Deployment issue

[jwebb]

I didn't see a deployment forum so I apologize if this should have been posted elsewhere.

As a beginning programmer with VS2005, I would like to publish my first application. I would like to make this available to many end-users without forcing them to install VS for themselves. I understand that once published, the setup file for the new user includes the .net 2.0 framework which each end-user would have to have, but upon completion of the install there is an error which says that EnvDTE 8.0.0.0 needs to be in the GAC cache. I have no idea what this is and why it occurs. I do know that if Visual Studio 2005 is installed on the end-user machine (making the .net framework already available) this is not an issue. But again, I don't want to register some 20 people for the VS2005 express editions just to run my apps.

Sorry if this is elementary, but I am at my wit's end.

Thank you.

 

[JohnH]

I didn't see a deployment forum so I apologize if this should have been posted elsewhere.

Moved to VB.Net Deployment forum. Have a browse at our index page, we got over 90 forums here, nicely organized in sections for Visual Studio, Visual Basic .Net, ASP.Net, CF.Net, DataBase etc.

ClickOnce publishing is easy to do in VB2005, there is an option to check include Framework and create Setup.exe in Prerequisites dialog.

 

[jwebb]

I have included the .net framework as you suggested in the deployed setup file. But, once the setup file is activated and .net framework is installed on the end-user machine, I receive the error mentioned above when I try and run the application.

Grateful for any help.

 

[JohnH]

There isn't an option to include the framework in the setup file, but there are three options where the ClickOnce setup bootstrapper checks if it is already installed and if not downloads and installs it from (a) Microsoft, (b) same location as the setup file, or (c) a given location. So it sounds as you are not deploying the Framework properly.

I didn't say so before, but there is no need for users to install the development tools to use a .Net application, only the .Net Framework redistributable of appropriate version is needed.