Alternative to ClickOnce - c#

So I have been looking around for a way to have a window form application (c#) check for an update each time it's launched and even send a message to an active user that an update is required. This entire program will be ran in a S:\ (shared) folder. I know some one else recommend click once but everything I can find in it is from Visual Studio 2005 and well that's out dated. Anybody know a different one?

Try https://github.com/squirrel/squirrel.windows
And intro to this on dotnetconf 2015: https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/dotnetConf/2015/Squirrel-for-Windows-installing-NET-apps-the-way-it-should-be

You could give this a try https://simpldeploy.com
It's a bit different to squirrel, it's integrated into VS and does not require scripting altough it can be automated with the simplDeploy.packager.exe found in the extensions install dir.

Related

Visual Studio 2019 Installer doesn't start

I'm using Windows 10 ver. 1909. Installer hangs or does nothing. No feedback.
I had exactly this problem. Same version of Windows 10. I tried both vs_community.exe and vs_professional.exe. On a Microsoft Surface Pro 4. The installer launches, a brief unpacking screen appears, that vanishes, and you're left with the task manager showing the installer but no user interface. I tried numerous different suggestions from Googling as well as the Collect.exe tool. None of that helped. Someone had a similar problem that hinted that a display could cause the problem. My Surface had Duet installed, which allows you to use an iPad as a second monitor. Uninstalling that allowed Visual Studio to install normally. Apparently the Visual Studio installer is finicky about displays so if you have any unusual display drivers, or screen sharing utilities, they should be removed to allow installing. I suspect that the driver or utility could be put back after installation.
In my case, the issue was that I have downloaded and launched the installer to a user folder that contains non-English characters. Moving the installer to another folder fixed the issue. I´ve diagnosed the issue by looking into an installer log file in C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\dd_vs_professional__143315035.1628536728_decompression_log.txt.
At first you need to download this tool Event Collect for visual studio, open your CMD as administrator,then run Collect.exe , after that you need to run your visual studio installer in the event of an error you will find and file named C:\Users{username}\AppData\Local\Temp\VSSetupEvents.txt that you can check to see the error messages.
For more details you can check documentation .
My case is very embarrassing for Microsoft. I downloaded Visual Studio Setup and started it right away from browser. It was opened and then immediately closed. Nothing I could read on the Internet about this problem was not helping. Then I did one very simple thing. Moved setup from original location: C:\Users(user name)\Downloads, to c:\Temp -> worked like a charm. The thing is that my user name contains international characters (plus containing a space). All in all 21. century, full unicode support everywhere, but not in windows. Really embarrassing.
Visual Studio 2019 Installer doesn't start
I lost time about something I shouldn't have, I couldn't install vscode studio 2019 (I've installed it on multiple machines before).
I don't know exactly why, observed there might be something in my folder blocking it, I just moved it to a new folder and I could install. Good luck and don't make the same mistake as me

