I am writing a C# Windows application program and I'm using an add-on for creating chart in it,but when I run this program on another windows which has .net framework but not that package it does not work and give me exception.
I want to know how can I correct this problem even with setup file?
and if the answer is setup file then how should I do that?
thank you
When you distribute your package (whether that's through a proper installer or just a zip file or whatever), you should be including the DLL as well. Precisely how to include the DLL depends on what tool you're using to generate the installer.
If, for some reason, you are restricted to distributing a single .exe file, you can use ILMerge to merge an arbitrary number of .NET DLLs into an executable.
Related
I've never done this before, because I've never needed to until now, but I need to build my windows forms application to a standalone executable. I'm aware of both Build and Publish options within Visual Studio however none do what I need. Build doesn't allow you to move the executable it makes, and Publish makes a setup to install on the computer.
My goal is for the application to open without installation.
In the /bin/Debug/ directory made by the Build option, I have an executable, four dlls required, two .pdb file, and few other standard files (.manifest, .config, etc.). I was hoping to get any requirements built inside the executable.
How do I do this? All my searching has taken me to bunch of tutorials on how to make applications from scratch and how to use the csc.exe console command.
You can merge the separate assemblies to make it one single executable.
There is a tool called ILMerge that is capable of doing that for you. Another method is described in this post, which also works for WPF.
What you want is to embed the .DLLs in the .exe file so you can move it freely and only need the .exe , you just didn't search for the right thing,
here is what you are looking for :
It is possible to merge .NET executables with libraries. There are multiple tools available to get the job done:
ILMerge is a utility that can be used to merge multiple .NET assemblies into a single assembly.
Mono mkbundle, packages an exe and all assemblies with libmono into a single binary package.
IL-Repack is a FLOSS alterantive to ILMerge, with some additional features.
See : Embedding DLLs in a compiled executable
this is indeed a duplicate but i don't have the reputation to mark it as so.
I can't seem to find the solution I'm looking for in the similar questions, but that might be because of my lack of searching skills.
Either way, I have a using System.Runtime.InteropServices; in my C# project which I use to unzip a downloaded .zip file.
My problem arises from the following: I hate installers... Thus I need a way to include the Interop.Shell32.dll file into the .exe which is located in the project's \bin\Debug folder.
Thus avoiding the need for an installer which adds the Interop.Shell32.dll into the program's path and avoiding the need for an extra file download along with the .exe if I don't use an installer.
What would be the best/most efficient way for me to do so? (Preferably without having to include a load of extra code into the program)
There are several useful tools; I'm not exactly sure what is being sought, so I will provide a small listing of tools/approaches that I use.
ILMerge for merging multiple managed assemblies such as the project output and external assemblies/PIAs. Make sure the PIA/assembly being merged is allowed to be distributable as such or see #3.
Embedded resources for including "external data" including non-managed DLLs which might be external requirements for managed assemblies. These non-managed DLLs/COM libraries can be bound/loaded at runtime after extraction.
dotNetInstaller for making a unified launcher/installer (it is a bootstrap and can provide embedded resources). This can be used in conjunction with a normal MSI (VS Setup Project) installer to handle prerequisites such as installing official distributable packages or it could simply be used to launch the executable (no "installer" except those for prerequisites).
You can use ILMerge. Taken from the Microsoft webpage:
ILMerge is a utility for merging multiple .NET assemblies into a single .NET assembly. It works on executables and DLLs alike and comes with several options for controlling the processing and format of the output.
I have a C# program that uses an external opensource library that I downloaded from the internet, specifically openxml to create excel files. Now I want to run my executable files on computers that do not have this library installed.
I already know that I can have visual studios to make a copy of the library in either the debug or release folder by setting the copy local property to true, and I am doing this.
The problem is that now the executable file can be run on other computers and generate excel files, but the executable file has to be run in the debug or release folder where the library is saved.
When I try to copy the executable file and run it outside of the folder an exception is thrown telling me that the library cannot be found, how do I make it find the library when running the executable outside of the folder?
Thanks,
-Jake
There should be several options that should work.
The problem is that the library is not in the path.
This might help. "http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/6taasyc6%28v=vs.100%29.aspx".
You would just need to always have the library in the same location.
You could add the it to the path variable (though this could cause conflicts elsewhere).
You could add the folder to the temporary path, i.e. the console whenever it starts up.
You could add it to the relative path "Visual Studio: how to set path to dll?"
Hopefully that helps
You could do this in a couple of ways:
ILMerge could merge all the dlls together (if DLL is a C# dll) into a single executable so the libraries are always with you
You could add the DLLs are resources to the project, then on start up spit them out to local directory
Set a directory for reference libraries Using reference libraries (dll) stored in a different folder from the main program?
See also:
How can a C++ windows dll be merged into a C# application exe?
Embedding unmanaged dll into a managed C# dll
Embedding DLLs in a compiled executable
Embed C++ Libraries into .Net Libraries
Create a Windows Istaller
If you want to run your software on other machines then why dont you create a MSI ?.
pack your external executable file with the MSI. When you install it both your exe and external exe will be extracted to the same location so you wont be having any problem.
