A modular, enterprise-grade .NET library providing utilities for configuration management, database access, CLI parsing, security, data processing, file transfer, logging, and more.
ByteForge.Toolkit.sln contains four C# projects targeting multiple .NET frameworks from a single codebase.
ByteForge.Toolkit.sln
├── Toolkit.Modern/ # ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern — core library (net48; net8.0; net9.0)
├── WinSCP/ # WinSCPnet — SFTP/FTP wrapper (net48-windows; net8.0-windows; net9.0-windows)
├── Toolkit.Modern.Tests/ # ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern.Tests — test suite (net48; net9.0)
└── TestBed/ # TestBed — scratch console app (net9.0-windows)
| Project | Assembly | Frameworks | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
Toolkit.Modern | ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern | net48, net8.0, net9.0 | Primary library — all modules live here |
WinSCP | WinSCPnet | net48-windows, net8.0-windows, net9.0-windows | .NET wrapper for WinSCP (SFTP/FTP/FTPS/SCP) |
Toolkit.Modern.Tests | ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern.Tests | net48, net9.0 | MSTest unit and integration tests |
TestBed | TestBed | net9.0-windows | Ephemeral console app for manual experimentation |
Toolkit.Modern references WinSCPnet and also embeds WinSCP.exe as an EmbeddedResource for self-contained deployment.
- Visual Studio 2022 or 2026 (MSBuild is resolved automatically by the build script)
- .NET SDK 9.0+ (for net8.0/net9.0 targets)
- .NET Framework 4.8 developer pack (for the net48 target)
- PowerShell (used internally by the build script)
Use BuildSolution.bat from the repo root. It auto-detects the Visual Studio installation via vswhere, runs NuGet restore, and builds all projects.
:: Debug (default)
BuildSolution.bat
:: Release
BuildSolution.bat ReleaseThe script:
- Cleans
obj\andbin\<cfg>\directories before building. - Searches for MSBuild via
vswhere, then falls back through VS 2026/2022/2019/2017 and the .NET Framework SDK. - Runs MSBuild restore followed by an AnyCPU build.
- Writes a build log to
Logs\Build\ByteForge.Toolkit.log.
If you need a manual build (no script):
dotnet restore
dotnet build --configuration DebugThe test project targets both net48 and net9.0. Build the solution first, then:
# Run all tests (no rebuild)
dotnet test "Toolkit.Modern.Tests\ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern.Tests.csproj"--no-build
# Run with code coverage (OpenCover is included as a NuGet package)
cd Toolkit.Modern.Tests
packages\OpenCover.4.7.1221\tools\OpenCover.Console.exe`-target:"dotnet.exe"`-targetargs:"test ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern.Tests.csproj --no-build --configuration Debug"`-output:coverage.xml -register:user `-filter:"+[ByteForge.Toolkit*]*"# Generate HTML report
packages\ReportGenerator.5.4.18\tools\net47\ReportGenerator.exe`-reports:coverage.xml -targetdir:coverage-report -reporttypes:HtmlTest categories:
| Category | Location |
|---|---|
| CLI | Unit\CLI\ |
| Configuration | Unit\Configuration\ |
| Data (Audio, CSV, Database) | Unit\Data\ |
| DataStructures | Unit\DataStructures\ |
| Logging | Unit\Logging\ |
Unit\Mail\ | |
| Security | Unit\Security\ |
| Utils | Unit\Utils\ |
ODBC tests (Access .mdb/.accdb) require the Microsoft Access ODBC driver and are separated from the default test run.
.
├── Toolkit.Modern/ # Core library source (see Toolkit.Modern/readme.md)
│ ├── CommandLine/ # CLI parsing
│ ├── Configuration/ # INI configuration
│ ├── Core/ # Core utilities and WinSCP resource manager
│ ├── Data/ # CSV, database, audio, attributes
│ ├── DataStructures/ # BinarySearchTree, URL utilities
│ ├── Dependencies/ # Embedded WinSCP.exe
│ ├── Json/ # Delta serialization
│ ├── Logging/ # Logging system
│ ├── Mail/ # Email/attachment processing
│ ├── Net/ # File transfer client
│ ├── Properties/ # AssemblyInfo.cs
│ ├── Security/ # AES encryption
│ ├── Utilities/ # General-purpose helpers
│ └── ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern.csproj
├── WinSCP/ # WinSCPnet wrapper library
│ └── WinSCPnet.csproj
├── Toolkit.Modern.Tests/ # Test suite
│ ├── Unit/ # Unit tests organised by module
│ ├── Helpers/ # Shared test helpers
│ ├── Models/ # Test data models
│ ├── TestData/ # Access databases, large dummy files
│ └── ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern.Tests.csproj
├── TestBed/ # Manual experimentation console app
│ └── TestBed.csproj
├── .github/
│ ├── scripts/ # bootstrap-test-sql.ps1
│ └── workflows/ # ci.yml
├── BuildSolution.bat # Primary build script
├── ByteForge.Tasks.targets # Custom MSBuild targets (bidirectional sync, versioning)
└── ByteForge.Toolkit.sln
ByteForge.Tasks.targets is an optional MSBuild import that adds enterprise-grade build automation. It is only active when a CentralLocationPath property is set and the targets file is reachable from the project directory.
