Without going through Windows Registry, is there a quicker way to detect programmatically whether a specific Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app is installed on a system? App will be installed through Windows Apps Store and its installation need to be verified from a Winform program written in C#. But the language doesn't matter.
You should be able to use PackageManager.FindPackage or PackageManager.FindPackageForUser to see if the target package is available universally or for the specific or current user.
See Calling Windows 10 APIs From a Desktop Application for info on how to call this from your WinForms app.
Also check out the Enumerate app packages by user SID sample which demonstrates enumerating app packages from a C# console app. The project used is out of date (it's for VS2013), but the overall code flow should still work.
Depending on your specific scenario (why do you need to know this and what will you do with that information?) there may be better ways for your specific use case. For example: you asked elsewhere about launching a UWP app. If you define and launch a protocol for the app you don't need to check if it's already there first as the protocol launch will offer to look for the app in the store if it's not installed.
How can I tell using c# or winjs when your app that the user downloaded is being uninstalled?
Can you call home, or try to save the client by giving/redirecting them to a site with an exit poll?
Not supported. A key goal with the Windows Store is to make it seamless and painless for consumers to try apps. One result of this is that Store apps don't have any control over or hooks into install/uninstall processes. Bottom line is that the act of uninstall is not a time to try to exercise user engagement strategies. :)
I have an existing App in Windows store(Metro Style)[XAML,C#]. I would like to convert this to Desktop(Ultra-book enabled ) and upload in to the Intel AppUp Store.
The application uses GPS and call several web API for certain features.
I there any tool to covert? or how could i port this app to Ultra-book enabled desktop app.?
Please provide step by step help or link..
I would check with Intel what APIs they provide for AppUp. I am almost sure though that there are no tools for this and you just need to solve it on a case by case basis.
I don't think there is any tool to convert it for you. Based on my experience with Intel AppUp, if you can extract your metro app functionality and create a normal desktop application for it, you should be able to submit the app in the AppUp store.
You will have to create a msi package for your desktop app and the msi should create a desktop shortcut which can launch your app. The appUp guys somehow figure out the shortcut target and can launch the app from the AppUp client itself. You will also have to take care of uninstallation from the appup interface.
In a situation where you have the UI frontend built using the new Metro style of apps for windows 8, and would like it to communicate with a .NET application running on the desktop on the same local machine (e.g. a windows service app).
What forms of interprocess communication are available between the metro app and the desktop app?
Thanks to Pavel Minaev of the Visual Studio team, who has provided some initial info here in a comment, quoted:
According to Martyn Lovell, there isn't any deliberate mechanism for
that, and some that could be used for it are intentionally restricted.
Named pipes aren't there, for example, nor are memory mapped files.
There are sockets (including server sockets), but when connecting to
localhost, you can only connect to the same app. You could use normal
files in one of the shared "known folders" (Documents, Pictures etc),
but that is a fairly crude hack that necessitates polling and is
visible to the user. -- Pavel Minaev commenting on this issue
So failing normal approaches I was thinking of using web services or reading/writing to a database in order to get some form of communication happening, both of which seem like overkill when the processes are running on the same machine.
Is what I'm attempting here making sense? I can see a need for a metro app to be the frontend UI for an existing service which is running on the desktop. Or is it better to just use WPF for the frontend UI running on the desktop (i.e. a non-metro app).
I'm porting my existing project to Win8 right now. It consists of windows service and tray application which are talking to each other via NamedPipes WCF. As you may already know Metro doesn't support named pipes. I ended up using TcpBinding for full duplex connection.
This post describes what functionality is supported.
Sample of my WCF server that Metro client can consume is here.
Also keep in mind that you can't use synchronous WCF in Metro. You'll have to use Task-based wrapper which is only asynchronous.
And thank you for you question. I was good starting point for me :)
There were a number of questions like this at the end of a //build/ session I attended. Aleš Holeček, the exec who did one of the big picture sessions, came up out of the audience to handle them. Even if you're not a C++ developer, download that session and watch the Q & A. http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/BUILD/BUILD2011/TOOL-789C
Metro apps can't count on desktop apps or services being installed on the machine. And desktop apps can't count on Metro apps running since they can be suspended any time. You need to start thinking differently. Listen to Aleš on this one.
