NET Core command-line interface (dotnet-cli) is a new NET Core toolset (commands) for developing NET Core Applications. The dotnet-cli toolset provides a list of pre-installed dotnet core project templates from which the user can create various applications as a dotnet core WinForms (Windows Form) application, WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) application, console application, Web application, and other test applications. The application created with dotnet-cli can be executed on any Windows, Linux, or macOS operating system.
How to create a “dotnet core WinForms (Windows Forms) Application”
The user can use the dotnet new “Windows Forms” or “dotnet new winforms” command from the dotnet-CLI toolset to create a new dotnet core WinForms (Windows Forms) application. The command provides a few options that can be applied as a parameter to tweak the output of the command as shown below :
“dotnet new winforms –no-restore”: This command does not restore the required project dependencies by the WinForms application. Please follow through to read about a few “dotnet new winforms” command usage.
Prerequisite:
.NET Core SDK 3.0 (preview) and above. The current version is .NET Core 5.0 and can be downloaded here.
Command Syntax:
The format of the command is as follows: dotnet new winforms [options]
The details of the available command options can be listed using the –help option as follows:
C:\>dotnet new winforms --help
Usage: new [options]
Options:
-h, --help Displays help for this command.
-l, --list Lists templates containing the specified name. If no name is specified, lists all templates.
-n, --name The name for the output being created. If no name is specified, the name of the current directory is used.
-o, --output Location to place the generated output.
-i, --install Installs a source or a template pack.
-u, --uninstall Uninstalls a source or a template pack.
--nuget-source Specifies a NuGet source to use during install.
--type Filters templates based on available types. Predefined values are "project", "item" or "other".
--dry-run Displays a summary of what would happen if the given command line were run if it would result in a template creation.
--force Forces content to be generated even if it would change existing files.
-lang, --language Filters templates based on language and specifies the language of the template to create.
Windows Forms (WinForms) Application (C#)
Author: Microsoft
Description: A project for creating a .NET Core Windows Forms (WinForms) Application
Options:
--langVersion Sets langVersion in the created project file
text - Optional
--no-restore If specified, skips the automatic restore of the project on create.
bool - Optional
Default: false / (*) true
* Indicates the value used if the switch is provided without a value. Command Usage – dotnet new winforms:
1. “dotnet new winforms”
The command creates a new “NET Core Windows Forms” project. The name of the project is not specified in the command so by default the project name will be the same as the directory where the command was executed, additionally, the command will also restore the dependency required by the project implicitly. The default language is C#, so the project created will be of C# type. The list of the file that will be created using the mentioned commands is given below.
C:\Temp>dotnet new winforms The template "Windows Forms (WinForms) Application" was created successfully. Processing post-creation actions... Running 'dotnet restore' on C:\Temp\Temp.csproj... Restore completed in 162.66 ms for C:\Temp\Temp.csproj. Restore succeeded.
Files and folders created by the command:
C:\temp>dir Volume in drive C is OSDisk Volume Serial Number is 8053-FAC8 Directory of C:\temp 06/17/2019 05:06 PM <DIR> . 06/17/2019 05:06 PM <DIR> .. 06/17/2019 05:06 PM 387 Form1.cs 06/17/2019 05:06 PM 1,234 Form1.Designer.cs 06/17/2019 05:06 PM 5,817 Form1.resx 06/17/2019 05:06 PM <DIR> obj 06/17/2019 05:06 PM 527 Program.cs 06/17/2019 05:06 PM 242 temp.csproj 06/17/2019 05:06 PM <DIR> xlf
2.”dotnet new winforms –name Hello”
The command creates a new “NET Core Windows Forms” project having the name of Hello.csproj. The command creates a Hello directory only if doesn’t exist and then creates the boilerplate files in the directory, additionally, the command also restores the dependency required by the project.
C:\>dotnet new winforms --name Hello The template "Windows Forms (WinForms) Application" was created successfully. Processing post-creation actions... Running 'dotnet restore' on Hello\Hello.csproj... Restore completed in 96.53 ms for C:\Hello\Hello.csproj. Restore succeeded.
Files and folders created by the command:
C:\>cd Hello C:\Hello>dir Volume in drive C is OSDisk Volume Serial Number is 8053-FAC8 Directory of C:\Hello 06/17/2019 05:09 PM <DIR> . 06/17/2019 05:09 PM <DIR> .. 06/17/2019 05:09 PM 388 Form1.cs 06/17/2019 05:09 PM 1,235 Form1.Designer.cs 06/17/2019 05:09 PM 5,817 Form1.resx 06/17/2019 05:09 PM 242 Hello.csproj 06/17/2019 05:09 PM <DIR> obj 06/17/2019 05:09 PM 528 Program.cs 06/17/2019 05:09 PM <DIR> xlf
3. “dotnet new winforms –name Hello –no-restore”
The command creates a new “NET Core Windows Forms” project having the name of Hello. The command creates a Hello directory only if doesn’t exist and then creates the boilerplate files in the directory, the command does not restore the dependency required by the project. The output of the command is as follows:
C:\>dotnet new winforms --name Hello --no-restore The template "Windows Forms (WinForms) Application" was created successfully. C:\>cd Hello C:\Hello>dir Volume in drive C is OSDisk Volume Serial Number is 8053-FAC8 Directory of C:\Hello 06/17/2019 05:13 PM <DIR> . 06/17/2019 05:13 PM <DIR> .. 06/17/2019 05:13 PM 388 Form1.cs 06/17/2019 05:13 PM 1,235 Form1.Designer.cs 06/17/2019 05:13 PM 5,817 Form1.resx 06/17/2019 05:13 PM 242 Hello.csproj 06/17/2019 05:13 PM 528 Program.cs 06/17/2019 05:13 PM <DIR> xlf
4. “dotnet new winforms –name Hello –languageVersion 7.0”
The command creates a new “NET Core Windows Forms” project having the name of Hello. The command creates a Hello directory only if doesn’t exist and then creates the boilerplate files and directory, additionally, the command also restores the dependency required by the project. The command creates the project specific to C# 7.0 (version). The details can be found in the Hello.csproj file.
C:\>dotnet new winforms --name Hello --langVersion 7.0 The template "Windows Forms (WinForms) Application" was created successfully. Processing post-creation actions... Running 'dotnet restore' on Hello\Hello.csproj... Restore completed in 108.97 ms for C:\Hello\Hello.csproj. Restore succeeded.
Content of Hello.csproj file: LangVersion tag contains 7.0
C:\Temp\dotnet\Hello>type Hello.csproj
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.WindowsDesktop">
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputType>WinExe</OutputType>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp3.0</TargetFramework>
<LangVersion>7.0</LangVersion>
<UseWindowsForms>true</UseWindowsForms>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project> I hope you found this post on how to create a WinForms Application using dotnet-cli. Thanks for visiting. Cheers !!!
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