Edit

MSBuild no longer supports calling GetType()

  • Article

MSBuild 17 no longer supports calling the GetType() instance method within property functions. This method allowed unpredictable code execution during evaluation and could cause Visual Studio hangs.

Version introduced

.NET SDK 6.0.100-rc1

Previous behavior

GetType() calls in MSBuild property functions would execute and sometimes caused unpredictable behavior in Visual Studio.

New behavior

Starting with the .NET 6 SDK, if you call GetType() in an MSBuild property function, you'll see the following compile-time error during project evaluation:

The function "GetType" on type "System.String" is not available for execution as an MSBuild property function.

Change category

This change affects source compatibility.

Reason for change

This functionality was not documented or commonly used. It caused performance and reliability issues with project loading, especially in Visual Studio.

The only known common use of this pattern was in the CBT system, which has been deprecated.

Replace any calls to GetType() with alternative MSBuild logic.

Affected APIs

N/A