Support dotnet watch in launchSettings.json

[RehanSaeed]

I used to be able to use dotnet watch in Visual Studio by adding the following section to launchSettings.json and starting the project without debugging using CTRL + F5.

    "Kestrel (dotnet watch run)": {
      "commandName": "Executable",
      "executablePath": "C:\\Program Files\\dotnet\\dotnet.exe",
      "commandLineArgs": "watch run",
      "launchBrowser": true,
      "launchUrl": "https://localhost:5001/",
      "environmentVariables": {
        "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development"
      }
    },

This used to work in ASP.NET Core 1.1 but no longer does. According to aspnet/DotNetTools#404 the new format for ASP.NET Core 2.0 is:

   "Kestrel (dotnet watch run)": {
      "commandName": "Executable",
      "executablePath": "C:\\Program Files\\dotnet\\dotnet.exe",
      "commandLineArgs": "watch run",
      "workingDirectory": "C:\\Users\\namc\\source\\repos\\WebApplication2\\WebApplication2",
      "launchBrowser": true,
      "launchUrl": "https://localhost:5001/",
      "environmentVariables": {
        "ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development"
      }
    }

The problem with this is the hard coded executablePath which is Windows specific and the workingDirectory which is specific to wherever I did a Git clone on my local machine.

[barrytang]

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[barrytang]

Adding @BillHiebert, @abpiskunov and @balachir as FYI.

[RehanSaeed]

Posted to the 'Report a Problem' tool with the same title as this issue.

[dharmaturtle]

@RehanSaeed to address your question in the previous thread:

Is there a way to make the working directory more generic? Having to hard code a path in there is sub-optimal.

You can use "workingDirectory": "$(ProjectDir)",