VS 2017 Error: The specified task executable "sgen.exe" could not be run. The filename or extension is too long.
OK, I admit this error tripped me off.
If it were a file I created, I would have simply moved things around to reduce the filename length. But the error was coming from Visual Studio, specifically, from C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Enterprise\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets.
And, sgen: what's that?
It turns out sgen is just an XML serializer generator - something I clearly don't use or need. The .targets file above contained a task referencing Sgen. So, what now: comment it out?
No!
There's an easier solution:
- In Solution Explorer, right-click on the project throwing the error; then click on Properties.
- In the window that opens, click on the Build tab by the left.
- Locate the Generate serialization assembly option.
- Set it to OFF or AUTO.
That's it.
Content originally appeared in my first blog on software
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