Visual Studio .NET allows you to create shortcuts to the user’s desktop and the user’s program menu. To create a shortcut to the user’s desktop, drag the shortcut to the User’s Desktop folder. However, to add a shortcut to the user’s program menu, drag the shortcut to the User’s Program Menu folder in the file system editor. After adding the shortcut, you can build the project.

In this section, you learned about the file system editor. The following section discusses all the default editors in detail.

Deployment Project Editors

As discussed earlier, while creating a deployment project, you need to specify the information, such as the location where you need to deploy the project, the method of deployment, the registry information, and so on. In addition, you might want to add customized information for the installation of the deployment project. To enable you to specify all this information, Visual Studio .NET provides you with several deployment project editors. By default, there are six deployment project editors. The following sections will look at each of the deployment project editors in detail.

The File System Editor

The file system editor is the default editor that is displayed when you create a deployment project in Visual Studio .NET. You can use the file system editor to add files and folders to your deployment project. By default, the file system editor contains the Application Folder, the User ’s Desktop folder, and User’s Program Menu folder. The folder structure displayed in the file system editor corresponds to the folder structure that will be created on the user’s machine. However, Visual Studio .NET allows you modify the default folder structure by adding additional folders to the file system editor.

To add additional folders, perform the following steps:

1.Right-click on the File System on Target Machine option.

2.From the displayed list, select the Add Special Folders option.

A list containing the available folders is displayed. You can select any option to add the corresponding folder to the file system editor. These folders include Fonts Folder, User’s Personal Data Folder, Windows Folder, User’s Favorites Folder, and so on.

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key selected in the navigation pane. The navigation pane contains the name and the values for the corresponding registry entry.

As discussed earlier, you can add registry keys to the registry on the user’s computer by using the registry editor. The following section discusses adding registry keys to the registry editor.

Adding Registry Keys to the Registry Editor

To add a registry key to the registry editor, perform the following steps:

1.Select the registry key in the navigation pane.

2.On the Action menu, select the New Key option.

A new registry key gets added to the selected registry key. You can rename the registry key as required.

Similar to adding registry keys, you can also add values to new or existing keys.

Adding Registry Values to Registry Keys

To add a registry value, perform the following steps:

1.Select the registry key for which you want to add a value.

2.On the Action menu, point to the New option.

The list that is displayed allows you to add a string, binary, or DWORD type value to the registry keys. Select the String Value, Environment String Value, Binary Value, or DWORD Value options to add the corresponding key value.

When you install the application on the user’s machine, the registry values are written to the registry of the user’s computer. If values exist for a registry key, the new value is overwritten to the registry key.

Visual Studio .NET also allows you to import an existing registry file to the registry editor, as discussed in the following section.

Importing Registry Files

A registry file with an extension .reg can be included in the registry editor by performing the following steps:

1. In the registry editor, select the Registry on Target Machine option.

2.On the Action menu, click on the Import option.

3.The Import Registry File dialog box is displayed.

4.Browse for the required registry file, and click on the Open button to import the registry file to your project.

The File Types Editor

Visual Studio .NET allows you to specify any file type or file association on the user’s computer by using the file types editor. To create a file association, you need to associate the file extension with the application that you have created. You can then associate an action to be performed for all file types that you identify. For example, you can associate your application with a Microsoft Word document (.doc file) or a Microsoft Excel worksheet (.xls file). Associating an application with a file type creates an executable file. For example, for a Microsoft Excel worksheet, an executable file, EXCEL.exe, is created. When a file with an extension of .xls is opened, the executable file EXCEL.exe is launched.

Similar to the other editors, you can access the file types editor from the Editor option on the View menu.The file types editor does not contain any file type yet. You will now learn to add a file type to the file type editor.

Adding File Types to the File Type Editor

To add a file type to the file type editor, perform the following steps:

1.Select the File Types on Target Machine option in the file type editor.

2.On the Action menu, click on the Add File Type option.

