Problem Testing ClickOnce from LocalHost

Question

User-1809947162 posted

I am trying to test a ClickOnce deployment using LocalHost.  

I have a web site project called “JazzSoftware”, and a VB project called “Jazz”.  Jazz is deployed as a ClickOnce application invoked from JazzSoftware.

When I promote both JazzSoftware and Jazz to production, when the “Run Jazz” link on the web site is clicked JazzSoftware executes
    Response.Redirect("~/Jazz/Jazz.application?" & QStr)
This invokes Jazz and everything works as it should.

However when I run JazzSoftware from Visual Studio with LocalHost “Run Jazz” fails with message
Cannot Start Application
Cannot continue.  The application is improperly formatted.  Contact the application vendor for assistance.

Details include
        + Exception reading manifest from http://localhost:65354/Account/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fJazz%2fJazz.application%3fUserid%3drobertb%26Status%3dA%26Site%3dJazz%26Expiry%3d2020.01.01%26DownLoad%3d14%2520Jan%25202017%252016%3a26&Userid=robertb&Status=A&Site=Jazz&Expiry=2020.01.01&DownLoad=14%20Jan%202017%2016:26: the manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened.
        + DTD is prohibited in this XML document.

I get the same results with
    Response.Redirect("http://localhost:65354/Jazz/Jazz.application?" & QStr)
    Response.Redirect("/Jazz/Jazz.application?" & QStr)

I can invoke the production version with
    Response.Redirect("http://www.jazzsoftware.co.nz/Jazz/Jazz.application?" & QStr)

If I navigate to Jazz/Jazz.application and click it, the latest (=test) version of Jazz starts up normally.  Without a query string obviously, but that’s OK.

I tried putting the file path into the Response.Redirect: -
If Debugger.IsAttached Then
    Response.Redirect("C:\path\Jazz\Jazz.application?" & QStr)
Else
    Response.Redirect("~/Jazz/Jazz.application?" & QStr)
End If

The debugger showed that the expected Response.Redirect was invoked, but nothing happened – no messages, the program wasn’t invoked.  I don’t know whether it’s relevant, but the whole path is quite long – 100 characters including the bits shown.  

I tried using a file URI, but both
    Response.Redirect("file:///Jazz/Jazz.application?" & QStr)
    Response.Redirect("file://localhost:65354/Jazz/Jazz.application?" & QStr)
brought response “Corrupted Content Error”.

What do I do next?  I’m out of ideas, and I haven’t found anything useful by searching the web.

FWIW, I'm using Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, .NET 4.0

Thank you, Robert

Answer 1

User-2057865890 posted

Hi Robert,

One of the manifest files in the deployment is syntactically not valid, or contains a hash that cannot be reconciled with the corresponding file. This error may also indicate that the manifest embedded inside an assembly is corrupted. Re-create your deployment and recompile your application, or find and fix the errors manually in your manifests.

#Troubleshooting Specific Errors in ClickOnce Deployments

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229001.aspx

Best Regards,

Chris

Answer 2

User-1809947162 posted

Thank you Chris.

I had a look at

#Troubleshooting Specific Errors in ClickOnce Deployments

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229001.aspx

The most relevant heading is "Error: "Cannot start the application".  Under this it says

Verify that your file paths are not longer than 100 characters. If your application contains file paths that are too long, you may exceed the limitations on the maximum path you can store. Try shortening the paths and reinstall.

This seems likely.  I had noted that my path was "C:\path\Jazz\Jazz.application?" & QStr but also said that it was quite long.  With "path" replaced the actual path is
C:\Users\Advanced Computers\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\JazzSoftware\Jazz\Jazz.application

which is actually 110 characters.  So I'll try this out tomorrow morning, and let you know how it goes.

Answer 3

User-1809947162 posted

That didn't work.  Nor did another build (publish), even though the Jazz build was error free.  So I guess I have to find and fix the errors in the manifest.   How do I do this?  Or better yet, how do I prevent the errors when I build Jazz?

Answer 4

User-2057865890 posted

Hi Robert,

Cannot Start Application
Cannot continue.  The application is improperly formatted.  Contact the application vendor for assistance.

Take a look at https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/smondal/2012/08/24/signaturedescription-could-not-be-created-for-the-signature-algorithm-supplied/ and have a try. Note: Every time that you update the manifest you must also sign it again.

reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms228996.aspx

Best Regards,

Chris