Legacy .csproj files always show "Invalid static method invocation syntax" error

[llaughlin]

I am always seeing this error when looking at "older" .csproj files (those not using the new structure that includes <PackageReference>s.

Invalid static method invocation syntax: "[Microsoft.Build.Utilities.ToolLocationHelper]::GetPathToStandardLibraries($(TargetFrameworkIdentifier), $(TargetFrameworkVersion), $(TargetFrameworkProfile), $(PlatformTarget), $(TargetFrameworkRootPath), $(TargetFrameworkFallbackSearchPaths))". Microsoft.Build.Utilities.ToolLocationHelper.GetPathToStandardLibraries Static method invocation should be of the form: $([FullTypeName]::Method()), e.g. $([System.IO.Path]::Combine(a, b)).c:\repo\master\FileSystem\FileSystem.csproj(MSB4186)

Here is an example .csproj file that generates the issue:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="12.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props" Condition="Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Microsoft.Common.props')" />
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Debug</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">x86</Platform>
    <ProjectGuid>{636A7C3E-8D20-4696-A641-1F5180F0440C}</ProjectGuid>
    <OutputType>Library</OutputType>
    <AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder>
    <RootNamespace>FileSystem</RootNamespace>
    <AssemblyName>FileSystem</AssemblyName>
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.5.1</TargetFrameworkVersion>
    <FileAlignment>512</FileAlignment>
    <TargetFrameworkProfile />
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Debug|x86'">
    <DebugSymbols>true</DebugSymbols>
    <OutputPath>bin\x86\Debug\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>DEBUG;TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <DebugType>full</DebugType>
    <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <CodeAnalysisRuleSet>MinimumRecommendedRules.ruleset</CodeAnalysisRuleSet>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|x86'">
    <OutputPath>bin\x86\Release\</OutputPath>
    <DefineConstants>TRACE</DefineConstants>
    <Optimize>true</Optimize>
    <DebugType>pdbonly</DebugType>
    <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget>
    <ErrorReport>prompt</ErrorReport>
    <CodeAnalysisRuleSet>MinimumRecommendedRules.ruleset</CodeAnalysisRuleSet>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="log4net, Version=2.0.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=669e0ddf0bb1aa2a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
      <HintPath>..\packages\log4net.2.0.8\lib\net45-full\log4net.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <Reference Include="PresentationCore" />
    <Reference Include="System" />
    <Reference Include="System.Configuration" />
    <Reference Include="System.Core" />
    <Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
    <Reference Include="System.Management" />
    <Reference Include="System.Web" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml.Linq" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
    <Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" />
    <Reference Include="System.Data" />
    <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
    <Reference Include="WindowsBase" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="DirectoryUtilility.cs" />
    <Compile Include="FileSystemUtility.cs" />
    <Compile Include="NativeMethods.cs" />
    <Compile Include="GroupedProcessUtility.cs" />
    <Compile Include="ImageUtility.cs" />
    <Compile Include="PathConfigurations.cs" />
    <Compile Include="PathConfigurationsSection.cs" />
    <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
    <Compile Include="UncHelper.cs" />
    <Compile Include="VideoUtility.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="packages.config" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
</Project>

I haven't been able to identify the root cause (I'm unfamiliar with the ToolLocationHelper).

Am I missing an upgrade or dependency somewhere?

I have the following installed:

• Visual Studio 2017 Enterprise 15.9.7
• Visual Studio 2019 Enterprise 16.0.0 Preview 2.1
• Visual Studio Code 1.31.1

And this is the output for dotnet --info:

.NET Core SDK (reflecting any global.json):                                                                  
 Version:   2.2.103                                                                                          
 Commit:    8edbc2570a                                                                                       
                                                                                                             
Runtime Environment:                                                                                         
 OS Name:     Windows                                                                                        
 OS Version:  10.0.17763                                                                                     
 OS Platform: Windows                                                                                        
 RID:         win10-x64                                                                                      
 Base Path:   C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\2.2.103\                                                           
                                                                                                             
Host (useful for support):                                                                                   
  Version: 2.2.1                                                                                             
  Commit:  878dd11e62                                                                                        
                                                                                                             
.NET Core SDKs installed:                                                                                    
  1.1.11 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                       
  1.1.12 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                       
  2.1.4 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                        
  2.1.100 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.101 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.104 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.201 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.202 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.301 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.400 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.401 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.402 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.403 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.500 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.502 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.503 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.504 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.1.600-preview-009426 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                       
  2.1.600-preview-009472 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                       
  2.2.102 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
  2.2.103 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk]                                                                      
                                                                                                             
.NET Core runtimes installed:                                                                                
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.1 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.2 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.3 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.4 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.5 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.7 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.1.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.All 2.2.1 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.All]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.1 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.2 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.3 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.4 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.5 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.7 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.1.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 2.2.1 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]                   
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 1.0.13 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                        
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 1.0.14 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                        
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 1.1.10 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                        
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 1.1.11 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                        
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.0.0 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.0.5 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.0.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.0.7 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.0.9 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.1 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.2 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.3 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.4 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.5 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.7 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.1.8 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 2.2.1 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]                         

[tintoy]

I wonder if this is related to #1... Let me have a look and get back to you.

[tintoy]

What version of the extension are you using?

[llaughlin]

The latest: 0.2.51

Name: MSBuild project tools
Id: tintoy.msbuild-project-tools
Description: Tools for working with MSBuild project files (such as auto-complete for package Ids / versions).
Version: 0.2.51
Publisher: tintoy
VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=tintoy.msbuild-project-tools

[tintoy]

Hmm, looks like I need to upgrade the Microsoft.Build packages referenced by the language server again (just tried this locally and I can then open the project and see correct intellisense for it).

If I build a custom VSIX would you be willing to try it out for me?

[llaughlin]

Of course!

[tintoy]

You can download the VSIX here (instructions for install are listed there, too).

[llaughlin]

I'll try it out and let you know the results. Thanks so much for the quick response!

[llaughlin]

Yep! That works perfectly. I intellisense and autocomplete are working as expected now.

[tintoy]

Ok, thanks - will publish it then :)