Running windows service that's a part of a Desktop Bridge WFP app blocks update
I have a WPF application that has been packaged using DesktopBridge into MSIX and submitted to the Microsoft Store. This application has a WPF UI component, and it also has a windows service component that runs in the background whenever the PC is turned on. The UI component is used for configuring user settings and credentials for the windows service, and the windows service is actually the main component of this app. It's designed this way because of our client's needs. The problem that I'm running into is that when we publish a newer version to the Microsoft Store, the app fails to update with an error "0x80073D02: The package could not be installed because resources it modifies are currently in use" It looks like this is caused by the running windows service, and the store app update is not able to stop the service before the update replaces the files in the VFS. When the user manually stops the windows service, the update completes just fine and restarts the windows service as expected. When testing the update using different versions of MSIX files, I noticed that appending the flag -ForceApplicationShutdown to the Add-AppPackage command will achieve what I need, but this doesn't seem to be an option in the windows application packaging project, or in the Microsoft Store submission process. I know that including a windows service within an MSIX package is a restricted capability, so is this behavior due to the usage of this restricted capability? Also, is there a fix or workaround that will allow the update process to automatically stop the windows service before trying to replace the files? Thank you for any help or suggestions, and I'm happy to provide any additional information needed.
Preview Handler with MSIX Packaging Tool?
Can anyone point me to a full example of an MSIX manifest file with a working preview handler for a custom file extension? I have developed a Windows exe and a dll preview handler for a custom file extension. I have a working Inno Setup installer that creates file associations for the file extension and assigns a preview handler so that the files can be previewed in Windows Explorer. I'm then using MSIX Packaging Tool to create an MSIX from the Inno exe installer. It mostly works and file associations are created correctly for the custom file extension. However, the preview handler doesn't work. Windows Explorer just shows 'Preview Unavailable' in the preview pane. I have found this topic, but it seems unresolved. Was this issue ever solved? Preview Handler in MSIX | Microsoft Community Hub From this I have found that entries may be missing from my manifest file for desktop2:DesktopPreviewHandler and com:SurrogateServer. However, I am new to MSIX and my efforts to add them in based on the documentation (link below) only results in an 'Unable to parse manifest' error from the MSIX Packaging Tool. The log file isn't much help showing only '[Error] System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException'. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/uwp/schemas/appxpackage/uapmanifestschema/element-desktop2-desktoppreviewhandler Can anyone point me to a working example for a manifest file for a preview handler for a custom file extension, or a good tutorial? Here's my manifest file (with specifics renamed). <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10" xmlns:uap="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10" xmlns:uap2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10/2" xmlns:uap3="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10/3" xmlns:uap10="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/uap/windows10/10" xmlns:desktop2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/desktop/windows10/2" xmlns:desktop7="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/desktop/windows10/7" xmlns:rescap="http://schemas.microsoft.com/appx/manifest/foundation/windows10/restrictedcapabilities" IgnorableNamespaces="uap uap2 uap3 uap10 desktop7 rescap"> <!--Package created by MSIX Packaging Tool version: 1.2024.405.0--> <Identity Name="CompanyName.AppName" Publisher="---------------------------------------" Version="1.1.1.0" ProcessorArchitecture="x86" /> <Properties> <DisplayName>App Name</DisplayName> <PublisherDisplayName>Publisher Name</PublisherDisplayName> <Description>App Name</Description> <Logo>Assets\StoreLogo.png</Logo> <uap10:PackageIntegrity> <uap10:Content Enforcement="on" /> </uap10:PackageIntegrity> </Properties> <Resources> <Resource Language="en-us" /> </Resources> <Dependencies> <TargetDeviceFamily Name="Windows.Desktop" MinVersion="10.0.17763.0" MaxVersionTested="10.0.22000.1" /> <PackageDependency Name="Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.1.4" MinVersion="4000.1010.1349.0" Publisher="CN=Microsoft Corporation, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US" /> </Dependencies> <Applications> <Application Id="EXENAME" Executable="VFS\ProgramFilesX86\App_Name\AppName.exe" EntryPoint="Windows.FullTrustApplication"> <uap:VisualElements BackgroundColor="transparent" DisplayName="App_Name" Square150x150Logo="Assets\APPNAME-Square150x150Logo.png" Square44x44Logo="Assets\APPNAME-Square44x44Logo.png" Description="App Name"> <uap:DefaultTile Wide310x150Logo="Assets\APPNAME-Wide310x150Logo.png" Square310x310Logo="Assets\APPNAME-Square310x310Logo.png" Square71x71Logo="Assets\APPNAME-Square71x71Logo.png" /> </uap:VisualElements> <Extensions> <com:Extension Category="windows.comServer"> <com:ComServer> <com:SurrogateServer> <com:Class AppId="64644512-C345-469F-B5FB-EB351E20129D" SystemSurrogate="PreviewHost" /> </com:SurrogateServer> </com:ComServer> </com:Extension> <desktop7:Extension Category="windows.shortcut"> <desktop7:Shortcut File="[{Common Programs}]\App_Name\App_Name.lnk" Icon="[{Package}]\VFS\ProgramFilesX86\App_Name\AppName.exe" /> </desktop7:Extension> <uap3:Extension Category="windows.fileTypeAssociation"> <uap3:FileTypeAssociation Name="ext"> <uap:SupportedFileTypes> <uap:FileType>.ext</uap:FileType> </uap:SupportedFileTypes> <uap:Logo>Assets\ext.png</uap:Logo> <uap2:SupportedVerbs> <uap3:Verb Id="open" Parameters=""%1"">open</uap3:Verb> </uap2:SupportedVerbs> <desktop2:DesktopPreviewHandler Clsid="64644512-C345-469F-B5FB-EB351E20129D" desktop10:DisplayName="AppNameEXTPreviewHandler" /> </uap3:FileTypeAssociation> </uap3:Extension> </Extensions> </Application> </Applications> <Capabilities> <rescap:Capability Name="runFullTrust" /> </Capabilities> </Package>
