Question

I have taken over support for a VB.Net WinForms application. When this application is installed via a ClickOnce installation it generates a shortcut on the desktop. The annoying thing, though, is that if you do a right click and properties on the shortcut that was created, it is clear that it is not a regular shortcut as it does not have a target tab, so it is not obvious from the shortcut properties what this shortcut is referencing. So my questions relating to this are: what is the idea behind this kind of shortcut? Why is the the target for this type of shortcut hidden? (What are they even called? This is the first time I have ever seen a ClickOnce installation, so was somewhat surprised when I found that the properties tab was missing.) How do you find out what executable is being referenced by the shortcut?

Answer 1

ClickOnce shortcuts – like those created by .Net setup programs – are ‘advertised shortcuts’, where the operating system validates the program before running it – and, if necessary, runs a MSI Repair on it. There’s no way to determine the target .exe from the shortcut.