Windows Forms 2.0 Programming

19. ClickOnce Deployment

SO FAR, THIS BOOK HAS FOCUSED ON THE development of Windows Forms applications. At some point, though, a Windows Forms application needs to be deployed. The traditional means for doing so is via a setup application or, more recently, a Microsoft Installer (MSI) file. Both vehicles are fine for packaging application installations, although the trick is to get them executed on the desired client machines and then keep them up-to-date.

Web applications, on the other hand, offer a more primitive application and control implementation framework, but a much simpler deployment model. All that's needed to keep a web client user up-to-date is to keep the files on the web server up-to-date. Additionally, users don't have to be ...