For an ASP.NET web application that is packaged and sold to customers for deployment, what would be the best location for a “read me” file with notes about setup and configuration on the target system?
Requirements:
- The file should not be accessible by
users of the web application, only
the person doing setup and
configuration. - The file should be
consumable by the MSI installer
program, so that it can be displayed
as part of the setup wizard UI. - The solution should be simple and very
low cost. (I don’t want an elaborate
solution for just a simple text
file.)
Some thoughts I have are to copy the file to *App_Data* or to bin as those are protected folders by default, and then pull the file in from one of those locations in the setup program.
The readme should be a separate file that sits beside the MSI on the media you distribute the web app on. This is a standard practice dating from
generations agothe dark ages. If you distribute as a download from the web then have a link for the MSI, and a link for the readme.You could also include the same file into the MSI, but arguably that is the wrong place for it as the user has yet to reach the configuration stage, and unless they print it they won’t be able to refer to it later in the MSI process (if you have any configuration steps in the MSI).
Having the instructions available via the web app is also arguably wrong, as the user may have to do some initial configuration in order to reach the page telling them how to configure the app….
So ship the instructions separately to the MSI, and make sure they look okay and are easily readable when printed out. Remember these pointers:
Don’t forget to clearly distinguish between pre-install and post-install configuration instructions (even if they are in the same document) – you want to minimize the risk of the end user getting it wrong (which some of them will do no matter how hard you try).