I have read in some of the ClickOnce posts that ClickOnce does not allow you to create a desktop icon for you application. Is there any way around this?
In Visual Studio 2005, ClickOnce does not have the ability to create a desktop icon, but it is now available in Visual Studio 2008 SP1. In Visual Studio 2005, you can use the following code to create a desktop icon for you when the application starts.
I have used this code over several projects for a couple of months now without any problem. I must say that all my applications have been deployed over an intranet in a controlled environment. Also, the icon is not removed when the application is uninstalled. This code creates a shortcut to the shortcut on the start menu that ClickOnce creates.
private void CreateDesktopIcon()
{
ApplicationDeployment ad = ApplicationDeployment.CurrentDeployment;
if (ad.IsFirstRun)
{
Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly();
string company = string.Empty;
string description = string.Empty;
if (Attribute.IsDefined(assembly, typeof(AssemblyCompanyAttribute)))
{
AssemblyCompanyAttribute ascompany =
(AssemblyCompanyAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(
assembly, typeof(AssemblyCompanyAttribute));
company = ascompany.Company;
}
if (Attribute.IsDefined(assembly, typeof(AssemblyDescriptionAttribute)))
{
AssemblyDescriptionAttribute asdescription =
(AssemblyDescriptionAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(
assembly, typeof(AssemblyDescriptionAttribute));
description = asdescription.Description;
}
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(company))
{
string desktopPath = string.Empty;
desktopPath = string.Concat(
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Desktop),
"\\",
description,
".appref-ms");
string shortcutName = string.Empty;
shortcutName = string.Concat(
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Programs),
"\\",
company,
"\\",
description,
".appref-ms");
System.IO.File.Copy(shortcutName, desktopPath, true);
}
}
}
}