Referencing a custom code analysis rule library using a ruleset file

Question

There is not much easy-to-find information regarding custom code analysis rules for Visual Studio 2010. Although this is what I have found in regards to my question...

In the sample library on CodePlex it is shown how to deploy a custom code analysis rule library, which uses a Setup Project to dump the library's DLL into Program Files Folder -> Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0 -> Team Tools -> Static Analysis Tools -> FxCop -> Rules.

Moreover, a very useful how-to blog post by Duke Kamstra also suggests to copy the library's dll into %Program Files%\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Team Tools\Static Analysis Tools\FxCop\Rules.

My preference is to avoid sticking DLLs in such a global location. I wanted to have the DLL relative to my Visual Studio solutions, so that when I update the DLL with some custom code analysis rule changes then I need not take an extra step to keep dependencies of the DLL up-to-date.

One perfect solution for me would be to have my custom *.ruleset file be aware of the relative path to the DLL, but I've been unsuccessful in doing so.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

In your .ruleset file, you should be able to add relative paths to the custom rule DLLs. e.g.:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RuleSet Name="Sample" Description="Sample ruleset" ToolsVersion="10.0">
  <RuleHintPaths>
    <Path>..\Tools\FxCop\SomeRules.dll</Path>
    <Path>..\Tools\FxCop\SomeOtherRules.dll</Path>
  </RuleHintPaths>
  ...
</RuleSet>

Answer 2

I found even the correct project-relative relative path (provided as Nicole's answer) to my custom rules assembly did not cause my rules to appear in the ruleset editor, while an absolute path to the same assembly did make the rules show up. When I enabled the rules and then changed the path back to a relative path, the rules remain in the editor and are run during source analysis. If I uncheck the rules with a relative path specified, the rules disappear - this seems like a bug in the rules editor.

So, if your rules do not seem to appear when specifying a relative path, try using an absolute one, enabling the rules, and then switching back to a relative path (relative to the project location per @Raithlin).