Fix #4609: Handle file-type license references in NuGet packages

[NullPointer-cell]

Fix #4609: Handle file-type license references in NuGet packages

Detect <license type='file'> in .nuspec files and extract file path to license_file_references field. Keep extracted_license_statement as raw path value to integrate with existing license resolution in process_codebase function.

This follows the two-phase architecture pattern:

• Phase 1: Extract and store file path (this change)
• Phase 2: Existing process_codebase resolves file references

Minimal changes (37 lines) following maintainer feedback from PR #4689.

Fixes #4609

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Changes Made

Problem

NuGet packages with <license type="file">path/LICENSE.txt</license> were returning LicenseRef-scancode-unknown because the file-type license references were not being extracted.

Solution

• Added license_file_references field to NugetNuspecHandler
• Extract license file paths when @type="file" in nuspec XML
• Store raw path in both extracted_license_statement and license_file_references
• Follows existing two-phase architecture pattern used by other package handlers

Files Changed

• src/packagedcode/nuget.py - Core implementation (21 lines added)
• tests/packagedcode/test_nuget.py - New test case (8 lines added)
• tests/packagedcode/data/nuget/license_file.nuspec - Test fixture (new file)
• 7 .expected test files - Updated with license_file_references field (1 line each)

Testing

✅ All existing tests pass (11 passed in 7.91s)
✅ New test test_nuget_parse_license_file_reference validates license file extraction

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Tasks

• Reviewed contribution guidelines
• PR is descriptively titled 📑 and links the original issue above 🔗
• Tests pass -- look for a green checkbox ✔️ a few minutes after opening your PR
• Commits are in uniquely-named feature branch (fix-4609-nuget-license-file-v4) and has no merge conflicts 📁
• Updated documentation pages (not applicable - internal implementation detail)
• Updated CHANGELOG.rst (not applicable - will be handled by maintainers)

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Implementation Details

Code Changes in src/packagedcode/nuget.py:

# Added license_file_references field
license_file_references = []

# Parse license data structure
if isinstance(license_data, dict):
    license_type = license_data.get('@type', '')
    license_text = license_data.get('#text', '')
    
    if license_type == 'file':
        extracted_license_statement = license_text
        license_file_references = [license_text]  # Store file path for resolution

Why This Works

1. Follows existing pattern: Other package handlers (like npm, cargo) use the same two-phase approach
2. Minimal impact: Only adds the field and extraction logic - doesn't change existing behavior
3. Integration ready: The existing process_codebase function will handle file resolution using the stored paths
4. Backwards compatible: Packages without file-type licenses work exactly as before

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Signed-off-by: Jayant jayantmcom@gmail.com

[NullPointer-cell]

Hi @pombredanne and @AyanSinhaMahapatra!

This fixes #4609 following the feedback from #4689. I've corrected the issues:

What changed from #4689:

• No extra text added - stores raw path only in extracted_license_statement
• Uses the license_file_references field as a separate data field
• Follows two-phase architecture - file resolution deferred to license plugin's process_codebase

Implementation:

• Extracts <license type="file"> path and stores it in license_file_references
• Keeps raw path in extracted_license_statement (no prefixes or modifications)
• Lets existing license plugin handle file resolution

All tests passing. Let me know If any changes required