a couple of weeks ago I made a small application which comes with the Installer, done with V.S.2010 tool. Now I need to upgrade the application, but I'd to deploy it as an update of the previous one.
How should I do? Is there some online doc that I can follow?
Unless you used OneClick technology for your Installer, Visual Studio does not support Install "Updates".
You will need to resend the entire Setup first, ask the user to remove the old one first (you can force this in the Setup project)
If you install the new updatedApp without forcing removing and without installing, it will overwrite all files that the new updateApp has.
Related
I am working on developing an asp.net mvc web application , using visual studio 2012 professional. now when I want to update my project, for example by adding new features, I do the following steps:-
I copy the project folder.
past it inside a "versioning" folder.
work on the original project , were I add the new features and code.
now if I want to revert my project back before the new features, I can open the folder inside the "Versioning" folder. and so on...
now my current approach is some how sufficient.. but I am trying to find a more automated approach where I can for example revert certain file let say a certain .cs file to its previous version , or revert back my whole project to certain point.
so can anyone advice how Visual studio 2012 can help me in managing my versioning ?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Regards
You'll want to use a version control system like Team Foundation Server (TFS), Git, Mercurial, Subversion, etc. I personally recommend Git. Many of them have a means of integration with Visual Studio 2012 (for example, see How to Connect Visual Studio 2012 with git (github)?). Version control software supports features such as tracking file changes, creating code branches, merging code from different commits/users back together, etc.
Here's what a very simple workflow might look like with version control (see https://guides.github.com/introduction/flow/ for an example of the GitHub flow):
You're ready to add a new feature/start a new version. For simplicity we'll assume you're working on a single branch (e.g. Git "master" branch).
As you program, you make incremental changes to you source code and commit those changes regularly. Each commit gives you a snapshot of the work you've done and you can go back to any commit at any point and compare the changes between commits. The VCS you choose will influence how you synchronize those changes with a central/remote repository. You can even check revision history and look at previous versions of specific files and your code is typically backed up on another server for you without much additional work.
When you're ready to release, you could tag a specific revision (or merge features branches into master, or ... etc.). Whatever the case, you can keep track of all the cumulative changes you've made for each release and be able to revert back to any point.
There are a few other steps you may consider for versioning such as updating the assembly information. In the AssemblyInfo.cs file there is assembly metadata specifying the assembly version, file version (or informational version, which I prefer). See What is AssemblyInfo.cs used for?. You can configure Visual Studio to auto-increment the version numbers.
Team Foundation Server should be available by default with VS 2012, although I'm vague on the details of setting up a TFS server to host your repositories. Visual Studio added direct support for Git (open source, very popular) starting in VS 2013, however there is an extension available for 2012 (https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/abafc7d6-dcaa-40f4-8a5e-d6724bdb980c). The extension allows you to perform some of the most used Git functions such as committing, branching, and pushing.
Here are some links to get you started:
Why should I use version control?
Using Git with Visual Studio
https://git-scm.com/download/win
https://tortoisegit.org/
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/tfs-overview-vs.aspx
I use VSTS and it is fantastic. You can use GIT or TFS version control. Both are hosted by Microsoft. I prefer Microsoft due to the idea of long term support and reliability. You can see they are supporting VS 2008 to current.
https://www.visualstudio.com/team-services/pricing/
It is also free for up to 5 users.
From the link posted below.
It has full support for many versions of Visual Studio
Q: Which versions of Visual Studio can I use with Visual Studio Team Services?
A: You can use:
Visual Studio "15"
Visual Studio 2015
Visual Studio 2013
Visual Studio 2012
Visual Studio 2010, requires Service Pack 1 and KB2662296
Visual Studio 2008 SP1, requires GDR update To connect to Team
Services with
Visual Studio 2008 through 2012
Start Visual Studio.
From the Team menu or Team Explorer, go to Connect to Team Foundation Server > Select Team Projects > Servers.
Add your Team Services account ({youraccount}.visualstudio.com).
Select your team project, and finish connecting.
If you get connection errors, try choosing HTTPS as your protocol.
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/setup-admin/team-services/connect-to-visual-studio-team-services
GIT Vs TFS Version Control - https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/tfvc/comparison-git-tfvc
One thing to look into is how you visualize editing and checking in code. I personally find that TFS version control follows a very simple and linear model. I prefer it to git. But its really Apples vs Oranges and usually people like what they are used to. I will say that Git currently is in active development and is not as feature rich as TFS-VC. Not to mention VSTS hooks into their entire ecosystem of plugins, build systems, test infrastructure and all of their cloud platform "Azure"
If you dont need to be sharing your version controlled stuff, I like TurtleSVN. Its simple and I like the UI it has for displaying modifications between versions. It adds a choice on the right-click menu of any file or folder in windows explorer for "TurtleSVN" and then all of the operations can be handled from there.
