MSTEST0031: System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute has no effect on test methods

Cause

'System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute' has no effect in the context of tests.

Rule description

System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute and Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting.DescriptionAttribute share the same short name but serve different consumers. MSTest reads its own attribute for test metadata; the component-model attribute doesn't supply a test description.

The wrong namespace can therefore produce code that compiles but loses the intended description in test metadata. Use the MSTest attribute when the description is meant for the test runner.

How to fix violations

Remove or replace System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute by Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting.DescriptionAttribute instead.

When to suppress warnings

We don't recommend to suppress the diagnostic as the System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute has no effect in the context of tests.

Suppress a warning

If you just want to suppress a single violation, add preprocessor directives to your source file to disable and then re-enable the rule.

#pragma warning disable MSTEST0031
// The code that's violating the rule is on this line.
#pragma warning restore MSTEST0031

To disable the rule for a file, folder, or project, set its severity to none in the configuration file.

[*.{cs,vb}]
dotnet_diagnostic.MSTEST0031.severity = none

For more information, see How to suppress code analysis warnings.