.runsettings file schema and/or syntax

Question

I have been using .runsettings files for ages, but I'm still really confused by what syntax or schema the file follows. Is there a particular xml schema that runsettings files must conform to, and is that outlined anywhere?? It is similar to the .csproj/.sln format, but is it the same?

Answer 1

The documentation shows an example file with all possible fields.

Below is the example file, in the case the link will be broken in the future:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RunSettings>
  <!-- Configurations that affect the Test Framework -->
  <RunConfiguration>
    <!-- Use 0 for maximum process-level parallelization. This does not force parallelization within the test DLL (on the thread-level). You can also change it from the Test menu; choose "Run tests in parallel". Unchecked = 1 (only 1), checked = 0 (max). -->
    <MaxCpuCount>1</MaxCpuCount>
    <!-- Path relative to directory that contains .runsettings file-->
    <ResultsDirectory>.\TestResults</ResultsDirectory>

    <!-- Omit the whole tag for auto-detection. -->
    <!-- [x86] or x64, ARM, ARM64, s390x  -->
    <!-- You can also change it from the Test menu; choose "Processor Architecture for AnyCPU Projects" -->
    <TargetPlatform>x86</TargetPlatform>

    <!-- Any TargetFramework moniker or omit the whole tag for auto-detection. -->
    <!-- net48, [net40], net6.0, net5.0, netcoreapp3.1, uap10.0 etc. -->
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>net40</TargetFrameworkVersion>

    <!-- Path to Test Adapters -->
    <TestAdaptersPaths>%SystemDrive%\Temp\foo;%SystemDrive%\Temp\bar</TestAdaptersPaths>

    <!-- TestCaseFilter expression -->
    <TestCaseFilter>(TestCategory != Integration) &amp; (TestCategory != UnfinishedFeature)</TestCaseFilter>

    <!-- TestSessionTimeout was introduced in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.5 -->
    <!-- Specify timeout in milliseconds. A valid value should be greater than 0 -->
    <TestSessionTimeout>10000</TestSessionTimeout>

    <!-- true or false -->
    <!-- Value that specifies the exit code when no tests are discovered -->
    <TreatNoTestsAsError>true</TreatNoTestsAsError>
  </RunConfiguration>

  <!-- Configurations for data collectors -->
  <DataCollectionRunSettings>
    <DataCollectors>
      <DataCollector friendlyName="Code Coverage" uri="datacollector://Microsoft/CodeCoverage/2.0" assemblyQualifiedName="Microsoft.VisualStudio.Coverage.DynamicCoverageDataCollector, Microsoft.VisualStudio.TraceCollector, Version=11.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a">
        <Configuration>
          <CodeCoverage>
            <ModulePaths>
              <Exclude>
                <ModulePath>.*CPPUnitTestFramework.*</ModulePath>
              </Exclude>
            </ModulePaths>

            <!-- We recommend you do not change the following values: -->
            <UseVerifiableInstrumentation>True</UseVerifiableInstrumentation>
            <AllowLowIntegrityProcesses>True</AllowLowIntegrityProcesses>
            <CollectFromChildProcesses>True</CollectFromChildProcesses>
            <CollectAspDotNet>False</CollectAspDotNet>

          </CodeCoverage>
        </Configuration>
      </DataCollector>

      <DataCollector uri="datacollector://microsoft/VideoRecorder/1.0" assemblyQualifiedName="Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.DataCollection.VideoRecorder.VideoRecorderDataCollector, Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.DataCollection.VideoRecorder, Version=15.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" friendlyName="Screen and Voice Recorder">
        <!--Video data collector was introduced in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.5 -->
        <Configuration>
          <!-- Set "sendRecordedMediaForPassedTestCase" to "false" to add video attachments to failed tests only -->
          <MediaRecorder sendRecordedMediaForPassedTestCase="true"  xmlns="">           ​
            <ScreenCaptureVideo bitRate="512" frameRate="2" quality="20" />​
          </MediaRecorder>​
        </Configuration>
      </DataCollector>

      <!-- Configuration for blame data collector -->
      <DataCollector friendlyName="blame" enabled="True">
      </DataCollector>

    </DataCollectors>
  </DataCollectionRunSettings>

  <!-- Parameters used by tests at run time -->
  <TestRunParameters>
    <Parameter name="webAppUrl" value="http://localhost" />
    <Parameter name="webAppUserName" value="Admin" />
    <Parameter name="webAppPassword" value="Password" />
  </TestRunParameters>

  <!-- Configuration for loggers -->
  <LoggerRunSettings>
    <Loggers>
      <Logger friendlyName="console" enabled="True">
        <Configuration>
            <Verbosity>quiet</Verbosity>
        </Configuration>
      </Logger>
      <Logger friendlyName="trx" enabled="True">
        <Configuration>
          <LogFileName>foo.trx</LogFileName>
        </Configuration>
      </Logger>
      <Logger friendlyName="html" enabled="True">
        <Configuration>
          <LogFileName>foo.html</LogFileName>
        </Configuration>
      </Logger>
      <Logger friendlyName="blame" enabled="True" />
    </Loggers>
  </LoggerRunSettings>

  <!-- Adapter Specific sections -->

  <!-- MSTest adapter -->
  <MSTest>
    <MapInconclusiveToFailed>True</MapInconclusiveToFailed>
    <CaptureTraceOutput>false</CaptureTraceOutput>
    <DeleteDeploymentDirectoryAfterTestRunIsComplete>False</DeleteDeploymentDirectoryAfterTestRunIsComplete>
    <DeploymentEnabled>False</DeploymentEnabled>
    <AssemblyResolution>
      <Directory path="D:\myfolder\bin\" includeSubDirectories="false"/>
    </AssemblyResolution>
  </MSTest>

</RunSettings>