How to open prerequisite retrieval application

Question

I have an application that cannot use OneClick publishing.

I still want to access those nice prerequisite (applications?) that install .NET and XNA for you when you create a OneClick publisher.

I can check if the frameworks are needed via the registry, but is there anyway to get something similar to what the setup.exe consists of in a publish?

Answer 1

ClickOnce creates a "setup.exe" that checks for prerequisites (like the .NET Framework and XNA), downloads and installs them from Microsoft's servers, and then invokes your ClickOnce manifest. It is possible to create a setup.exe that installs just prerequisites and then does nothing.

The best way to do this is to with an MSBuild script. The creation of "setup.exe" is performed by the <GenerateBootstrapper> task. The MSDN entry gives the various parameters you can customise (and also a minimal MSBuild example).

Because Visual Studio project files are MSBuild scripts, I find it convenient to embed it in one, as you can then just drop it into your solution. Here is a complete project file that does what you need:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <Configuration Condition=" '$(Configuration)' == '' ">Generate</Configuration>
    <Platform Condition=" '$(Platform)' == '' ">x86</Platform>
    <ProductVersion>8.0.30703</ProductVersion>
    <SchemaVersion>2.0</SchemaVersion>
    <ProjectGuid>{B65DD26E-6A17-47E0-A21B-E7AF0F156610}</ProjectGuid>
    <OutputType>Library</OutputType>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Generate|AnyCPU' ">
    <OutputPath>bin\Ignore\</OutputPath>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="Readme.txt" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <!-- Unused, in theory -->
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
  <ItemGroup>
    <BootstrapperPackage Include=".NETFramework,Version=v4.0,Profile=Client">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <ProductName>Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile %28x86 and x64%29</ProductName>
      <Install>true</Install>
    </BootstrapperPackage>
    <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Xna.Framework.4.0">
      <Visible>False</Visible>
      <ProductName>Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable 4.0</ProductName>
      <Install>true</Install>
    </BootstrapperPackage>
  </ItemGroup>
  <Target Name="Build">
    <GenerateBootstrapper
        BootstrapperItems="@(BootstrapperPackage)"
        ApplicationName="Install Prerequisites"
        OutputPath="Installer\" />
    <Copy SourceFiles="Installer\setup.exe" DestinationFiles="Installer\Install Prerequisites.exe" />
    <Delete Files="Installer\setup.exe" />
  </Target>
</Project>

(Put the above in a text file and give it a .csproj extension. It's tested in Visual C# Express 2010. I've also put in some tasks to rename the output to something nice.)

Typically <BootstrapperPackage> is used to indicate items to the BootstrapperItems parameter (like in regular projects using ClickOnce), but this naming is arbitrary. The above project file generates an install for XNA 4 and .NET 4 Client Profile. If you wanted to change these, you could copy them from a dummy project with ClickOnce configured.

If you want to have your installer launch a program, after it is done installing prerequisites, you can set the ApplicationFile parameter.

(Note that the GenerateBootstrapper task, as used by ClickOnce, won't appear in your regular project files - it's invoked somewhere inside Microsoft.CSharp.targets.)