Can't deploy XF MDP template in release mode when only using Android Project

[PureWeen]

Steps to Reproduce

I tested this on Catalina and Mojave with latest 8.3 (build 1805)

1. Create new MDP Forms app (and only leave Android checked)
2. set configuration to release
3. Try to deploy to device

If you leave iOS and Android checked then it's able to deploy without any issues

Expected Behavior

It should deploy to device

Actual Behavior

It fails with the following exception

/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018: The "FilterAssemblies" task failed unexpectedly.
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file "/Users/shane/Projects/AVisionOfPain/AVisionOfPain/bin/Debug/netstandard2.0/AVisionOfPain.dll"
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018: File name: '/Users/shane/Projects/AVisionOfPain/AVisionOfPain/bin/Debug/netstandard2.0/AVisionOfPain.dll'
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018:   at System.IO.FileStream..ctor (System.String path, System.IO.FileMode mode, System.IO.FileAccess access, System.IO.FileShare share, System.Int32 bufferSize, System.Boolean anonymous, System.IO.FileOptions options) [0x00259] in /Users/builder/jenkins/workspace/build-package-osx-mono/2019-06/external/bockbuild/builds/mono-x64/mcs/class/corlib/System.IO/FileStream.cs:274 
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018:   at System.IO.FileStream..ctor (System.String path, System.IO.FileMode mode, System.IO.FileAccess access, System.IO.FileShare share) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/jenkins/workspace/build-package-osx-mono/2019-06/external/bockbuild/builds/mono-x64/mcs/class/corlib/System.IO/FileStream.cs:91 
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018:   at (wrapper remoting-invoke-with-check) System.IO.FileStream..ctor(string,System.IO.FileMode,System.IO.FileAccess,System.IO.FileShare)
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018:   at System.IO.File.OpenRead (System.String path) [0x00000] in /Users/builder/jenkins/workspace/build-package-osx-mono/2019-06/external/bockbuild/builds/mono-x64/external/corefx/src/System.IO.FileSystem/src/System/IO/File.cs:266 
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018:   at Xamarin.Android.Tasks.FilterAssemblies.Execute () [0x0006f] in <fa231dc8d40d45fd86217b6055f9a563>:0 
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018:   at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskExecutionHost.Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.ITaskExecutionHost.Execute () [0x00023] in /Users/builder/jenkins/workspace/build-package-osx-mono/2019-06/external/bockbuild/builds/msbuild-15/src/Build/BackEnd/TaskExecutionHost/TaskExecutionHost.cs:574 
/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/External/xbuild/Xamarin/Android/Xamarin.Android.Common.targets(520,3): error MSB4018:   at Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskBuilder.ExecuteInstantiatedTask (Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.ITaskExecutionHost taskExecutionHost, Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.Logging.TaskLoggingContext taskLoggingContext, Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskHost taskHost, Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.ItemBucket bucket, Microsoft.Build.BackEnd.TaskExecutionMode howToExecuteTask) [0x002a9] in /Users/builder/jenkins/workspace/build-package-osx-mono/2019-06/external/bockbuild/builds/msbuild-15/src/Build/BackEnd/Components/RequestBuilder/TaskBuilder.cs:805 
    0 Warning(s)
    1 Error(s)

Version Information

=== Visual Studio Enterprise 2019 for Mac ===

Version 8.3 (build 1805)
Installation UUID: fae43bc3-a47b-4638-a8fc-dfb6d5bfc1f4
	GTK+ 2.24.23 (Raleigh theme)
	Xamarin.Mac 5.16.1.24 (d16-3 / 08809f5b)

	Package version: 604000198

=== Mono Framework MDK ===

Runtime:
	Mono 6.4.0.198 (2019-06/fe64a4765e6) (64-bit)
	Package version: 604000198

=== Xamarin Designer ===

Version: 16.3.0.230
Hash: bbe518670
Branch: remotes/origin/d16-3-xcode11
Build date: 2019-09-17 18:39:30 UTC

=== NuGet ===

Version: 5.3.0.6192

=== .NET Core SDK ===

SDK: /usr/local/share/dotnet/sdk/3.0.100/Sdks
SDK Versions:
	3.0.100
	3.0.100-rc1-014190
	2.2.203
	2.1.700
	2.1.500
	2.1.302
	2.1.301
MSBuild SDKs: /Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Versions/6.4.0/lib/mono/msbuild/Current/bin/Sdks

=== .NET Core Runtime ===

Runtime: /usr/local/share/dotnet/dotnet
Runtime Versions:
	3.0.0
	3.0.0-rc1-19456-20
	2.2.7
	2.2.4
	2.1.13
	2.1.11
	2.1.6
	2.1.2
	2.1.1

=== Xamarin.Profiler ===

Version: 1.6.11.16
Location: /Applications/Xamarin Profiler.app/Contents/MacOS/Xamarin Profiler

=== Updater ===

Version: 11

=== Apple Developer Tools ===

Xcode 11.0 (14936)
Build 11A420a

=== Xamarin.Mac ===

Version: 6.2.0.42 (Visual Studio Enterprise)
Hash: 5e8a208b
Branch: d16-3
Build date: 2019-09-17 14:19:30-0400

=== Xamarin.iOS ===

Version: 13.2.0.42 (Visual Studio Enterprise)
Hash: 5e8a208b
Branch: d16-3
Build date: 2019-09-17 14:19:30-0400

