Build or Publish?

[shers]

Hi,

I have developed a VB.NET Windows multi-user database application. This application is used within the company. The back end is SQL 2008 Express. The connection string is given in the application settings, so obviously it goes to the app.config file. This was done to change the SQL server in the long run. Certain data is read from an xml file to display items in a combo box. So with all these aspects in mind, could any expert out there suggest whether I should release the application using Build or Publish?

Thanks

 

[JohnH]

"Build" is not a means of deployment, it just compiles the code to assembly. What you're really asking here is if you should use an installer or just copy all files out manually, I'd prefer using some kind of installer in all cases of deployment, even if it was just to copy an exe to a particular folder and create a shortcut to it.