Question

I’m using Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition. I wrote an application for Windows Mobile and I would like to create the installer for this application. How does it do?

Answer 1

You’ll need to package your application up in a CAB file.

To do this is quite easy – you just create a new ‘Smart Device CAB Project’ (New Projet->Other project types->Setup and Deployment).

To start with – specify that you want the output from your application’s exe project to go in the Application Directory, along with any other dependent dlls.

You may also want to create an icon for your application by right clicking File System On Target Machine, selecting Add Special Folder->Start Menu Folder, then right clicking again in the Start Menu Folder and selecting Create New Shortcut. Now point this shortcut at the exe for your application.

Depending on the requirements of your project, it may also be desirable to create a desktop installer (msi file) that your users can run directly on their Windows PC, which instructs ActiveSync to install your cab file automatically when the Windows Mobile device is next plugged in. Basically this is done by calling ActiveSync (CeAppMgr.exe) from the command line and passing it an ini file referencing your cab file.

If you need to do anything else more complex during your installation, it is also possible to write a ‘custom action’ where the cab file calls out to another dll (written by you) to execute any additional steps that need to happen during the install.

A comprehensive guide to all the above is available here