Take note that with Windows 8.1 Update, communication between Windows Store apps and desktop components written in C# for .NET 4.5+ is now officially supported for side-loaded applications in Enterprise scenarios:
Brokered Windows Runtime Components for side-loaded Windows Store apps
To quote:
Recognizing that critical business functions and rules are embodied in existing software assets and that enterprises have a wide variety of scenarios for which the new application style will be highly productive, the Windows 8.1 Update includes a new feature called Brokered Windows Runtime Components for side-loaded applications. We use the term IPC (inter-process communication) to describe the ability to run existing desktop software assets in one process (desktop component) while interacting with this code in a Windows Store app. This is a familiar model to enterprise developers as data base applications and applications utilizing NT Services in Windows share a similar multi-process architecture.
Although implementing this approach is a bit on the complicated side initially, it allows for deep integration across Windows Store and desktop components. Just keep in mind that for the time being, it won't pass public Windows Store certification.
There is an article on InfoQ about how to build loosely coupled Metro apps with protocol handlers. This is something which has been supported by Windows for a long time and one could foresee an desktop application register itself as a protocol handler and maybe the metro application can communicate through this mechanism.
I have no idea if this is possible, but it might be interesting to check out.
Christophe Nasarre has blogged about a rather hacky way to do it using local files. The result is communication between desktop app/windows store app (referred to as DA/WSA in the blog), without having to switch between the UI of the two apps. He also blogged about another less hacky technique involving protocol handlers.
Note that having a WSA which communicates with a DA is explicitly forbidden by the store App certification requirements
Windows Store apps must not communicate with local desktop applications or services via local mechanisms, including via files and registry keys.
... but it restricts "local mechanisms" only. So I guess one can build a web service for routing the communications.
If you think that you can make an additional manual cmd operation,
you can try :
X:/> CheckNetIsolation.exe LoopbackExempt –a –n=<packageID>;
CheckNetIsolation.exe is included in winRT install, so there is nothing extra to be installed.
I tried it: it works, even after package updating.
As shown on: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/Hh780593.aspx
Here it is explained how to find out the packageID for your app: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsdesktop/en-US/82bad7d4-d52b-4731-a396-13ab9004c1cc/how-to-get-the-appid-of-a-metro-style-app-
It is possible to communicate on the same machine from Metro app to desktop app using local service.
I've implemented some time ago simple "proof of concept", how to bypass the WinRT sandbox using local service. It still needs some kind of "social engineering" or direct guide for installing the service, but anyway, it is possible.
I'm not sure though about the certification rules about "local service" communication when adding such app to Windows Store.
Sample here
By design Metro application cannot access underlying PC directly, only using WinRT API and available capabilities. But when you create back-end service for accessing the PC and all data there, it's basically no longer running in sandbox.
The only "problem" is that user must manually install this back-end service, but that won't be a problem using some "social engineering":
User downloads "PC browser" Metro app, user can browse all pictures, music and videos, using WinRT API, but the app also shows message at the bottom:
"Download our PC browser powerpack and browse your entire PC, for FREE"
User is redirected to web page, from where user can download classic desktop installer containing "PC browser" back-end service for accessing files on users entire PC. Once this desktop service is installed, the Metro app can detect it and use it for browsing the entire PC. User is happy, but the WinRT sandbox is compromised.
Of course this won't work on Windows 8 ARM tablets. Using this workaround it could be even possible to build Metro app clients for classic desktop apps like antiviruses, torrent/P2P clients, etc.
Maybe I missed the point but when activating the Private networks capability I can connect to a local running (http) server using the local IP address (not localhost). This enables my scenario where a winrt app communicates with a wpf desktop app
I am building a prototype application in Silverlight 4 Beta and I am using the Out-of-Browser (OOB) functionality. I need the OOB functionality to be able to access the local file system, and I would like to avoid writing an ActiveX component or Java applet.
I have a requirement to be able to launch the OOB experience from the browser once it has been installed on the client machine. All I seem to be able to do is detect from the browser whether the application has been installed, and then ask the user to start it from the desktop or start menu (as a normal application).
This however 'breaks' the experience required by the customer, which should be directed from the browser. Has anyone been able to launch the OOB application directly from the browser?
Thank you,
Martijn
This should not be possible.
Just because a user has agreed to install an application as an OOB this should not confer rights to the source site that it can then invoke the OOB experience without the user explictly deciding to do so.
So the closest your going to get is what you already have. Politely remind the user that they have the app already installed as an OOB. If possible allow some functionality from the browser and in your "already installed message" explain that the best experience may be had by using the installed version instead.