Feature request: C# generator should format generated methods as XML doc cref elements

[ArcturusZhang]

Feature request

Please add support for formatting generated C# method references as XML documentation cref elements.

Scenario

The Azure SDK management generator needs to emit documentation that points from an extension method to the mockable method users should mock instead:

<description>To mock this method, please mock <see cref="MockableType.Method(Type1, Type2)"/> instead.</description>

For methods with generic parameter types, the cref must use XML-doc generic syntax, for example:

<see cref="MockableAzureGeneratorMgmtTypeSpecTestsSubscriptionResource.GetBazsAsync(int?, IEnumerable{string}, CancellationToken)"/>

Current behavior

I validated the existing C# generator :C formatter in two ways:

1. Formatting individual CSharpType values with :C and composing them inside cref="..." does not work because :C emits complete XML doc tags/prose, such as <see cref="Type"/> or <see cref="IEnumerable{T}"/> where <c>T</c> is of type <see cref="string"/>.
2. Formatting MethodSignature directly with :C, for example $"To mock this method, please mock {targetSignature:C} instead.", compiles but emits <see cref="Generator.Primitives.MethodSignature"/>, referencing the MethodSignature type rather than the represented generated method.

CSharpType also does not appear to expose an XML-doc cref string conversion API. ToString() emits C# syntax such as global::System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<string>, not XML-doc cref syntax such as IEnumerable{string}.

Requested API/behavior

Please consider supporting :C on a generated C# method representation, such as MethodSignature or MethodProvider, to emit a complete cref element for the represented generated method, including the declaring type and parameter type list.

If the declaring type cannot be inferred from MethodSignature, a helper/API that accepts the declaring CSharpType plus the method signature would also work.

This would let generators rely on base C# generator XML-doc formatting instead of manually building cref strings and generic type parameter syntax.

Context: Azure SDK issue Azure/azure-sdk-for-net#60758

[github-actions]

🎯 Issue Triage

Feature request asking the C# generator to support formatting generated methods (e.g., MethodSignature/MethodProvider) as XML doc cref elements, including generic type syntax. The existing :C formatter doesn't handle this case — it either emits full prose or references the internal type instead of the generated method.

Category: Feature Request
Area: emitter:client:csharp

🔍 Analysis

• The request targets Generator.Primitives in the C# emitter (http-client-csharp).
• Two gaps are identified:
  1. CSharpType with :C emits full XML doc prose, not a bare cref attribute string.
  2. MethodSignature with :C emits a cref to MethodSignature the C# type, not the represented generated method.
• The core need is a way to produce MethodDeclaringType.MethodName(ParamType1, ParamType2) in XML-doc cref format, including generic parameter handling ({T} instead of <T>).
• Linked upstream context: Feature request: format generated methods as XML doc cref elements Azure/azure-sdk-for-net#60758

📝 Suggested next steps

• Extend MethodSignature or MethodProvider to expose a ToCrefString(CSharpType? declaringType) API (or equivalent :C formatter support).
• Ensure generic type parameters are encoded using XML-doc syntax ({T} not <T>).
• Add unit tests for the new formatting path.

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