Question

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?

Answer 1

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);             }         }     } }