Running Click Once Application

I'm trying to use a Click Once .appref-ms file as the Master Application.

This file type is similar to a shortcut link for Click Once Applications generated with Visual Studio.

If I browse and select the Application startup icon from the Desktop.
It should add the Path as "c:\Users\MyUserName\Desktop\ClickOnceApp.appref-ms"

But instead it adds to the path the actual directory where it is installed.
This seems to work.. but now it is using a "hard-coded" path.

"C:\Users\MyUserName\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\ASDKFJHASDFPORWEOPJER.wk9\KASDKLKBN0923497\ClickOnceApp.exe"

If the ClickOnce Application has an update it will install it in another directory.

But the Master Application Path is still launching the Old Version of the App.


If I make a small .EXE stub program to Launch this .appref-ms file it works once.. but will not restart if the KEEP RUNNING option is on.

Is there a way to use the .appref-ms file?

Shortcut links will not work because they are not the actual process that is running. Secure Lockdown uses the c# "process.start()" method to launch applications and monitor the state of applications. The master app must be persistant and have a process handle that Secure Lockdown can monitor. Note that this really only applies if you're using the "Keep Running" option. Otherwise, Secure Lockdown will only need to launch the app once and will not monitor its state thereafter.

Basically, the master app needs to be one that you can find in the Task Manager/Processes screen and remains there while running. This is what Secure Lockdown monitors if Keep Running is selected.

Question: Does it monitor the PID of the exe or the process name?


....

BTW. Process.Start(.) can run appref-ms files with ease!
If you could do an advanced Master Application option for running a clickonce app it would make you a number 1 in the market.

You could do it by making the Process.Start run the appref-ms file itself and have the secure-lockdown  monitor the process name. or you could simply interpret the appref-ms file at runtime this way it would support application updates...

What do you think?

We believe we have fixed this issue based on the limited testing we were able to do. It should now handle both ".lnk" files (shortcuts) and ".appref-ms" files (ClickOnce). We will have these fixes in our next release due out this week.

appref-ms is NOT working with Keep Running (and Keep Maximized) enabled under Master Application !!! The app will start infinity instances (with a short delay) and it will NOT be Maximized. Process name is set to My App.exe. Could it be that Secure Lockdown not are able to handle spaces in Process name ???

How do we solve this issue ????


With kind regards Ole


A little info:

Platform: Windows 8 on a Lenovo tablet.
Secure Lockdown version: latest (standard), just download. We have uninstalled the previous version, rebooted, installed the latest version.

At the moment we have to use the direct path to the clickonce-app. But this is not a valid solution, since the clickonce-app sometimes upgrade it self.

Please send your settings backup file to techsupport@inteset.com. You can retrieve the bac file by going to the Help > Export / Import tab.