VS2008 Setup Project: Shared (By All Users) Application Data Files?

Question

fellow anthropoids and lily pads and paddlewheels!

I\'m developing a Windows desktop app in C#/.NET/WPF, using VS 2008. The app is required to install and run on Vis

Answer 1

i like below concept, some stuff taken from above

1. Right-click your setup project in the Solution Explorer and pick "View -> File System".

2. Right-click "File system on target machine" and pick "Add Special Folder -> Custom Folder".

3. Rename the custom folder to "Common Application Data Folder." (This isn't the name that will be used for the resulting folder, it's just to help you keep it straight.)

4. Change the folder's DefaultLocation property to "[CommonAppDataFolder][Manufacturer][ProductName]". Note the similarity with the DefaultLocation property of the Application Folder, including the odd use of a single backslash.

5. Marvel for a moment at the ridiculous (yet undeniable) fact that there is a folder property named "Property." Babies full of rabies, who comes up with this shit?

6. Change the folder's Property property to "COMMONAPPDATAFOLDER".

string userAppData = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
string commonAppData = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData); 

Answer 2

This worked for me using VS2005 but I had to change the DefaultLocation, I added a '\' to separate the CommonAppDataFolder.

[CommonAppDataFolder]\[Manufacturer]\[ProductName]

Don't know if this was a typo but Lyman did refer to the odd use of a single backslash but this does not seem correct.

Answer 3

I had the same issue. The setup project gives the user the option to install the app "for the current user only" or "for all users:. Consequently, the database file would end up in either the current user's or the All Users application data folder. The setup would have to write this information somewhere so that the application can later retrieve it, when it comes to accessing the database. How else would it know which application data folder to look in?

To avoid this issue, I just want to install the database in the All Users/Application Data folder, regardless if the application was installed for one user or for all users. I realize, of course, that two users could not install the application on the same computer without overwriting each other's data. This is such a remote possibility, though, that I don't want to consider it.

The first piece of the puzzle I got here:

Form_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  // Set the db directory to the common app data folder
  AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetData("DataDirectory", 
            System.Environment.GetFolderPath
           (System.Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData));
}

Now we need to make sure that the data source contains the DataDirectory placeholder. This piece came from here. In the DataSet designer, find the DataSet's properties, open the Connection node and edit the ConnectionString property to look as follows:

Data Source=|DataDirectory|\YourDatabase.sdf

Then I followed Lyman Enders Knowles' instructions from above for how to add the Common Application Data Folder to the setup project and placed the database file in that folder.

I then followed Ove's suggestion from above, i.e. I checked the "Enable ClickOnce Security Settings" and selected "This is a full trust application.

After that, the application deployed fine on Vista and the database file was accessible for both reads and writes.

Answer 4

I'm not sure if this will help in your case or not.

But if you add a private section to your app's config file

You can specify extra folders to check in your app.

If what you are saying is that you want to be able to install into other folders on the machine, then that is a problem. Essentially the whole reason that MS has restricted this stuff is to keep malicious code off machines where the user is unaware of what they are installing.

So, this won't work if you need another directory. What this fix does is allow you to specify where within your app to search for files......

Answer 5

I solved it this way. I kept the database file (.sdf) in the same folder as where the application is installed (Application Folder). On the security tab in the properties window for the main project, i checked the "Enable ClickOnce Security Settings" and selected "This is a full trust application", rebuilt and ran the setup. After that no security problem

I am using Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Vista

Answer 6

I have learned the answer to my question through other sources, yes, yes! Sadly, it didn't fix my problem! What's that make me -- a fixer-upper? Yes, yes!

To put stuff in a sub-directory of the Common Application Data folder from a VS2008 Setup project, here's what you do:

1. Right-click your setup project in the Solution Explorer and pick "View -> File System".

2. Right-click "File system on target machine" and pick "Add Special Folder -> Custom Folder".

3. Rename the custom folder to "Common Application Data Folder." (This isn't the name that will be used for the resulting folder, it's just to help you keep it straight.)

4. Change the folder's DefaultLocation property to "[CommonAppDataFolder][Manufacturer]\[ProductName]". Note the similarity with the DefaultLocation property of the Application Folder, including the odd use of a single backslash.

5. Marvel for a moment at the ridiculous (yet undeniable) fact that there is a folder property named "Property."

6. Change the folder's Property property to "COMMONAPPDATAFOLDER".

Data files placed in the "Common Application Data" folder will be copied to "\ProgramData\Manufacturer\ProductName" (on Vista) or "\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Manufacturer\ProductName" (on XP) when the installer is run.

Now it turns out that under Vista, non-Administrators don't get modify/write access to the files in here. So all users get to read the files, but they get that in "\Program Files" as well. So what, I wonder, is the point of the Common Application Data folder?