Missing NuGet packages when used on project within a solution

Question

I've looked at this answer :

Editing the .csproj file and correcting the relative path to the solution folder (which contains the packages folder) solved the problem for me.

but I'm not sure what to edit.

I'm making a C++ project in Visual Studio 2013. I have one solution with three projects. One of the projects needs a NuGet package.

I used Manage NuGet packages for solution on my solution to install the NuGet package. From there I selected the one project which needs the package. I also used Enable NuGet Package Restore .

By doing this I end up with a .nuget and packages folder in the solution directory.

When I try to build the project requiring the package I get the error:

This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Enable NuGet Package Restore to download them. For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=322105 . The missing file is ....\\packages\\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\\build\\native\\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets.

If I follow the mentioned path, assuming that the directory it is relative from is the project directory of the project, the "missing file" is there.

The project having this problem, was a project I used alone (with its own solution) before, and has been copy pasted to this solution with three projects. That's why I mentioned the answer of an another question and the top of the post. That answer suggest editing a project file. If I open my .vcxproj file I see this:

<Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
  <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
    <Import Project="..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets" Condition="Exists('..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" />
    <Import Project="$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets" Condition="Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" />
    <Import Project="..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets" Condition="Exists('..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" />
    <Import Project="..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets" Condition="Exists('..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" />
  </ImportGroup>
  <Target Name="EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
    <PropertyGroup>
      <ErrorText>This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Enable NuGet Package Restore to download them.  For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=322105. The missing file is {0}.</ErrorText>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Error Condition="!Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '..\..\packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
  </Target>

I'm very unsure what to edit.

I can guess that maybe some of the paths should be changed from being relative of the project directory, to being relative of the solution directory. But by editing to:

  <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
  <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
    <Import Project="packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets" Condition="Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" />
    <Import Project="$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets" Condition="Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" />
    <Import Project="packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets" Condition="Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" />
    <Import Project="packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets" Condition="Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" />
  </ImportGroup>
  <Target Name="EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
    <PropertyGroup>
      <ErrorText>This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Enable NuGet Package Restore to download them.  For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=322105. The missing file is {0}.</ErrorText>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Error Condition="!Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', 'packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', 'packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', 'packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
  </Target>

Visual studio will give me an error stating: An item with the same key has already been added . The project is then marked as (load failed) in the solution browser.

What am I doing wrong here?

Answer 1

I found my solution through this answer .

In the .vcxproj file I removed the following:

<Target Name="EnsureNuGetPackageBuildImports" BeforeTargets="PrepareForBuild">
    <PropertyGroup>
      <ErrorText>This project references NuGet package(s) that are missing on this computer. Enable NuGet Package Restore to download them.  For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=322105. The missing file is {0}.</ErrorText>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Error Condition="!Exists('$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', '$(SolutionDir)\.nuget\NuGet.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', 'packages\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.winapp.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', 'packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
    <Error Condition="!Exists('packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets')" Text="$([System.String]::Format('$(ErrorText)', 'packages\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.2.9.1\build\native\cpprestsdk.v120.windesktop.msvcstl.dyn.rt-dyn.targets'))" />
  </Target>

and I can now build the project.

It is probably not the best solution, as there is a reason for these Error Conditions to exist. But editing the paths did not help.