My Suggestion is still using TFS - I my project which is a product ( ASP.MVC application ) - we are using following structure in TFS..
we have a main branch - DEV branch a QA branch and a SP branch. See screen shot attached)
Main Branch - Where all the code is merged using scripts - before we start with new version of development and then a new DEV branch with version is created from this main branch.. - so we have track of every version and new features added to each version... and For new client the code from Main branch is given.
Dev - Based on features added we create different folder for each new set of features / enhancements and put the version.
SP - After development is completed - the DEV branch is freeze and we create a new branch id SP and deploy the code for QA team - any defect founs are fixed in SP and deployed to QA - once testing is done the code is SP is freeze with QA approved and deployed to main and provided to Clients..
Finally using script - every thing from SP is merged in to Main.. and for new development - a new Branch in DEV is created from the Main..
This way we have track of enhancements / feature for each DEV phase and related SP is available and our product is getting developed in Main.
Hope this Helps..
I am using VS 2013 (Express Version) and I want to create a WPF user Control Library project. But I am not able to find the template in my installed templates list. If I use Winforms, I am able to build a DLL out of my Winforms Application Project just by changing the Output type as "Class Library". But it is not happening in WPF and it is throwing errors if I do so. Is this the correct method of doing it or am I going wrong?
And in the Create New Project dialogue window, I am not able to find the .NET Framework selector drop down. After creating the project only I am able to change the .NET framework version by going inside the properties of the project.
Kindly help me to get out of this. Thanks in advance.
I have been working on this exact same problem for hours this morning. Here is what I think I have learned:
With Visual Studio Express 2013, it is by design that the WPF User Control Library template is not available for making a New Project. This is because it is the free Express version.
With the Express version, you don't have a "devenv.exe" for trying the "devenv /installvstemplates" to "fix" things. It is, instead, called (just a moment while I look this up again...) "WDExpress.exe" and will be located (if you have default location) in the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE" directory. BUT - this won't help you. It won't fix your problem, because, as I mentioned, your Express installation is designed to not have that template available for New Project, so your "fix" won't put it there. I know this because this is what I tried myself. (Also, note that the instructions for doing this tell you to uninstall any extensions you've installed before doing it. And then, of course, if you still want them you have to reinstall them. Like I still have to do, incidentally.) I'm letting you know all of this so you don't go through the headache I'm having.
Note that I have not done this yet, so this is somewhat hypothetical on my part, but is based on my research on the Internet so far - Your solution is to create a WPF User Control Library manually [but now see UPDATE below]. (No, I don't know how to do this yet. I got into this in the first place, because I'm a WPF novice - just started working with it a few days ago - and late last night I got this great idea to add a "spinner" progress indicator to my "WPF play/learning project" I'm working on, and found a couple of relatively easy-to-work-with samples on the Internet - both of them are a WPF User Control Library - and at first I wanted to use the copy-and-paste to put the code in. But then I discovered... well, our mutual problem, because I'm using Visual Studio Express 2013. No such template under New Project. And literally at the tail end of my about-to-throw-in-the-towel, I'm googling and your post, Dhivakar, is already showing up with the right Google search.) So I haven't finished my research yet, but my next step is to learn exactly how to create a WPF User Control Library manually (the code and various project property settings), and then I can just save a WPF User Control Library skeleton for future use and document the details.
UPDATE: This guy totally has the solution for Express versions. I have followed his steps and it works great. The only additional piece of information I would add is that in my version (VSE2013), after you've created your WPF User Control Library template, when you open Visual Studio again and use File -> New Project, my selection in the tree (for a Windows app) came up under Templates -> Visual C# -> Windows (which is what I've been using). I did not see my template showing up there, after I created it, and I thought, "Great! Another piece of advice that doesn't work." But then I clicked up one on the "Visual C#" parent - and there was the template!
Here you go:
How to add a WPF control library template to Visual C# Express 2008
https://dotupdate.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/how-to-add-a-wpf-control-library-template-to-visual-c-express-2008/
Yes, it works this way for VSE2013 too.
UPDATE 2: I'm not absolutely positive about this, but I think he missed one little piece. In his step #4 he says to delete Window1.xaml and App.xaml. Maybe this didn't apply with VSE 2008, but in VSE 2013 there is also the App.config file which I believe is extraneous for our purpose. So you can delete App.config as well. As I said, I'm not absolutely certain about this yet, but I noticed that file in the project when I added a WPF User Control Library project to my solution, and I deleted it, and the solution compiled okay.
Try running devenv with the /installvstemplates switch, from https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/ms247116(v=vs.100).aspx
If this doesn't work, browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\ItemTemplatesCache\CSharp\WPF\1033\WPFUserControl (this could change dependent upon your installation directory), open the .vstemplate file in a text editor, and make sure the setting is set to true, then try running devenv with the switch again.
Hope it helps.
I am kind of new to Visual Studio and have found no solutions online, so this may be a simple problem nobody has bothered to post about.
I am working with a system that requires certain browser settings on a very specific version of Internet Explorer and am trying to create a launcher that can be installed on all users of a domain computer that establishes all these settings and creates a simple IE window (to dissuade people from using it more than needed).
