Windows store apps deploy location - windows-8

I created a Windows Store app using Visual Studio(2013). Right-clicked the project and chose "Deploy". Where was the app deployed? What I want to do is to be able to run that app from cmd, not from Visual Studio.
So the question is: where is the app deployed? Can I somehow change that location?

Normally installed Windows Store apps are found here: %programfiles%\WindowsApps\IdentifierForYourApp. But when you deploy from Visual Studio (for the purposes of debugging and whatnot), Visual Studio just registers the app to run from within your build output folder.
But I don't think you can launch the program from a command line. Even if you try to just double-click the executable, you get an error "This application can only run in the context of an app container"
You can launch the app via the IApplicationActivationManager::ActivateApplication function in C++ code. There might be another way via managed code, but I'm not aware of it.

Related

Can't run UWP release executable outside of Visual Studio 2017

I am using Visual Studio 2017 on Windows 10 with the official UWP sample code.
There is a UWP sample called basicinput that runs as a release build within the Visual Studio IDE without a problem.
My problem is:
when I attempt to run the release basicinput.exe executable by a mouse click (outside of the Visual Studio environment) I get an error saying that some DLLs names of the form vs*.dll can't be found.
I did a search for those .dlls and tried moving them to same folder as basicinput.exe, but then the application just hung.
What don't I understand?
What am I doing wrong?
As #Chuck-walbourn says, your application will appear in the Start Menu. If you want to deploy it to another computer (that doesn't have VS installed) you will need to create AppX packages using the menu item Project -> Store -> Create App Packages.... If you need more help with that. see the MSDN docs.
If you want to run your app from the command-line or from the Win+R dialog (with a simple name like foo.exe) you can create an appExecutionAlias for your application.

The target "GetSolutionConfigurationContents" does not exist in the project

I have a Visual Studio 2013 solution that includes a Windows 8.1 WinJS app along with a MVC web application. When we build the solution locally in Visual Studio, it works fine, but building it on the build server fails with the following error:
"The target "GetSolutionConfigurationContents" does not exist in the project."
Could it be a software versioning issue between the local environment and what is installed on the build server? Any ideas would be helpful tracking this down.
Thanks.
The problem was in the package.appxmanifest file.
Under the Packaging tab, I had set the "Generate app bundle" option to "Always".
Setting it to "If needed" fixed the issue and the builds are now successful.
UPDATE:
The problem reoccurred when we targeted x64 builds only, so we had to keep this project setting:
<AppxBundlePlatforms>neutral</AppxBundlePlatforms>

How do I create a package of my application in VB.net which can run on other's systems too?

I made an application in Visual Studio 2012 using VB.net language.
I want to make a package or a setup so that any user whether they have visual studios or not can run my application.
I searched on internet and what I found is that there is something like statically or dynamically linking. Do these relate to my question?
Please give me a step by step method of packaging so that my application can run on Windows without needing Visual Studio or any other program to run it.
You will find it in the menu under Build -> Publish.
This will produce an executable that can be run without Visual Studio. The .NET Framework has to be installed on the computer though, but that usually is.

can we make a software or solution( not a windows store app) on windows 8 using VS-2012

actually i working on a Application that is going to be build for windows 8 surface and desktop but we want this not to be on store but as a business solution. but i want my app to be tested by testers but i am not getting how to provide then my full package so that they can test it. any idea is appreciated.
In Visual Studio 2012, with your Windows Store project selected, go to Project -> Store -> Create App Package...
Tell it that you do not want to upload the app package.
This will create a folder for your app that includes the .appx, the .cer, and a .psd (PowerShell script). Zip up this folder and send it to your testers. They just need to run the PowerShell script by right clicking it and clicking "Run in Powershell...". It will prompt them for a Developer's License (which they will need), but this will be retrieved automatically after signing in with their development account.

How to deploy a metro app to windows 8 device/Tablet?

For testing an application, I have deployed my metro app by creating a app package which is provided in vs2012. I have deployed the package by opening using the PowerShell, but now I want to deploy the metro app in a Windows 8 device (tablet) for testing it, how can I do this?
Will there be a PowerShell option available in device also? (to deploy the app)
Are there any other ways of deployment?
i have used this to sideload apps for testing onto other devices including SurfaceRT
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/patricka/archive/2012/11/06/10365947.aspx
In addition to creating an app package in Visual Studio 2012, and deploying your app that way, you can also use the Remote Tools for Visual Studio 2012 for ARM to deploy and debug an app to a Surface or other tablet (for x86 or x64 tablets, use the matching remote tools install).
Once the remote tools have been installed on the target device, you simply start up the remote tools on the target, configure the access permissions, and then on your development machine, open the project properties, select the Debugging option, and use the dropdown to select Remote Machine as the debugger to launch. Click into the Machine Name field, and use the dropdown to select the machine name of the target machine running the remote tools.
Now, when you start debugging the project, it'll be packaged up and deployed to the target device, and you can set breakpoints and step through your code. And once deployed this way, you can re-run the app from the start screen using the app's tile.
EDIT: One important thing to note...whether you deploy/sideload using the PowerShell script technique, or using remote debugging, the target device will need to have a valid developer license. You should be prompted to obtain a developer license when you attempt to sideload your app, but you can also use PowerShell to obtain the license manually...instructions can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/xaml/hh974578.aspx