In VS, I've only tested code and debugged it, but never actually prepared anything for a finalized program or release. Some of the programs I've downloaded have had dlls that need to be in the folder they're in, and I've had programs that come as just one .exe. Is there a way to compile all the files into one application and not have external dlls? Is this bad programming practice for some reason? How do I compile my VS program into one executable file?
I know this is quite an obvious question, which is why I can't really find an answer, because it would be too obvious to write any kind of tutorial on it.
With a managed language like C# or VB.NET, ILMerge is a utility that you can use.
ILMerge is a utility for merging multiple .NET assemblies into a single .NET assembly. It works on executables and DLLs alike and comes with several options for controlling the processing and format of the output.
If the question is just around getting VisualStudio to build executable programs, it does it every time you run them within it. If you are using all of the default settings, open your project folder and look for a /bin directory. Underneath it, there is a /debug and a /release directory. If you build your program in debug mode, look in the /debug directory, if you build it in release mode, look in the release directory. VS will put everything that your program needs within that directory. You can copy all of those files to another machine that has the .Net runtime installed and it should run.
If the question is more about combining multiple dlls into a single exe, actually, there is a tutorial on it at CodePlex:
As you know, traditional linking of object code is no longer necessary
in .NET. A .NET program will usually consist of multiple parts. A
typical .NET application consists of an executable assembly, a few
assemblies in the program directory, and a few assemblies in the
global assembly cache. When the program is run, the runtime combines
all these parts to a program. Linking at compile time is no longer
necessary.
But sometimes, it is nevertheless useful to combine all parts a
program needs to execute into a single assembly. For example, you
might want to simplify the deployment of your application by combining
the program, all required libraries, and all resources, into a single
.exe file.
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/mergingassemblies.aspx
Lastly, if the question is about building an installer for broad distribution, Jan Willem B has a sample for WIX: Using WIX to create an installer: quickstart tutorial
Yes, you can use ILMerge for embedding managed .Net DLLs! Example here.
I develop application in C# with MSVC 2010 Express, with Forms/WPF/etc.
Application consist of some private assemblies (maybe DLLs) and .exe file. It uses .NET 4 features.
How I deploy this application to other computers? Of course if they have .NET 4 I just can send zip of .exe with .dlls and it work. But if they don't have .NET at all (on Win XP machine)? Or maybe they have lower version of .NET? Should I point them to install .NET from internet or package it with my app or what?
Thanks
There is click-once deploy from microsoft. It automates most of the tasks, including making sure you have the right .Net version and updating the app if a new version of your app is available.
You should create a installer package. If you are using the express versions of visual studio, you can use some free tools for this like WiX or Inno Setup. WiX is perhaps a difficult option to start with, but has a lot of flexibility. There are tutorials and example projects to modify to adapt them to your needs.
http://www.tramontana.co.hu/wix/
This tools create installers that can check if a certain version of the .NET framework is installed on the user computer, among other conditions. You can also include the .NET redistributable in your package, or point the user to download and install it.
We try to keep deployment as simple as possible, and one of the things we do is to ensure our application is just a single executable, no support files needed.
We several steps to get there:
Make sure all dependent resource files are stored in embedded resources where possible, and not on disk
Use ILmerge to link all assemblies into a single executable
Optional - obfuscate the assembly
Optional - If some parts cannot be ILMerged or obfuscated, forcing us to have multiple files, we use Xenocode's PostBuild to link all files into a single executable. Xenocode offers a virtual filesystem to do this. This also allows framework embedding so your app will run on a clean Windows install - no dependencies need to be installed :-)
Wrap the single executable into an msi installer using WiX
Wrap the single executable into click once deployment. For this we also use a little stub launcher executable which starts the main application, allowing us to reuse the same main application executable
Create a zip file of just the single file executable for manual installation.
We the following on our downloads site:
the MSI installer - we prefer people to use this one
A zip file with the Xenocoded (single file) executable
A zip file with the Xenocoded (single file) executable including the .NET Framework
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324733
Yes, you should point them to install .NET. Otherwise it won't be possible for them to run your application.
You didn't say what type of clients they are (are you making a small app for your friends to use or are they paying customers), but whatever the case may be, I'm always completely against sending a zip file with an instruction document describing what to do with it and what folder to extract it to. As Remy said, ClickOnce is not a bad idea, but I've found it to be a bit of a pain to set up (once you get it set up, though, it works just fine). On the other hand, a Deployment project is simpler and if I were you, that would be the first thing I'd explore.
Use xenocode here
http://spoon.net/Studio/
No need to install anything.
It converts your exe to Native code indirectly and you can run anywhere on windows system.
It also has some option of adding framework inside and the total exe size will be somewhere arround 10MB + Your application exe size..
Thanks
yes! you have to give some general instruction about prerequisites to run your software and in that you can mention the Framework version 3.5 or 4.0 and other utilities you require.
please refer this document for Choosing a Deployment Strategy in Visual studio 2010 may this can help you
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e2444w33.aspx
when you package you application,you shoud include the .NET Framework
Check out Inno : http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php
It's free and pretty simple.
OTOH I've seen QTTabBar using it in its' codebase and it was literally one single text file (setup.iss). Let me see if I can find URL to their SourceForge page so you can see the source and the build ... There is it http://qttabbar.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/qttabbar/trunk/Install/ If you grab the source tree you can probably re-fit it for your app in a day.