# Versioning Utilities for .NET (MAUI)

A set of tools designed to help manage version numbers in build pipelines, specifically tailored for .NET MAUI applications. This extension helps ensure your apps comply with Google Play Console and Apple App Store version requirements.

Tasks included

Prepare Version with Build ID

This task processes a MAUI project file to extract the current version and replace the last segment with the build ID. It also generates a unique build number that follows store requirements for version incrementation.

Parameters

• Project File Name: The name of the project file (e.g., MyApp.csproj)

Output Variables

The task sets two output variables:

• vtBuildNumber: A unique build number in yyyyMMdd$(Rev:rr) format (e.g., 20240715-01)
• vtVersionName: The semantic version extracted from the project with the last segment replaced by the Build.BuildId (e.g., 1.2.145)

Store Versioning Requirements

This task helps you comply with the unique versioning requirements of mobile app stores:

• Google Play Console: Requires each app update to have a higher versionCode (our vtBuildNumber) than the previous version
• Apple App Store: Requires each release to have a unique build number and a version string that follows semantic versioning

Example Usage

Example Values

If your MAUI project has an ApplicationDisplayVersion of 1.2.3 and you're running build #145 on July 15, 2024, after running the task:

• vtBuildNumber will be set to: 20240715-01 (increments to 20240715-02, 20240715-03, etc. on subsequent builds)
• vtVersionName will be set to: 1.2.145

Pipeline Example

Here's how to use the task in your YAML pipeline:

steps:
- task: PrepareVersion@1
  inputs:
    projectFileName: 'PlayerApp.csproj'
  displayName: 'Prepare Version Numbers'

# Using the variables to publish an Android app
- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  inputs:
    command: 'publish'
    publishWebProjects: false
    zipAfterPublish: false
    projects: '**/PlayerApp.csproj'
    arguments: '-c Release -f net9.0-android -o "$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/$(BuildConfiguration)/"
                /p:AndroidPackageFormat=aab 
                /t:SignAndroidPackage
                /p:ApplicationDisplayVersion="$(vtVersionName)"
                /p:ApplicationVersion="$(vtBuildNumber)"
                /p:AndroidKeyStore="True"            

Platform-Specific Examples

For iOS

- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  inputs:
    command: 'publish'
    publishWebProjects: false
    projects: '**/PlayerApp.csproj'
    arguments: '-c Release -f net9.0-ios -o "$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/$(BuildConfiguration)/"
                /p:ApplicationDisplayVersion="$(vtVersionName)"
                /p:ApplicationVersion="$(vtBuildNumber)"
                /p:ArchiveOnBuild=true
                /p:MtouchLink=SdkOnly'

For Multi-Platform Build

- task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
  inputs:
    command: 'publish'
    publishWebProjects: false
    projects: '**/PlayerApp.csproj'
    arguments: '-c Release -f net9.0-android;net9.0-ios -o "$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/$(BuildConfiguration)/"
                /p:ApplicationDisplayVersion="$(vtVersionName)"
                /p:ApplicationVersion="$(vtBuildNumber)"'

Benefits

• Consistent Versioning: Ensures consistent version numbers across all build artifacts
• Compliance: Automatically meets Google Play and Apple App Store versioning requirements
• Traceability: Build numbers directly connect to specific source commits
• Automation: No need for manual version bumping before each release

Notes

• The task automatically detects version information in your MAUI project files
• Build numbers will reset each day, which helps keep version numbers clean and manageable
• For Android, ApplicationVersion is mapped to versionCode
• For iOS, ApplicationVersion is mapped to CFBundleVersion