Installing applications using Microsoft ClickOnce technology

The ClickOnce Microsoft technology will install a Windows application from a single link on a web page.

In practice it is a file (setup.exe or .application), which allows the Windows system to start the installation by recovering all the necessary files from the WEB server. This technology can also work via the network neighborhood. The installed applications have the ability to be automatically updated by Windows when a new version has been published to the original location.

Installing examples from this site

This site offers to install applications presented in articles and tickets using ClickOnce technology.

On the basis of an example, here is how the installation works:

1. first of all it is necessary to be connected with a registered user on the WEB site. If this is not the case, the user is redirected to the login / registration page
2. the browser downloads the setup.exe installer . eventually the browser asks for confirmation:

   

3. in case the browser does not automatically run the setup.exe program, the user must launch it manually. The browser can raise a security alert related to the absence of digital certificate on the program. You have to confirm by clicking on “execute”:

   

4. When the setup is started by Windows, a new digital certificate check results in the following window, where you have to click “install”:

   

5. The setup checks the prerequisites of the installation (for the apps of this site it is generally the presence of the .net 4.6.2 framework):

   

6. Windows then downloads the application files and installs:

   

7. Then the application is launched. For example, “EasingFunctionDemo” available here: WPF C# Easing Function demo application

   

8. The examples of this site are placed in the Start menu under the entry franckgaspoz.fr. You will find there a shortcut to the ClickOnce link that allows you to launch the app and a link to the page of this website that relates to the app:

   

Uninstalling

1. From the “Programs & Features” control panel, find the previously installed app, then right-click on it and select “Uninstall”:

   

2. Then confirm the intention to uninstall the application by clicking on “ok”: