You may even choose to add a launch condition for a registry, Windows Installer,

.NET Framework, or Internet Information Services (IIS).

Visual Studio .NET adds two nodes, Search for File1 and Launch Conditions, to the launch conditions editor. Figure 12-20 displays the launch conditions editor.

FIGURE 12-20 The launch conditions editor

The properties of the Search for File1 node allow you to specify the properties of the file to be searched during installation. The properties of the Launch Conditions nodes allow you to specify the message to be displayed if the required file is not found.

Summary

In this chapter, you learned about the basics of deploying a Windows application. Deploying a Windows application allows you to execute a Windows application that you have created on a computer other than the computer on which you created the application. To enable you to deploy an application, Visual Studio .NET provides you with deployment project templates. A deployment project in Visual Studio .NET is a project that enables you to create an installation program to ensure successful deployment of your application on another computer.

292 Project 1 CREATING A CUSTOMER MAINTENANCE PROJECT

Next, you learned about the various deployment project templates available in C#. The simplest way to deploy a Windows application is to convert the application to a CAB file. A CAB file is a zipped form of your project. Another deployment project that Visual Studio .NET provides you is the Setup project. The Setup Project template creates the installer files, called MSI files, that the users can install on their machines to deploy the application.In addition to a CAB or Setup project, you can create a Merge Module project by using the templates provided by Visual Studio .NET. A Merge Module project is used to combine the application files, resource files, registry files, and Setup files in a single package. Visual Studio .NET also provides you with a Setup wizard that you can use to create these deployment projects.

Finally, you learned about the deployment editors, which allow you to specify information, such as the location where you need to deploy the project, the method of deployment, registry information, and so on, while creating a deployment project. By default, Visual Studio .NET contains six types of deployment editors.These editors include the file system, registry, file type, user interface, custom action, and launch conditions editors.

PART IVProfessional Project 2

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Project 2

Creating the

Employee Records

System (ERS)

Project

Project 2 Overview

The Employee Records System (ERS) is a utility that will be used by the human resources department to view the records of employees in the organization. The basic purpose of such a system is to assist the HR personnel in finding details of the employees.

In this project, I will take you through the process of building the ERS application using the TreeView, ListView, and StatusBar controls and interacting with an XML file.

In the previous project, you learned to develop a Windows application for a car maintenance company. In this project, you will learn to create another Windows application, an Employee Records System (ERS) that displays the details of employees.