I have written this application, but when I run the installer it a) gives me no option to change the install directory, and b) does not give me the option to change the default install directory in the project properties.
Other sources continue to say to change the 'Install Folder URL' to something else, but whenever I change it to say '\\localhost\c$\A_File_Directory', nothing ever changes and it continues to install in an unknown location.
Any help would be appreciated (perhaps a location with in-depth examples for VS)
EDIT -- It seems there is no way to do what I am looking for through Visual Studio, so I think I will be just deploying the ClickOnce installer through Group Policy so it can run on a per-user basis. Thanks to all who helped!
As of VS 2010 the ClickOnce Installer does not let you choose where to install the application. It controls that. I have found it rather irritating and if you really need to control where something is installed you need to use a different installer.
Here's another answer for VS 2012
Settting the ClickOnce installation folder URL in Visual Studio 2012
I noticed within the past couple of weeks my latest builds of a specific project are not showing up in Add/Remove programs.
I am using Visual Studio 2010, Windows7 64-bit (though I've also tried this over two Windows 32-bit machines). All latest service packs and updates are installed. The solution is made up of several projects with various references. The Setup and Deployment project is not the Install Shield version, but the one built in Microsoft project.
Previous versions of the software install fine, and still do... But if I pull down a tagged earlier version from CVS, and rebuild the installer for those versions, they do not work either.
I've opened the MSI in Orca, and I can see that the ARPNOREMOVE, ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT are both set to 1. When the project gets installed, a registry entry SystemComponent Dword value is created. If I remove that registry entry, the application shows up. Based on everything I've read and researched I have found people that WANTED this functionality, but were told that Visual Studio can't do this on its own. Their solutions were to use Orca to add the ARPNOREMOVE or ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT. At this point, all of the people who I found had my problem either had a basic default installer and they didn't know what name they were looking for in Add/Remove Programs or some other basic error that doesn't apply in my situation.
I've tried all of the following:
-Previous versions of tagged versions on CVS
-Multiple development machines
-Multiple computers to verify none show up in Add/Remove programs
-Resetting all Visual Studio settings
-Building from a clean development environment
-Removing Installer project from the solution and creating a new installer project
The weird part is that if I create a new solution and just create a setup and deployment project within, that installs fine. Can anyone having any idea about this help me out ?
So this is what I found out. We are using National Instruments Measurement Studio for .Net and the legacy controls. When using the legacy controls a certain merge module gets recognized as a dependency. For whatever reason, now this merge module change the behavior of the installer that is compiled. I've contacted National Instruments and am now working with them.
First, yes, you figured out the correct property name. Yes, ARPSYSTEMCOMPONENT is it which leads to an "unvisible" install under Add/Remove programs (ARP for insiders, although the name has changed post XP).
And it is possible to set/change the resulting "SystemComponent" entry in registry later which is not the case for all properties.
ARPNOREMOVE just controls if the uninstall in ARP is really possible to perform.
I have looked into Visual Installer before really, because it is so limited for MSI experts, but after taking a quick look there is a .vdproj (project file) created with VS 2010, and not very surprisingly, all the MSI information is coded there. The visual setup editors you can see in the solution explorer are only a subset.
Just look for "ARP" and you will find some properties set. The meanings of the values are maybe not so easy to guess, but from a rational point of view:
Either there is some setting inside there or a custom action (listed there too) which sets that property!
In my minimal test with the wizard only the ARPCONTACT property was set in the resulting msi file.
At least you could take the .vdproj file cor diffs with other checkedin versions..
In our solution, we have to deal with reading xls and xlsx files. It works perfectly for us.
Is it possible to add "Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable" (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13255) as a prerequisite in ClickOnce setup?
That means clickOne deployment should detect whether "Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable" has been installed or not. If yes, then install it, otherwise.
I dont know whether it is possible for doing so? if yes, how?
Thanks in advance.
I'm pretty sure you could add this redistributable to the bootstrapper package Visual Studio generates. This may help you out. But no, ClickOnce cannot detect if it's been installed.
I think you may be misunderstanding what ClickOnce does. ClickOnce copies files from a server to a client and keeps them in sync. That's it. Most ClickOnce apps have a few prerequisites they need to run (.NET Framework, C++ Runtime, etc). Visual Studio will help you with these and create a bootstrapper that bundles all these together. That has nothing to do with ClickOnce, it's just some stuff they threw in VS to help you out. Visual Studio will also create an html page for you with links to the ClickOnce app and the bootstrapper exe; again, just Visual Studio helping you, not ClickOnce.
The only prerequisite that has some "smarts" behind it is the .NET Framework. That's because the html page that gets generated can look at the browser's UserAgent string and tell what versions of the framework are installed. For all other prerequisites, it's up to you to write code to handle things or up to the user to know whether they need to run the install or not.
If your app can start up without the prereq, you could write code to check if it's installed and then warn the user or download and launch the install. That's about as good as you can do.