Scaffolding won't work with with GRPC/Protobuf generator

[sakamoto-poteko]

Steps to reproduce:

1. Follow the tutorial on https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/tutorials/grpc/grpc-start?view=aspnetcore-3.1&tabs=visual-studio to create a project with GRPC & proto definitions. Make sure EF Core/DB context are used & generated
   • Install Grpc.Net.Client, Google.Protobuf and Grpc.Tools
   • Add proto definition in .csproj
   • Use the auto-generated protobuf class anywhere in the code, e.g. create a GreeterClient anywhere
2. Try scaffolding an identity page with data context: dotnet aspnet-codegenerator identity -fi Account.Register -dc ScaffoldingAndGrpc.Data.ApplicationDbContext

The code was uploaded to https://github.com/sakamoto-poteko/ScaffoldingAndGrpcBug

Expected behavior:

Generate scaffolded identity codes.

Actual behavior:

App successfully builds and runs. However, when scaffolding identity, it fails with output "Failed to compile the project in memory", indicating protobuf generated classes are not found.

PM> $env:codegen_trace = 1
PM> dotnet aspnet-codegenerator identity -fi Account.Register -dc ScaffoldingAndGrpc.Data.ApplicationDbContext
[Trace]: Command Line: identity -fi Account.Register -dc ScaffoldingAndGrpc.Data.ApplicationDbContext
Building project ...
[Trace]: Command Line: --no-dispatch --port-number 45089 identity -fi Account.Register -dc ScaffoldingAndGrpc.Data.ApplicationDbContext --dispatcher-version 3.1.2+aa58b3de6300ec8ebe2bf027748f910f02012660
Finding the generator 'identity'...
Running the generator 'identity'...
dotnet : Failed to compile the project in memory
At line:1 char:1
+ dotnet aspnet-codegenerator identity -fi Account.Register -dc Scaffol ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (Failed to compile the project in memory:String) [], RemoteException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError

D:\deleteme\ScaffoldingAndGrpc\ScaffoldingAndGrpc\Program.cs(15,23): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'Greeter2' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

D:\deleteme\ScaffoldingAndGrpc\ScaffoldingAndGrpc\Program.cs(31,27): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'Greeter2' could not be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.ActionInvoker.<BuildCommandLine>b__6_0()
   at Microsoft.Extensions.CommandLineUtils.CommandLineApplication.Execute(String[] args)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.ActionInvoker.Execute(String[] args)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.CodeGenCommand.Execute(String[] args)
RunTime 00:00:08.05

Additional information about the project being scaffolded

Target framework(s):

.Net Core 3.1

Package version of Microsoft.AspNetCore.App or Microsoft.AspNetCore.All (if applicable):

Package version of Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design - this may be added to your project by scaffolding:

3.1.1

PM> dotnet tool update -g dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator
Tool 'dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator' was reinstalled with the latest stable version (version '3.1.2').
PM> dotnet list package
Project 'ScaffoldingAndGrpc' has the following package references
   [netcoreapp3.1]: 
   Top-level Package                                           Requested   Resolved
   > Google.Protobuf                                           3.11.4      3.11.4  
   > Grpc.Net.Client                                           2.28.0      2.28.0  
   > Grpc.Tools                                                2.28.1      2.28.1  
   > Microsoft.AspNetCore.Diagnostics.EntityFrameworkCore      3.1.3       3.1.3   
   > Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.EntityFrameworkCore         3.1.3       3.1.3   
   > Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.UI                          3.1.3       3.1.3   
   > Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer                   3.1.3       3.1.3   
   > Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools                       3.1.3       3.1.3   
   > Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design          3.1.1       3.1.1   

[deepchoudhery]

We don't currently support scaffolding with GRPC/Protobuf generator. Will look into it for the future.

[sakamoto-poteko]

For anyone looking for a workaround: I commented out/temporarily remove all codes/files referencing protobuf generated classes. This can be quite tedious in large project though.

[PierreRoq]

Hello ! Any news on this subject ? I have the exact same problem. I think I'm not the only one to start a project on .NET and want to use gRPC.