Introduce a version/metadata file for non-NuGet packages (+ separate Dependencies category?)

vvvv gamma feature
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Hey hey!

Here is something I had in the back of my mind for a while,
I wanted to post it here to check on you guys thoughts?

I’ve built quite a bit of in-house libaries now in the form of regular packages (not NuGets, and I don’t really have a plan/need to make NuGets out of them), and while I recently made the move (for the better) to Git thanks to @sebescudie evangelization efforts, I wish I could easily track the [ Summary / Version / Author ] metadata of all packages listed under Dependencies, like regular NuGets show.

From what I understand, for proper NuGets this info is taken from the .nuspec file which is part of the .nupkg, but maybe we could set a simple “PackageInfo.xml” file format to drop in the folder, which would be scanned whenever vvvv detects the package is not a NuGet?
Wasn’t there a similar trick for contributions in Beta?

While I don’t plan to make one library public via a NuGet, I can still happen to share it around to co-workers or random metaverse penpals, and without such a file it is very hard to track which version was shared.

Somewhat related, I wonder whether it would not be clearer to have regular (non-NuGet) packages under a dedicated “VL Packages” rather than listed as NuGets while they are actually not NuGets?
Dependencies could then list:

  • VL NuGets
  • VL Packages
  • .NET NuGets
  • Files

I think it would be more consistent with the startup flags, which do make the distinction (and as exposed in the Gamma Launcher), and it might be a more explicit difference for beginners imho.

Let me know your thoughts fellovvvvs!
🤘
T