Visual Studio .NET creates a new file type for your deployment project. Rename this file MyFileType. This file type does not have a file extension associated with it.

Associating a File Extension to the File Type

You can now associate a file extension to the MyFileType file type by performing the following steps:

1.Select the MyFileType file type in the file type editor.

To associate a file extension, change the Extensions property of the file type.

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2.In the Properties window, click on the Extensions property.

3.Type the value of the Extensions property as xls.

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The value for the Extensions property is not preceded with a period.

The file extension that you type is added to the name of the file type, MyFileType. However, you have not yet added an executable file to the file type.

Adding an Executable File to the File Type

To add an executable file to the file type, perform the following steps:

1.Select the MyFileType file type in the file type editor.

To add an executable file, change the Command property of the file type.

2.In the Properties window, click on the ellipsis button of the Command property.

3.The Select Item in Project dialog box is displayed.

4.In the Select Item in Project dialog box, select the folder in which you want to add the file from the Look in: list box and click on the Add File button.

You may also add an output file or an assembly by clicking on the Add Output or Add Assembly button, respectively.

5.The Add Files dialog box is displayed.

6.Browse for the executable file (EXCEL.exe file) and click on the OK button.

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You can add an icon to the executable file by associating the icon file with the icon property of the file type.

As discussed earlier, you can specify the actions to be performed on the file with the .xls extension.The following section describes specifying an action.

Specifying an Action to be Performed on the File with the .xls Extension

When you create a file t ype, the Open action is created for you by default. However, you can add more actions to be performed on the file. To specify an action, perform the following steps:

1.Select the MyFileType file type in the file type editor.

2.On the Action menu, click on the Add Action option. A new action is added to the MyFileType file type.

3.Rename the action &Save.

4.In the Properties window, select the Verb property and type the value of the Verb property as Save.

The value in the Verb property is used to identify the action to be performed when the user selects the Save option from the shortcut menu.

In addition to adding actions to the file types, you can specify a default action to be performed when the user double-clicks on a file with the .xls extension. You can create the default action Open. To do this, perform the following steps:

1.Right-click on the Open action.

2.Select the Set As Default option.

Figure 12-15 displays the file type editor.

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FIGURE 12-15 The file type editor

User Interface Editor

You have seen the installation process of the Customer Maintenance project. During the installation process, the dialog boxes that are displayed are created by Visual Studio .NET. You can make changes to these dialog boxes or may even add new dialog boxes in Visual Studio .NET. In addition, you can change the properties of the default dialog boxes. To do this, Visual Studio .NET provides you with a user interface editor. Similar to any other editor, you can access a user interface editor from the Editor option on the View menu. Figure 12-16 displays the user interface editor.

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As you can see, the custom action editor contains the Install, Commit, Rollback, and Uninstall folders by default. These folders represent the stages of the installation process. You can add custom actions to any of these folders.

To add custom actions to the installation process, perform the following steps:

1.Select any folder to which you want to add a custom action.

2.On the Action menu, select the Add Custom Action option.

3.The Select Item in Project dialog box is displayed.

4.Select a folder in the Look in: list box.

5.To add a file, an output file, or an assembly that contains the custom action, click on the Add File, Add Output, or Add Component button, respectively.

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Before adding a custom action to the installation process, you must compile your custom action in the form of executable files, such as .dll or .exe, or scripts, such as VBScript (.vbs file) or JScript (.js file).

6. Click on the OK button to add the custom action.

The Launch Conditions Editor

When you install an application, the installation process must follow some conditions. These conditions may include the availability of certain files, the required operating system, or the required registry keys. You can apply these conditions by using the launch conditions editor. Applying conditions ensures the successful installation and deployment of the application. To access the launch conditions editor, access the Editor option on the View menu.

To add a launch condition, perform the following steps:

1.Select the Requirements on Target Machine option in the launch condition editor.

2.On the Action menu, select the Add File Launch Condition option.