=== Xamarin.Android ===

Version: 10.0.0.43 (Visual Studio Enterprise)
Commit: xamarin-android/d16-3/8af1ca8
Android SDK: /Users/shane/Library/Developer/Xamarin/android-sdk-macosx
	Supported Android versions:
		7.0 (API level 24)
		7.1 (API level 25)
		8.0 (API level 26)
		8.1 (API level 27)

SDK Tools Version: 26.1.1
SDK Platform Tools Version: 28.0.2
SDK Build Tools Version: 28.0.3

Build Information: 
Mono: mono/mono/2019-06@7af64d1ebe9
Java.Interop: xamarin/java.interop/d16-3@5836f58
LibZipSharp: grendello/LibZipSharp/d16-3@71f4a94
LibZip: nih-at/libzip/rel-1-5-1@b95cf3f
ProGuard: xamarin/proguard/master@905836d
SQLite: xamarin/sqlite/3.27.1@8212a2d
Xamarin.Android Tools: xamarin/xamarin-android-tools/d16-3@cb41333

=== Microsoft Mobile OpenJDK ===

Java SDK: /Users/shane/Library/Developer/Xamarin/jdk/microsoft_dist_openjdk_8.0.25
1.8.0-25
Android Designer EPL code available here:
https://github.com/xamarin/AndroidDesigner.EPL

=== Android SDK Manager ===

Version: 1.4.0.65
Hash: c33b107
Branch: remotes/origin/d16-3
Build date: 2019-09-19 20:42:44 UTC

=== Android Device Manager ===

Version: 1.2.0.115
Hash: 724ea69
Branch: remotes/origin/d16-3
Build date: 2019-09-19 20:43:06 UTC

=== Xamarin Inspector ===

Version: 1.4.3
Hash: db27525
Branch: 1.4-release
Build date: Mon, 09 Jul 2018 21:20:18 GMT
Client compatibility: 1

=== Build Information ===

Release ID: 803001805
Git revision: df50511ccb08d4d84a53939f1d7fc0b40cbb0ee1
Build date: 2019-09-20 16:10:55+00
Build branch: release-8.3
Xamarin extensions: da8d448cd65f2cc87c5e6dc7e2c2ca7b96d20c72

=== Operating System ===

Mac OS X 10.15.0
Darwin 19.0.0 Darwin Kernel Version 19.0.0
    Sat Aug 31 18:49:12 PDT 2019
    root:xnu-6153.11.15~8/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64

Log File

LogCatOutput.zip

[brendanzagaeski]

Cross-referencing note for the Microsoft team:

This looks like it might have the same underlying cause as https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/666127/first-archive-for-publishing-attempt-after-loading.html. In that case, it looked like Visual Studio for Mac was somehow not setting the $(Configuration) property to Release when running certain MSBuild targets.

[brendanzagaeski]

Reproducible with older versions from Visual Studio 2019 for Mac version 8.1

I was able to reproduce this problem in the following environments:

• Visual Studio 2019 for Mac version 8.3 Preview (with Xamarin.Android 10.0, Mono 6.4, and .NET Core SDK 3.0 RC)
• Visual Studio 2019 for Mac version 8.1 (with Xamarin.Android 9.3, Mono 5.18, and .NET Core SDK 2.1)

Does not depend on Xamarin.Forms

I noticed that Xamarin.Forms was not required to reproduce the problem. It was sufficient to create a new blank Android app, add an empty .NET Standard library project to the solution, and add the .NET Standard library project as a reference of the Android app project.

<SolutionConfiguration> missing from packaging build output

The underlying cause does indeed appear to be the same as for the Developer Community item about Build > Archive for Publishing. In both cases, lines like the following are missing from the diagnostic build output for the packaging steps:

CurrentSolutionConfigurationContents = <SolutionConfiguration>
<ProjectConfiguration Project="{D5134062-3A9D-471D-BC0A-A749C1CF08FE}" AbsolutePath="/Users/macuser/Projects/AndroidApp1/AndroidApp1/AndroidApp1.csproj" BuildProjectInSolution="True">Release|AnyCPU</ProjectConfiguration>
<ProjectConfiguration Project="{B53F7ECF-3DE6-433C-89A6-57D9EC951362}" AbsolutePath="/Users/macuser/Projects/AndroidApp1/NetStandardLibrary1/NetStandardLibrary1.csproj" BuildProjectInSolution="True">Release|AnyCPU</ProjectConfiguration>
</SolutionConfiguration>

These lines are present when using one of the workarounds.

Workarounds

Unlike Build > Archive for Publishing, in this case just repeating Run > Start Debugging is not sufficient to work around the problem, so a different workaround must be used.

As mentioned in the issue description, one option is to add an iOS app project to the solution.

Another option is to add an Android class library project to the solution. It does not need to be referenced by any projects. It only needs to be present in the solution.

(Note that building the .NET Standard library in the Debug configuration before attempting to deploy in the Release configuration also allows the deployment to succeed, but this might not be the best option because in this case the <SolutionConfiguration> lines are still missing from the Deploying to Device output.)

[brendanzagaeski]

Internal cross-referencing link for the Microsoft team:

VS bug #987050

[jpobst]

If this is not fixed:

This issue likely occurs in the Visual Studio integration, which is owned by a different team who does not use GitHub for issue tracking.

Please use the tools available inside of VS to report this issue. This allows the issue to be routed to the correct team, and provides them the correct logs they need to diagnose it.

Thanks!