WPF Application Publishing Guide

When publishing WPF applications, ask the user about deployment and installer preferences.

---

Ask User: Deployment Method

Which deployment method do you need?

1. Framework-Dependent - Small size (~1MB), requires .NET runtime
2. Self-Contained - Includes runtime (150-200MB), no dependencies
3. Single-File - One executable (50-80MB compressed)

---

Ask User: Installer Technology

Which installer/update technology do you prefer?

1. Velopack (Recommended) - Modern, fast updates, delta updates
2. MSIX - Windows Store, enterprise deployment
3. NSIS - Traditional installer, full control
4. Inno Setup - Simple, widely used
5. None - Portable/xcopy deployment

---

Quick Reference

Deployment Methods

Method	Size	Startup	Requirements
Framework-Dependent	~1MB	Fast	.NET runtime
Self-Contained	150-200MB	Fast	None
Single-File	150-200MB	Medium	None
Single-File + Compressed	50-80MB	Slower	None

Installer Technologies

Technology	Auto-Update	Delta Updates	Store	Complexity
Velopack	✅	✅	❌	Low
MSIX	✅	✅	✅	Medium
NSIS	Manual	❌	❌	High
Inno Setup	Manual	❌	❌	Medium

---

WPF Limitations

⚠️ PublishTrimmed: Not supported (reflection-heavy) ⚠️ PublishAot: Not supported (WPF incompatible)

---

Basic Commands

# Framework-Dependent
dotnet publish -c Release

# Self-Contained
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true

# Single-File (WPF)
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true \
  -p:PublishSingleFile=true \
  -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true

---

Additional Resources

• WPF Single-File: See WPF-SINGLE-FILE.md
• Size Optimization: See SIZE-OPTIMIZATION.md
• Installer Options: See INSTALLERS.md