I am nearing deployment time and am at a loss at to which files to package and deploy when the day comes.
Can I just pull out the executable and be done with it? Or do I need the XML docs and vshost files/manifest files?
Also, the DLLs I am using are also accompanied by an XML document inside my /Release/ folder. Do I need those or can I just grab the DLL files?
Thanks.
At minimum, you need EXE + DLLs. If applicable, add a default config file as part of deployment.
You may want to include PDBs to help debugging.
You don't need XMLs.
For the development machine, if you're using all default controls from Visual Studio, you only need the .exe. Just install the targeted framework. If your app is running in .NET framework 4, then you only need to install framework 4 and your .exe alone will run fine. If you're using 3rd party controls, then you need the .DLL in the same folder you have your .exe, usually.
Related
I have install some asp.net core mvc dlls (Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Abstraction.dll). I want to decompile it and see the source code.
The dll is added to my project>Dependencies>Nuget.
However, I am not sure where exactly the dll in in my system.
Is there a quick way to just launch the added dll in ILSypy and see the codes or at least the object inheritance tree?
Thanks.
ASP.NET Core is open source, so as Hans wrote as a comment to your question, you can look directly at the source, you don't need to decompile.
But for future reference, NuGet dlls are extracted to one of two places. Older projects still using packages.config, the dlls are typically extracted to a folder named packages as a sub-folder of where the .sln file is.
Packages using PackageReference, the packages are extracted to your account's global packages folder, which by default is %userprofile%\.nuget\packages on Windows and ~/.nuget/packages on Linux and Mac. You can also look at your project's obj\project.assets.json file to find the paths to everything referenced.
All paths can be modified with nuget.config settings (or even msbuild properties for projects using PackageReference). But if this is the case, either you, or your team mate would probably know, so the default locations for the folders I listed above should be correct.
How can you publish a WinForm that uses a .dll extension into one .exe file? I'm using VB.NET on Visual Studio 2013.
I have tried several methods such as using only the program .exe file from both the Debug and Release folder but these didn't work in isolation - a runtime error happened every time a command from the extension was used, as if it didn't exist.
My problem is packaging the entire program into one file. I don't want to have to use ClickOnce applications because you can't use a custom logo and so it kinda looks bad. I'll use it if there's no alternative.
I realised that the answer was to use the setup.exe file when publishing. Also, changing the logo of a ClickOnce program is possible.
I know that visual studio has A LOT of required files to launch anything through an executable, is there a way I could create an .exe that doesn't require all the excess files like you would with a JAR file? I know they are completely different but I'm just trying to find out what we can do other than installing the application on the users PC. Thanks!
is there a way I could create an .exe that doesn't require all the excess files like you would with a JAR file?
Partly. If you're using VB.Net, you will always need to verify that the machine where you run your executable has the .NET Framework version which you target.
Most systems already have some .NET versions installed, which will allow your .exe to "just work" (provided you don't use any libraries apart from the framework). Targeting an older .NET framework (like 3.5) will allow your exe to work on any system with .NET 3.5, without any other files.
Is it possible to create a VB.Net application which users can just run without installing it first.
If not, is it possible in another .Net language.
If not, how IS it possible :)
PS: The application only has to run under Windows (>= XP).
If they have the .NET Framework installed (the version of it that you developed it), they only need the .exe. You can find the .exe file in the bin directory of your projects folder in your Visual Studio workspace.
If they do not have the framework installed, you'll need to produce an installation for them. It's extremely easy with Visual Studio by just creating a setup project in the same solution as your code.
As long as the user has the .net runtime installed, and your exe has any needed resources in the same folder (dll's, images, ect) theres no problem with that.
If you mean without installing the .net framework though, that won't be possible.
just build the program, and go into the (assuming the project name is app1) app1/app1/bin/debug/ dir. there should be a file there called app1.exe. this file is the compiled .exe from you project. any other computer will be able to run this without doing any installation (provided they have the .NET framework installed (it comes standard on any computer with an os > WinXP))
EDIT: If you were building with debug configuration, it would be app1/app1/bin/debug/, but if you were building with release configuration (which would probably be a better idea if you are distributing) the path would be app1/app1/bin/release/
If you mean running it without the .NET Framework, it used to be possible, but apparently the company's website is no longer in English so I have no idea what's happened to it.