Visual Studio 2013 C# Interactive Window

Is there C# interactive window for VS 2013, or any other similar way, without installing VS 2012.
I tried C# Repel, C# Snippet Compiler and Mono Command Prompt, but, all of them don't provide the features of C# interactive window packed with Roslyn for VS 2012.
UPDATE: Found a total better alternative!!! Try CShell, it is free and open source! "A simple, yet powerful, C# scripting IDE" as they promote it.
Check my tweet which was also favorited by Scott Hanselman :)
My old recommendation was: LINQPad
Best way is to install VS 2012 and use C# interactive window provided with its Roslyn. While doing that, wait Microsoft to release C# interactive to VS 2013.
This is taken from one of the links above:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/vstudio/en-US/0da45fe7-fbe2-4074-b52f-dc8d7c4b2ba3/c-interactive-in-vs-2013
It worked for me, so hopefully this will help the next person :)
Hi SpencerGR,
I just got upgraded to VS 2013 and wanted C# Interactive, and this is
the first hit when I searched for it, so I figured I would place my
answer here...
Didn't make sense to me that the extension from VS 2012 wouldn't work;
so I hunted down the Roslyn keys in my registry for VS 2012 and was
able to kinda figure out what was going on. After a bit of futzing
around, I finally got it working, so here's the instructions for
whoever might care to try [be warned, I'm sure this isn't supported by
MS, I take no responsibility if something happens to mess up your
computer, and so forth ;)].
Basically it was a matter of
copying some registry keys with slight modification copying some files
and this one is annoying but oh, well] there's a file you have to
change the datestamp on (I did it by opening the file in Notepad++ and
saving it out.) If you don't already have VS 2012 or you don't have
the Roslyn CTP installed you'll need to get the files somehow, and I'm
not sure if there are other registry settings needed or not, but I
imagine if you just manage to get the files out of the CTP distro it
would be enough... No guarantees of course.
Not-Instructions-Just-An-Explanation-Of-What-I-Did-I-Am-A-Trained-Professional-...-Or-Something
;)
copying some registry keys with slight modification; I replaced '11.0' with '12.0' in the keys and values, you might need to change
the paths too if you didn't install Visual Studio in it's default
location. (also posted to pastebin.com/XeP5ai8F )
Save this as a .reg file and open it to import the new keys easily:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0\InteractiveWindows\0] "ContentType"="Roslyn C#"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0_Config\InstalledProducts\Roslyn] ""="Microsoft Roslyn CTP" "ProductDetails"="Microsoft Roslyn CTP"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0_Config\Packages\{c5edd1ee-c43b-4360-9ce4-6b993ca12897}] "Class"="Roslyn.VisualStudio.CSharp.Repl.CSharpReplPackage" "CodeBase"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio
12.0\\Common7\\IDE\\Extensions\\Microsoft\\Roslyn C# Interactive Window\\1.2.20906.1\\Roslyn.VisualStudio.CSharp.Repl.dll"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0_Config\Packages\{f5199a4e-6a60-4f79-82e9-fc92a41c4610}] "Class"="Roslyn.VisualStudio.InteractiveWindow.InteractiveWindowPackage" "CodeBase"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio
12.0\\Common7\\IDE\\Extensions\\Microsoft\\Roslyn Components\\1.2.20906.1\\Roslyn.VisualStudio.InteractiveWindow.dll"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0_Config\ToolWindows\{2d0a56aa-9527-4b78-b6e6-ebe6e05da749}] "Name"="Roslyn.VisualStudio.InteractiveWindow.VsInteractiveWindow"
copying some files; basically just need to copy the files mentioned above to the locations mentioned above; I just copied the
'Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\Roslyn C# Interactive Window' and
'Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\Roslyn Components' folders from my
11.0 install to my 12.0 install. easy peasy.
and yeah... there's a file in the aforementioned 'Common7\IDE\Extensions' directory called
'extensions.configurationchanged'; I couldn't get things to take, then
I noticed that file. so, as mentioned, I just opened in Notepad++ and
saved back out; I think I had to make a change to the file, so I added
a space. kinda felt kludgy, but I guess it beats VS taking longer to
load due to having to scan the Extensions every time you open it up.
So, that's it! Worked for me, I hope someone else may find this
useful, as it probably took longer to post this than it did to
actually get it working in the first place. ;) It's possible I missed
a step in here somewhere, since I had made a few other attempts before
I found the 'changed' file, so I could have possibly twiddled another
bit somewhere that was necessary that I don't remember. Should be a
good start tho.
I haven't tested it out fully by any means but it shows up in the
'View > Other Windows' list, it opens up just find, and it looks like
Intellisense is working too. Good luck and great code to all! :)
--- Chelle L.
You could also use LinqPad. You can use it to test C# code. It has built in support for loading DLLs and Nuget Packages. Its what I use personally and I love it.
It has a free version, but the paid version has intellisense and debugger
C# interactive finally arrived to VS 2015... You may need to install vs2015.1 to get it..
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2015/10/08/visual-studio-2015-update-1-ctp.aspx
Good luck... and happy interactive coding!
IWIH describes how to install it and which prerequisites you need.
Let me give you some
Additional information:
After you have installed VS 2015 and its updates (update 3 KB3165756 patch has just arrived) you can bring C# interactive to your screen as follows:
Either via the menu
View -> Other Windows -> C# Interactive
Or press Ctrl + Q and type into the quick launch box:
C# interactive
which allows you to click on View -> Other Windows -> C# Interactive with the mouse.
Afterwards, you have the C# Interactive beneath the error list. Here is an example how you can use it:
Quickstart:
To get help in this window, type #help and press enter.
To execute a statement, simply press ENTER. To type in multiple lines, press SHIFT+ENTER for each line, and for the last line press ENTER to execute the entire statement.
To print the values of a variable, type its name and press enter (in the screen shot, I have done this for variable q)

How to create an installer and uninstaller for a Windows Forms application

I created an installer for my Windows Forms application and I added the project output to programs menu. But now what I want is 'I should have a folder in programs menu in that it should contain both install and uninstall options'.
Please help me. Thanks in advance.
The easiest way is to create a Setup and Deployment project in Visual Studio.
I have to agree with Sir Richard's answer, but I wanted to add the instructions on how add an uninstaller using the Setup and Deployment project found in Visual Studio.
Here's a useful link you can work on: How to add a Uninstall option in Visual Studio Setup project without writing code
If you have advanced scenarios that the Setup and Deployment project can't handle, I'd advise looking into WiX.
WiX is an extremely mature Microsoft opensource project, having first launched in 2004 and is still active today. It even provides a VS extension to assist you with getting started and intellisense for the configuration.
Be warned though: WiX primarily uses XML files that use MSI's domain language. It's certainly not a tool you use if "create an installer" wasn't allocated specifically in your project plan.
You can try with NSIS, is open source and very easy...
"NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore very suitable for internet distribution."
in his website you can find tutorials and examples, the link is: http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page
I hope this help you!

