how to update c# application using setup for instalation

Question

2.50/5 (2 votes)

See more:

Hi every one
i have project that i want to update it on my customer machine some sort of changes in forms and database happened . how can i do that ? for making install file i use vs setup and deployment

Posted 19-Sep-14 7:58am

amirbt1990

Add a Solution

Comments

[no name] 19-Sep-14 14:02pm

Too general question! Forms I think are not a big pb, simply distribute your new app. Database: Your app should recognize which revision of DB is needed.....and upgrade it if necessary. Not always an easy Task :(

amirbt1990 21-Sep-14 5:35am

yes i can do that but it should be a way to update the applications like updating windows

2 solutions

Solution 2

george4986 asked:
hi SA
I have developed a similar application for update exe versions in client machines.we are using windows forms along with web service for connecting live (Database)DB.
.On each installation i save the version in client machine along with msi file.when a new version is released ,we update the version value in a table on live DB and place new msi file on hosting machine(3 tier application).each login time application exe check the live table version with clients version and give user an info msg about new version .User needs to run updater exe for updation.while running updater application it uninstalls previous version using the old msi version stored in client machine ( string arg = "/x \"C:\\OldApplication.msi\"/qn";) , download & installs new exe( string arg1 = "/i \"C:\\Application.msi\"/qn";).updator application is working. Thanks SA for ur patience in reading this message . Is it possible to make it a single application instead of using Two exe's (updator, application) in my case?.If i have done it in a wrong way , plz enlighten me.Waiting for ur valuable suggestions.Thanks in Advance
------------------George--------------

I would not recommend it.

Let's see. In principle, this is possible. But…

First of all, updater will replace some PE files. But it is impossible to remove a PE file when it is loaded for execution. Therefore, you would need to save some temporary updated application, terminate your application, run that temporary updater, and then restart your application. Then you will need to remove that temporary updater.

Worse thing is: it is typical that installation process needs privilege elevation, while the application is typically run without elevation. So, in this case you would need to terminate the application, restart it "As Administrator", do the update and then start application again. As you see, it would defeat the purpose of merging of application and installer/updater.

Also, don't you break the integrity of your system's installation database? It's easy to modify something which is not reflected in this database, but it would break the users' ability to retrace their steps.

Really, it's much better to keep the application and its installer/updater separately.

Consider different thing: not using installation at all. This is called "portable" version of the application these days. At last, even Microsoft started to encourage such things. If you just copy your application to some directory, it can be used immediately. Of course, you if need to update the registry or something like that, you will still need the installation. Another option is to give the user the choice between "portable" and "installation" versions. This is just something to review critically.

—SA

Posted 19-Sep-14 21:15pm

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

Comments

george4986 21-Sep-14 10:43am

thanks SA ;-) for ur feed back.I will definitely check the "portable version". my 5v+ .

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 21-Sep-14 12:25pm

Thank you. Please, next time don't ask questions on someone else's page. Create a brand-new question.
—SA

george4986 21-Sep-14 22:36pm

sorry SA , I will ask my further questions as new threads.Once again Thanks ;-)

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 21-Sep-14 23:06pm

You are welcome.
Please do. I'll try to help if I can.
—SA

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-19T09:24:00

The question is too general. But, in most cases, it's the best to create a new version of software with different MSI package. Old version should be uninstalled (a copy of old MSI package is always stored and referenced from the installation database), and then new version installed.

The problem is to decide what to do with application data. It became popular to preserve all that data from old installation where it was: in one or more of the directories configured per each user account and/or all user. However, I think that a really good installed should allow the user to choose complete wipe-out of this data during uninstallation. It's too late to do to your existing installer, but you can think about it when you develop the new installation version.

Further, technical detail totally depend on what installation toolkit you use.

[EDIT]

If this simple approach cannot satisfy you by one or another reason, one alternative would be Merge Modules. Please read about them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merge_Module[^],
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa369820%28v=vs.85%29.aspx[^],
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa369820%28v=vs.85%29.aspx[^].

See also: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/y0w2est5%28v=vs.80%29.aspx[^].

I mentioned that concrete technical detail depends on what toolkit do you use for your setup project. I would like to emphasize: it should better be based on Windows Installer API, not anything else. You can learn "raw" Windows Installer for better understanding:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer[^],
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc185688%28VS.85%29.aspx[^].

—SA