MEF's CompositionException issue with MSIX
I am developing a C# project relying on Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) to do its job, with Services .DLL like [Export(typeof(IPerson))] public class People : IPerson { ... } that are Lazily detected in a Factory based on public class MyFactory { [ImportMany] IEnumerable<Lazy<IPerson>> m_Crowd; private CompositionContainer m_Container; ... private void Initialized() { var catalog = new AggregateCatalog(); catalog.Catalogs.Add(new DirectoryCatalog(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory)); m_Container = new CompositionContainer(catalog); this.m_Container.ComposeParts(this); foreach (Lazy<IPerson> ppl in m_Crowd) { if (ppl != null) { var foo = ppl.Value; ... } } } The Service DLLs are placed on the same folder as the .exe, hence the catalog.Catalogs.Add(new DirectoryCatalog(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory)); Everything works fine until we decided to wrap the project in a MSIX package ("Windows Application Packaging Project"). Once the package deployed, there is a crashing Runtime error at line var foo = ppl.Value; --> System.ComponentModel.Composition.CompositionException: The composition produced a single composition error. The root cause is provided bellow. Review the CompositionException.Errors property for more details information. 1) Le fichier de la clé n'a pas été trouvé (pardon my french) Resulting in: The type initializer for 'People' threw an exception Resulting in: An exception occurred when trying to create an instance of type 'People' Resulting in: Cannot activate part 'People' Element: People --> People --> AssemblyCatalog (Assembly="People, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null") Resulting in: Cannot get export 'People' (ContractName="IPerson") --> People --> AssemblyCatalog (Assembly="People, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null") at System.ComponentModel.Composition.Hosting.CompositionServices.GetExportedValueFromComposedPart(ImportEngine engine, ComposablePart part, ExportDefinition definition) at System.ComponentModel.Composition.Hosting.CatalogProvider.GetExportedValue(CatalogPart part, ExportDefinition definition) at System.ComponentModel.Composition.Hosting.CatalogProvider.CatalogExport.GetExportedValueCore() ... at System.Lazy`1.CreateValue() ... (I cannot copy/paste from my working environment, this is a manual, obfuscated transcription) TL;DR: the main program could detect the Service DLL ("Assembly="People, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null"") but couldn't dynamically load it. I have a feeling comes from the way MSIX packaged are stored, in a weird C:\Program Files\WindowsApp\Project_1.0.0.0_x64_8wekyajsusuh\Project folder where the laws of catalog.Catalogs.Add(new DirectoryCatalog(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory)); would not correctly work. Thanks in advance for any help of this topic!Appx Package Leaves Behind DLLs on Uninstall (Pipeline vs Local Debug Build)
Hello everyone, I'm encountering an issue with my WPF application that's packaged as an appx file for sideloading. I'm new to this area, so any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Issue Overview: Pipeline Build (Release): The appx package generated in our build pipeline (with code signing) installs and runs as expected. However, after uninstalling the app, certain DLLs remain in the Windows app folder. Local Build (Debug): When I generate the appx package locally using Visual Studio in Debug mode and perform the install/uninstall on the same device, the DLLs are cleaned up properly. I didn't changed any property in the appxmanifest.xml other than the publisher name and the certificate.
MSIX package and shortcut icons
I see some strange behavior and can't explain why it is not working. I am playing around with the MSIX package and shortcut icons. I created them using the Visual Asset generator (https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9mz6qrqtdkf2?hl=en-US&gl=US) and copied them to the Assets folder. When configuring the shortcuts with the files, the shortcuts and package logo stays blank. When I open the manifest and point the entries hardcoded to the files the icons appear. Like this config below. <Application Id="PSFLAUNCHERTwo" Executable="PsfLauncher2.exe" EntryPoint="Windows.FullTrustApplication"> <uap3:VisualElements AppListEntry="default" BackgroundColor="transparent" Description="Fair Prod" DisplayName="Fair Prod" Square150x150Logo="Assets\Edge-Square150x150Logo.scale-400.png" Square44x44Logo="Assets\Edge-Square44x44Logo.scale-400.png" VisualGroup="FCA"></uap3:VisualElements> </Application> But when removing the ".scale-400" part of the files, the icons would not appear. Anyone knows what I am doing wrong here?Understanding App Isolation Behavior in MSIX: Issue with System State Restoration After Crash
We have an application built with .NET Forms, while the security components (DLLs) are developed in C++. Recently, we packaged our application using MSIX (App Isolation) and signed it with a self-signed certificate. The Application launches and functions as expected. However, when we introduce an intentional crash (e.g., a null pointer exception), the system does not restore the changes made by the application, such as hiding the taskbar. Our understanding was that App Isolation would help revert any system modifications after a crash, but it seems this isn't the case. Is this expected behavior for App Isolation in MSIX, or are we missing something in our configuration? Any insights on ensuring system state restoration would be appreciated.
