.Net: [Feature branch] Added release candidate suffix for production …

…packages (#7623)

### Motivation and Context

<!-- Thank you for your contribution to the semantic-kernel repo!
Please help reviewers and future users, providing the following
information:
  1. Why is this change required?
  2. What problem does it solve?
  3. What scenario does it contribute to?
  4. If it fixes an open issue, please link to the issue here.
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Preparation work for future release.

dotnet/Directory.Build.props

@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
     <ImplicitUsings>disable</ImplicitUsings>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <!-- In "main" branch this flag should be always "false". -->
+    <IsReleaseCandidate>true</IsReleaseCandidate>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Disable NuGet packaging by default. Projects can override. -->
     <IsPackable>disable</IsPackable>
@@ -30,4 +35,4 @@
       <_Parameter1>false</_Parameter1>
     </AssemblyAttribute>
   </ItemGroup>
-</Project>
+</Project>

dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <Project>
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- Central version prefix - applies to all nuget packages. -->
-    <VersionPrefix>1.16.2</VersionPrefix>
-
+    <VersionPrefix>1.18.0</VersionPrefix>
+    
     <PackageVersion Condition="'$(VersionSuffix)' != ''">$(VersionPrefix)-$(VersionSuffix)</PackageVersion>
     <PackageVersion Condition="'$(VersionSuffix)' == ''">$(VersionPrefix)</PackageVersion>
 

dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.AzureOpenAI/Connectors.AzureOpenAI.csproj

@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>false</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <!-- IMPORT NUGET PACKAGE SHARED PROPERTIES -->
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
 

dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/Connectors.OpenAI.csproj

@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <!-- IMPORT NUGET PACKAGE SHARED PROPERTIES -->
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/src/InternalUtilities/src/InternalUtilities.props" />

dotnet/src/Extensions/PromptTemplates.Handlebars/PromptTemplates.Handlebars.csproj

@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/src/InternalUtilities/src/InternalUtilities.props" />
 

dotnet/src/Functions/Functions.Yaml/Functions.Yaml.csproj

@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
 
   <PropertyGroup>

dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/SemanticKernel.Abstractions.csproj

@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/src/InternalUtilities/src/InternalUtilities.props" />
 

dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/SemanticKernel.Core.csproj

@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
     <EnablePackageValidation>true</EnablePackageValidation>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
 
   <PropertyGroup>

dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage/SemanticKernel.MetaPackage.csproj

@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
     <RootNamespace>$(AssemblyName)</RootNamespace>
     <TargetFrameworks>net8.0;netstandard2.0</TargetFrameworks>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(IsReleaseCandidate)' == 'true'">
+    <VersionSuffix>rc</VersionSuffix>
+  </PropertyGroup>
   <Import Project="$(RepoRoot)/dotnet/nuget/nuget-package.props" />
   <PropertyGroup>
     <!-- NuGet Package Settings -->
@@ -15,4 +18,4 @@ Empowers app owners to integrate cutting-edge LLM technology quickly and easily
     <ProjectReference Include="..\SemanticKernel.Core\SemanticKernel.Core.csproj" PrivateAssets="none" />
     <ProjectReference Include="..\Connectors\Connectors.AzureOpenAI\Connectors.AzureOpenAI.csproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
-</Project>
+</Project>