create a new package. Edit the package metadata:

NuGet metadata

Select the Content > Add > Lib Folder menu option to create the lib folder. Right-click on the lib folder and select Add .NET folder:

NuGet dotnet folder

Add existing .dll files to the corresponding folders:

NuGet donet dll

Click File > Save As to generate the package Dynamsoft.DotNet.TWAIN.6.1.1.nupkg. You can use a file archiver to view the structure of .nupkg file:

NuGet package archive

To publish the package, you need to register https://www.nuget.org for an account.

Find your API key:

NuGet API key

You can now publish your package via online submission:

NuGet online submission

Or via NuGet Package Explorer:

NuGet publish

If you prefer using the command line to update and remove packages, please read the article: Managing Packages Using the Package Manager Console.

How to Install a Package

Create a new WPF or WinForm project. Select Tools > NuGet Package Manager to choose Manage NuGet Packages for Solution or Package Manager Console.

Install a package via GUI:

NuGet installation GUI

Install a package via command line:

NuGet package manager console

After installing the package, the references of Dynamic .NET TWAIN have been added automatically:

NuGet reference

The snippet of testing code:

using Dynamsoft.DotNet.TWAIN;

namespace WpfApplication1
{

    /// <summary>

    /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml

    /// </summary>

    public partial class MainWindow : Window

    {

        public MainWindow()

        {

            InitializeComponent();

            DynamicDotNetTwain t = new DynamicDotNetTwain();

        }

    }

}