WPF ClickOnce – Can i have my cake and eat it too?

posted in: Uncategorized | 0

BronwenWeeGo.jpgI want my cake and be able to eat it too..can anybody help me?

My scenario..I’ve got a WPF application that i want to install and pass a parameter to put into the installing user’s configuration file and i want to use a single link from a web page.

At the moment I have 2 options:

The Install Link: which will call setup.exe on the application package.  It checks and installs the necessary prereqs and then the application.

The Launch link – it installs the application without checking for prereqs.

So you’re saying..go with the install link right? Well the launch link allows me to specific a parameter on the query string e.g. ?Username=Bob which then puts that in the appropriate place in the user’s config file on install.  I can’t find a way to do this using the install link 🙁

How can I check prereqs, install app and populate a user config in one go?  I really don’t want the user to have to know to install the prereqs themselves or have to make the choice…and i’d really like to pass some info on install to make the application work a little nicer.

I have seen one workaround which stores the querystring data to a cookie, and on startup of the application retrieves this cookie and places the information in the correct location.

Has anyone else come across this problem or am I just trying to do too much in one go?