Visual Studio 2008 crashes when opening solutions in a TortiseSVN directory? How do I fix this?

I'm using TortiseSVN for my subversion client on a Windows Server 2008 box and I've got a folder with code checked out into it.
When I go to open the solution file that's under source control Visual Studio 2008 starts and before it can even finish loading the solution from what I can tell Visual Studio crashes. I'm trying to open a solution that has VB code in it. It gives no error messages or warnings. It's just gone.
I have checked the files and they all seem fine. The solution file seems fine when I look at it with a text editor.
This is also Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and I've got all the latest .NET service packs installed.
Has anyone else seen this before and know how to fix it?
Edit: I just did an SVN export to a new directory and it still crashes in the exported directory where there is no longer any SVN attached to it.
Additionally, it crashes EVERY time I try to open the project that came from SVN.
You should be looking at the solution file with an xml editor, at least then you will get some help for subtile flaw's in the formatting or something like that.
You can also submit feedback to Microsoft on the VIsual Studio Connect site, if the bug turns out to be real.
Some commonsense things todo however would be, goto your visual studio command prompt, start off with "devenv /ResetSettings", that often helps isolate any weirdo add-on or something lke that.
Also, try to build clean with msbuild or vcbuild, then build fully with either one (i.e. if vcbuild can not build your solution, use msbuild). That can help by laying out the symbols and such and maybe clear out some corrupted file or something.
You also may have .suo files from your subversion, those are binary files that do contain some settings, it's common for people to accidentially check them in, but they are usually better off being kept on a per-developer basis (not in the source tree). The /resetsettings will likely clear these out also, but you may want to make sure.
You can also double check the path's to all of the assemblies referenced, that your not going from a 32/64 bit host, and the CLR DLL's are in different path's now etc...
One last thing, if your really stuck, you can get a stack trace and debug the crash a bit ;), see where the fault is occuring and search that module online, your'll often find that somebody may have a specific solution.
Oh yeah, also, hooker's can be trickey. Don't trust them for a minute. Make sure you set tsvn's "only load in windows exlporer" option and configure it specifically for what folders on your system have local-svn working directories, this will greatly reduce the working set for their shell extension. On most any system, over time, one program or another (apple irw.exe or adobe pdf-preloader.exe sort's of ad-ware) will try to work it's way into your shell. You should try to make sure your dev box is rather clean from anything hook's, simular to what VladV was saying...
I had a similar problem and I fixed it and afterwards I wasn't quite sure how I managed it.
It basically involved going to the tools/options menu and setting the source control plugin to none. However, I obviously had to have had the solution open in Visual Studio if doing this was to fix the solution, but yet I thought the problem was I could not open the solution.
The only possible scenario would be if I was able to open the solution, but not open any of the projects inside it, hence able to change the source control settings immediately after opening the solution.
Does that make sense?
Try opening your solution and projects files in a text editor, and looking for anything strange.
I once heard of a similar problem: a solution contained SVN bindings created by AnkhSVN, but Visual Studio had no AnkhSVN installed, and failed to open the solution without giving any meaningful error information.

Unwanted MSI appearance after installation

I used windows installer (msi project) and actually I have the msi file after installation it throws a shortcuts to the desktop.
My problem is when i double-click on the shortcut for my application, it displays somthing like the installation then it runs my application. I don't want the installtion windows to appear where my application doesn't need to throw any file or to install something before running all pre-requests are installed through the msi file. I want that when the end-user clicks on the shortcut, it runs the application directly ...
I hope I explained my problem well.
One additional note i'm using VS 2005, C#
What if i want to remove this action where it always happens. everytime i double click on the exe file it appears this window . my application is not so complicated to so.
EDIT: where can i find the log file ?!?
please help.
thnx indavence
One of the "features" of the MSI installation system is that it can automatically repair some things when your application is run.
A good way to see this in action is to have two versions of Microsoft Office installed side-by-side. After running MS Word 2007, an invocation of MS Word 2003 will start with MsiExec popping up to fix a few things before the application starts.
Almost certainly, what you're seeing is this kind of repair - check the log file and find out what is being fixed, then alter your installation project so things aren't broken on first install.
Hope this helps.
That quick installer operations you saw is very often issue. I think it appears only on first run and never again. Never mind. Maybe Windows Installer service makes some registration, etc.
You might want to refer to How Windows Installer Shortcuts Work and Windows Installer Logging
The easiest solution if you really want to avoid this behaviour is to manually add a shortcut rather than having Windows Installer do it for you.
My guess is that you've probably got some HKCU keys in the installer that need to be checked/repaired for the current user. Have you run MSI validation? This can often highlight issues that cause unnecessary repairs.

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