Attempt to fix BS build

MSBuild properties are no good, must use env vars instead.

Author: craigfowler

.github/workflows/crossBrowserTesting.yml

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ jobs:
       Configuration: Release
       Tfm: net8.0
       DotnetVersion: 8.0.x
+      ENABLE_BROWSERSTACK: true
       BROWSERSTACK_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.BROWSERSTACK_USERNAME }}
       BROWSERSTACK_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.BROWSERSTACK_ACCESS_KEY }}
       BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_IDENTIFIER: gh-actions-cbt.${{ github.run_number }}.${{ github.run_attempt }}
@@ -74,8 +75,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Force .NET 8 with global.json
         run: |
           echo '{ "sdk": { "version": "8.0.418", "rollForward": "latestFeature" } }' > global.json
-      - name: Restore NuGet packages
-        run: dotnet msbuild /t:Restore /p:BrowserStackEnabled=true
       - name: Restore Node modules
         run: |
           cd CSF.Screenplay.JsonToHtmlReport.Template/src
@@ -86,7 +85,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Run .NET Selenium tests only
         id: dotnet_tests
-        run: dotnet test -c ${{ env.Configuration }} -p:BrowserStackEnabled=true Tests/CSF.Screenplay.Selenium.Tests
+        run: dotnet test -c ${{ env.Configuration }} Tests/CSF.Screenplay.Selenium.Tests
         continue-on-error: true
 
       # Post-test tasks (artifacts, overall status)

Tests/CSF.Screenplay.Selenium.Tests/CSF.Screenplay.Selenium.Tests.csproj

@@ -6,7 +6,16 @@
     <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
     <IsTestProject>true</IsTestProject>
     <RootNamespace>CSF.Screenplay.Selenium</RootNamespace>
-    <DefineConstants Condition="'$(BrowserStackEnabled)' == 'true'">$(DefineConstants);NO_NUNIT_PARALLELISM</DefineConstants>
+    <!--
+      Note that ENABLE_BROWSERSTACK must be set via environment variable and not by MSBuild property.
+      This is because the BrowserStack SDK re-enters the dotnet build process and does not pass
+      MSBuild properties forward.  This is problematic because during that (inner) build process triggered
+      by the BS SDK, the property which enables the TestAdapter NuGet reference (below) won't be present,
+      and the build fails.
+
+      By using an env variable instead, it ensures that it's always present.
+    -->
+    <DefineConstants Condition="'$(ENABLE_BROWSERSTACK)' == 'true'">$(DefineConstants);NO_NUNIT_PARALLELISM</DefineConstants>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
@@ -24,7 +33,7 @@
     <PackageReference Include="Moq" Version="4.20.70" />
     <PackageReference Include="AutoFixture.NUnit3" Version="4.18.1" />
     <PackageReference Include="AutoFixture.AutoMoq" Version="4.18.1" />
-    <PackageReference Include="BrowserStack.TestAdapter" Version="0.23.0" Condition="'$(BrowserStackEnabled)' == 'true'" />
+    <PackageReference Include="BrowserStack.TestAdapter" Version="0.23.0" Condition="'$(ENABLE_BROWSERSTACK)' == 'true'" />
     <PackageReference Include="System.Text.Json" Version="9.0.7" />
   </ItemGroup>
 

Tests/CSF.Screenplay.Selenium.Tests/README.md

@@ -30,16 +30,17 @@ There are two steps to enabling this, in this project.
 
 [the BrowserStack SDK]: https://www.browserstack.com/blog/introducing-browserstack-sdk/
 
-### An MSBuild property
+### An environment variable
 
-When using `dotnet build` or `dotnet test`, include the property `BrowserStack` with a value of `true`.
+Before executing `dotnet build` or `dotnet test`, ensure that the environment variable `ENABLE_BROWSERSTACK` is set to the value `true`.
 For example:
 
 ```cmd
-dotnet test -p:BrowserStackEnabled=true
+SET ENABLE_BROWSERSTACK="true"
+dotnet test
 ```
 
-This will activate two changes in the `.csproj` file in this directory:
+The presence of this environment variable will activate two changes in the `.csproj` file in this directory:
 
 * It will install the BrowserStack SDK NuGet package: `BrowserStack.TestAdapter`
 * It will disable NUnit's parallelism feature