Key capabilities:
| Phase | Target | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Pre-build | SyncFromCentral | Copies files from a central shared location into the project (newer-wins). |
| 2 — Post-build | SyncToCentral | Pushes changed project files back to the central location. |
| 3 — Cleanup | SafeCleanupCentral | Removes obsolete files from the central location that are no longer in the project. |
| 4 — Versioning | UpdateSmartVersion | Increments Minor for new files, Patch for modified files, and writes the version to version.txt and AssemblyInfo.cs. |
| 5 — Housekeeping | ForceCleanupFiles | Deletes leftover artefacts from the previous ROBOCOPY-based build system. |
The bidirectional sync uses a custom inline Roslyn task (BidirectionalSyncTask) and only copies a file when the source timestamp is newer than the target. The versioning format is Major.Minor.Patch.MMdd.
| Package | Version | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
Costura.Fody / Fody | 6.0.0 / 6.9.3 | Embeds dependencies into the output assembly |
Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration + extensions | 9.0.10 | INI configuration provider |
Newtonsoft.Json | 13.0.4 | JSON serialization |
RestSharp | 112.1.0 | HTTP client |
System.CommandLine | 2.0.0-beta4 | CLI parsing (net8.0/net9.0 only) |
System.CommandLine.NamingConventionBinder | 2.0.0-beta4 | CLI option binding |
Microsoft.Data.SqlClient | 6.0.1 | SQL Server connectivity |
System.Data.Odbc | 9.0.10 | ODBC connectivity |
System.Text.Json | 9.0.10 | High-performance JSON |
| Various BCL back-ports | — | System.Memory, System.Buffers, System.IO.Pipelines, System.ValueTuple, etc. |
| Package | Version | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter | 9.0.10 | Performance monitoring |
System.Threading.AccessControl | 9.0.10 | Thread synchronisation primitives |
| Package | Version | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
MSTest | 4.0.1 | Test framework |
Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk | 18.0.0 | Test runner |
AwesomeAssertions | 9.3.0 | Fluent assertion library |
OpenCover | 4.7.1221 | Code coverage instrumentation |
ReportGenerator | 5.4.18 | HTML coverage reports |
coverlet.collector | 6.0.4 | Alternative coverage collector |
| Configuration | Output location |
|---|---|
| Debug | Toolkit.Modern\bin\Debug\net48\, \net8.0\, \net9.0\ |
| Release | Toolkit.Modern\bin\Release\net48\, \net8.0\, \net9.0\ |
| API docs | Toolkit.Modern\bin\ByteForge.Toolkit.Modern.xml |
| Build logs | Logs\Build\ByteForge.Toolkit.log |
| Test results | Toolkit.Modern.Tests\TestResults\ |
| Module | readme |
|---|---|
| Core library | Toolkit.Modern/readme.md |
| WinSCP wrapper | WinSCP/readme.md |
| CommandLine | Toolkit.Modern/CommandLine/readme.md |
| Configuration | Toolkit.Modern/Configuration/readme.md |
| Core | Toolkit.Modern/Core/readme.md |
| Data | Toolkit.Modern/Data/readme.md |
| DataStructures | Toolkit.Modern/DataStructures/readme.md |
| Json | Toolkit.Modern/Json/readme.md |
| Logging | Toolkit.Modern/Logging/readme.md |
| Toolkit.Modern/Mail/readme.md | |
| Net | Toolkit.Modern/Net/readme.md |
| Security | Toolkit.Modern/Security/readme.md |
| Utilities | Toolkit.Modern/Utilities/readme.md |