ClickOnce Deployment with a Database as a Prerequisite

I have a Winforms application that I want to publish using ClickOnce. This application comes with an initial database, which must be installed once on a per-machine basis. After much ado, I have landed on the idea of using a custom pre-requisite to install the 开发者_运维技巧.sdf file. I have used Bootstrapper Manifest Generator (BMG) to create a package for the .cmd file I want to run, and I have included the .sdf file as an "additional file."

My expectation was that the two files would end up in the same directory, and I would be able to copy the .sdf file to the place where I want it (They do end up in the same directory.) The pre-requisite shows up in Visual Studio just fine. It get's deployed to the client system just fine, and the setup program kicks off the prerequisite just fine.

The only problem is that the current working directory that the .cmd file is executing is C:\Documents and Settings\\Desktop!

Neither of the two files (.cmd or .sdf) are located there - they were downloaded elsewhere, e.g., "C:\Documents and Settings\drogers\Local Settings\Temp\VSD5A.tmp". So, although I know where to xcopy to, I have no idea where to xcopy from.

How can I resolve this?

Here is the .cmd file:

REM Modify this file to reflect your manufacturer name [FHCRC] and product name [ClickOnceSharedDataDemo].
SET TargetBase=%ALLUSERSPROFILE%
IF NOT "%TargetBase%"=="C:\ProgramData" SET TargetBase=%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data
REM We only want to do this copy for the first user!
if exist "%TargetBase%\FHCRC\ClickOnceSharedDataDemo\shareddata.sdf" GOTO EXIT
if not exist "%TargetBase%\FHCRC" mkdir "%TargetBase%\FHCRC"
if not exist "%TargetBase%\FHCRC\ClickOnceSharedDataDemo" mkdir "%TargetBase%\FHCRC\ClickOnceSharedDataDemo"
CACLS "%TargetBase%\FHCRC\ClickOnceSharedDataDemo" /E /T /C /G "Users":C
xcopy shareddata.sdf "%TargetBase%\FHCRC\ClickOnceSharedDataDemo\"
if not exist "%TargetBase%\FHCRC\ClickOnceSharedDataDemo\shareddata.sdf" PAUSE
if not exist "%TargetBase%\FHCRC\ClickOnceSharedDataDemo\shareddata.sdf" exit /B -1
:EXIT
PAUSE
exit /B 0

Thanks, David

Well, I am not altogether happy with this solution, but it works. I now have two prerequisites. the first is just the command file which runs the CACLS commands to set permissions. It is basically a shortened version of the above:

REM Modify this file to reflect your manufacturer name [Manufacturer] and product name [ProductName].
SET TargetBase=%ALLUSERSPROFILE%
IF NOT "%TargetBase%"=="C:\ProgramData" SET TargetBase=%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data
REM We only want to do this copy for the first user!
if exist "%TargetBase%\Manufacturer\ProductName\shareddata.sdf" GOTO EXIT
if not exist "%TargetBase%\Manufacturer" mkdir "%TargetBase%\Manufacturer"
if not exist "%TargetBase%\Manufacturer\ProductName" mkdir "%TargetBase%\Manufacturer\ProductName"
CACLS "%TargetBase%\Manufacturer\ProductName" /E /T /C /G "Users":C
:EXIT
ECHO exit /B 0

The second prerequisite is an "all users = true" setup project which has a custom folder located at default location: "[CommonAppDataFolder][Manufacturer][ProductName]". Into this folder I put the sdf file.

Finally, I used Bootstrapper Manifest Generator to make packages for both, making the second dependent on the first. I copied the packages to the appropriate VS2010 directory, included them as prerequisites, and published.

I now have per-machine .sdf files published to both WinXP and Win7. Why does this have to be so difficult!?!?

I'm still looking for less complicated solutions, that will install to both Windows 7 and Windows XP.

Did you try MSDeploy? It is able to fulfil all your needs.

Cheers!

You could just include the .sdf file with the ClickOnce application, then have your program copy it to somewhere else the first time it runs. I never recommend keeping the data in the CLickOnce cache anyway, it's safer to handle it yourself. See if this article helps at all: http://robindotnet.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/where-do-i-put-my-data-to-keep-it-safe-from-clickonce-updates/