MSIX for Win32 Desktop App Goal Is Windows Store

[DaveRoach]

Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this.   I am new to MSIX but have experience in developing Windows Apps for some time.  I have a legacy learning app that I wrote in C++ and C that is very applicable for the home school market.  I have completed the product ready to be placed on the Windows Store.

I added The Installer to my solution and made a reference to the Desktop App written in C++.  The product needs many files in the correct place for it to work properly.  I can't see any way to facilitate how to place Assets of the product into particular areas during installation.  There are DLL's that the product uses as well.  How do I inform the installer where these assets are and where to place them during installation.

I am assuming the Package.appxmanifest has something to do with this.  Are there any examples of a typical C++ .exe Win32 app that has several folders it creates and fills with content on installation that I can learn from?

Thanks for your time

Dave

[#2]

@DaveRoach

When you want to build an MSIX package from a development environment, something needs to create the appxmanifest file. I'm not sure what is native in VS these days, but last I checked it would not generate one for you in any built-in setup package scenarios.  Many third party products can help you with this if you don't want to create it yourself. They can also help with creating the many versions of icons for the Assets folder.

Alternatively, if the app is really Win32 you can just capture an installation using the Microsoft MSIX Packaging tool and it will generate the manifest for you.  It doesn't do well for automating your build (although technically possible), but could get the job done.  I did my first MSIX store package that way, but have moved on to Advanced Installer to build the recent ones.