EDIT: If you were building with debug configuration, it would be
app1/app1/bin/debug/, but if you were building with release
configuration (which would probably be a better idea if you are
distributing) the path would be app1/app1/bin/release/
I am developer and have no administration rights to live(production) network.
I had to find away to deploy an app without installation... and my app is self updating this cause other problems too....
The production network Computer check/monitors the file versions etc, so updating in the program files can not be done, where a MSI has been used for deployment.
Using this above I am able to copy and Run the App from the User Profile (where the user has full rights).
lets understand how program runs-
an .exe needs some function which are not inside the .exe, such as , for example substring() function. these predefined function resides in some .dll libraries.
when .exe is executed by user, .exe first finds the .dll and then the function inside that particular .dll.
.exe first looks within the current folder for that .dll
if not found then it searches that in PATHs. (PATH is Environment variable which value is a list of folders such as System32 etc.)
an .exe usually needs only 3 things - .exe itself, .dll which predefined function it is using, and some ActiveX controls(.ocx). apart from these 3, .exe only uses resources (such as icons etc).
lets focus on these 3(.exe, .dll, .ocx)
first you need to check what .dlls your .exe is using. you can easiely do this by using a dependency walker.
then make sure all these .dlls (that dependency walker is showing,or in other words- all these dlls whose functions your .exe needs) are either in current folder(in which your .exe resides) or in the PATHs.
if this step is done then your .exe has high chances to run whithout "installing".
the only problem is that some .dll and all of .ocx, needs to be registered first(means they have to have some kind of registry entry). they are not ready to use just by copying and pasting in current folder or PATHs.
but you can register these .dlls and .ocx's by using regsvr32 (with command line).
after that your .exe should not face any problem to run successfully.
hope you got the main concept.
Questions:
Are XAP files self-contained?
Do they link in all DLLs I have referenced in the project?
If I need to distribute my app, is all I have to do is hand someone the XAP file?
By default, yes. For alternatives, see answer 3.
By default, all except the core DLLs installed by the runtime; it will contain anything from the SDK, Toolkit, 3rd party controls, or your own libraries.
By default, yes. However, there is an option as of Silverlight 3 to package certain assemblies (for example anything from the SDK) into separate ZIP files, which are downloaded separately. In Visual Studio, look in the project properties for a checkbox called "Reduce XAP size by using application library caching." This option toggles whether to create/use the ZIP files or not. Enabling the ZIP option allows multiple Silverlight apps to share the dependency on the ZIP files, so that instead of packaging everything into the XAP every time, you just download the ZIP for one app, and it's saved in the browser cache for other apps.
As for the general contents of the XAP file, there are 2 important bits:
Foo.dll - your project's main assembly (renamed as appropriate)
AppManifest.xaml - describes the requirements for you app, e.g minimum runtime version required, the entry point into Foo.dll, and other settings, including Out-of-browser settings, or whether to use the Library caching feature mentioned above.
Anything else is just content used by your app.
Silverlight XAP files can be tricky if you're using anything other the the core silverlight assemblies (eg. SilverlightToolkit).
XAP files are just zip files - open one up and take a look. They are self contained to the extent that any custom/extra dlls are included - the standard Silverlight assemblies will be installed when a user installs Silverlight.
References to dlls are required in the .proj files for every assembly that will be used. Ie. unlike other project types, if one project references another project, both projects need to reference all dlls used by either project.
You should be able to just hand someone the XAP file if you want - but Silverlight was designed to be used in browsers, so you will need to include the generated test page at least. The best, and most useful, is to provide a publicly accessible web page that hosts your silverlight app.
HTH.
Even though this question is already answered, i'm going to throw this one in too because it hasn't been mentioned yet.
You mention that you are using SL4 - if you are running out of browser (OOB) then you can just ship the XAP file, and use sllauncher.exe (2) to "install" it to the client machine. As part of that install you can also specify where updates are to be sourced from, which is important for when you find bugs or the requirements change.