Ho do you publish application updates

[emblewembl]

I've got 2 clients with c# applications installed and these need updates fairly regularly. I am looking into the idea of putting updates online and adding a 'Get Updates' button to the software so that they can download and install the updates as and when they are released.

I know you can set an application up to look for online updates in the publish wizard but I need the user to be able to control when these updates are installed.

Is there any way to do this? I'm having trouble finding much information about this!

Thanks.....

i love chocolate

 

[JurkMonkey]

I would have the application Check on startup if new updates are available by connecting to a webserver and requesting the latest version.

If a newer version is available then grab it.

You can find the version of each file using System.IO

DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo();

FileInfo[] fi = di.GetFiles("*.*);

foreach (FileInfo in fi)
{
fi.FileCreatedDate; //or whatever properties are in here
}

 

[NeilTrain]

I saved myself a lot of headaches by just buying this:

http://www.powerprogrammer.co.uk

Have been using it for about 6 months without a hitch.

The problem with FileInfo.CreatedDate is that the created date is the date the file was installed on the user PC. You may have built the EXE on Jan 5th, but if the user installed it today, it has todays date, therefore is considered newer than a build you may have on the server built yesterday.

If your going to use a file attribute, use the version # instead.

 

[JurkMonkey]

NeilTrain,

You make a very good point. We often store the version in a file and compare that too. You can do this for each required file that exists.

Nice.