<file> Element (ClickOnce Application)

Article
03/28/2012

Identifies all nonassembly files downloaded and used by the application.

<file
    name
    size
    group
    optional
    writeableType
>
    <typelib
        tlbid
        version
        helpdir
        resourceid
        flags
    />
    <comClass
        clsid
        description
        threadingModel
        tlbid
        progid
        miscStatus
        miscStatusIcon
        miscStatusContent
        miscStatusDocPrint
        miscStatusThumbnail
    />
    <comInterfaceExternalProxyStub
        iid
        baseInterface
        numMethods
        name
        tlbid
        proxyStubClass32
    />
    <comInterfaceProxyStub
        iid
        baseInterface
        numMethods
        name
        tlbid
        proxyStubClass32
    />
    <windowClass
        versioned
    />
</file>

Elements and Attributes

The file element is optional. The element has the following attributes.

Attribute	Description
name	Required. Identifies the name of the file.
size	Required. Specifies the size, in bytes, of the file.
group	Optional, if the optional attribute is not specified or set to false; required if optional is true. The name of the group to which this file belongs. The name can be any Unicode string value chosen by the developer, and is used for downloading files on demand with the ApplicationDeployment class.
optional	Optional. Specifies whether this file must download when the application is first run, or whether the file should reside only on the server until the application requests it on demand. If false or undefined, the file is downloaded when the application is first run or installed. If true, a group must be specified for the application manifest to be valid. optional cannot be true if writeableType is specified with the value applicationData.
writeableType	Optional. Specifies that this file is a data file. Currently the only valid value is applicationData.

typelib

The typelib element is an optional child of the file element. The element describes the type library that belongs to the COM component. The element has the following attributes.

Attribute	Description
tlbid	Required. The GUID assigned to the type library.
version	Required. The version number of the type library.
helpdir	Required. The directory that contains the Help files for the component. May be zero-length.
resourceid	Optional. The hexadecimal string representation of the locale identifier (LCID). It is one to four hexadecimal digits without a 0x prefix and without leading zeros. The LCID may have a neutral sublanguage identifier.
flags	Optional. The string representation of the type library flags for this type library. Specifically, it should be one of "RESTRICTED", "CONTROL", "HIDDEN" and "HASDISKIMAGE".

comClass

The comClass element is an optional child of the file element, but is required if the ClickOnce application contains a COM component it intends to deploy using registration-free COM. The element has the following attributes.

Attribute	Description
clsid	Required. The class ID of the COM component expressed as a GUID.
description	Optional. The class name.
threadingModel	Optional. The threading model used by in-process COM classes. If this property is null, no threading model is used. The component is created on the main thread of the client and calls from other threads are marshaled to this thread. The following list shows the valid values: Apartment, Free, Both, and Neutral.
tlbid	Optional. GUID for the type library for this COM component.
progid	Optional. Version-dependent programmatic identifier associated with the COM component. The format of a ProgID is <vendor>.<component>.<version>.
miscStatus	Optional. Duplicates in the assembly manifest the information provided by the MiscStatus registry key. If values for the miscStatusIcon, miscStatusContent, miscStatusDocprint, or miscStatusThumbnail attributes are not found, the corresponding default value listed in miscStatus is used for the missing attributes. The value can be a comma-delimited list of the attribute values from the following table. You can use this attribute if the COM class is an OCX class that requires MiscStatus registry key values.
miscStatusIcon	Optional. Duplicates in the assembly manifest the information provided by DVASPECT_ICON. It can provide an icon of an object. The value can be a comma-delimited list of the attribute values from the following table. You can use this attribute if the COM class is an OCX class that requires Miscstatus registry key values.
miscStatusContent	Optional. Duplicates in the assembly manifest the information provided by DVASPECT_CONTENT. It can provide a compound document displayable for a screen or printer. The value can be a comma-delimited list of the attribute values from the following table. You can use this attribute if the COM class is an OCX class that requires MiscStatus registry key values.
miscStatusDocPrint	Optional. Duplicates in the assembly manifest the information provided by DVASPECT_DOCPRINT. It can provide an object representation displayable on the screen as if printed to a printer. The value can be a comma-delimited list of the attribute values from the following table. You can use this attribute if the COM class is an OCX class that requires MiscStatus registry key values.
miscStatusThumbnail	Optional. Duplicates in an assembly manifest the information provided by DVASPECT_THUMBNAIL. It can provide a thumbnail of an object displayable in a browsing tool. The value can be a comma-delimited list of the attribute values from the following table. You can use this attribute if the COM class is an OCX class that requires MiscStatus registry key values.

comInterfaceExternalProxyStub

The comInterfaceExternalProxyStub element is an optional child of the file element, but may be required if the ClickOnce application contains a COM component it intends to deploy using registration-free COM. The element contains the following attributes.

Attribute	Description
iid	Required. The interface ID (IID) which is served by this proxy. The IID must have braces surrounding it.
baseInterface	Optional. The IID of the interface from which the interface referenced by iid is derived.
numMethods	Optional. The number of methods implemented by the interface.
name	Optional. The name of the interface as it will appear in code.
tlbid	Optional. The type library that contains the description of the interface specified by the iid attribute.
proxyStubClass32	Optional. Maps an IID to a CLSID in 32-bit proxy DLLs.

comInterfaceProxyStub

The comInterfaceProxyStub element is an optional child of the file element, but may be required if the ClickOnce application contains a COM component it intends to deploy using registration-free COM. The element contains the following attributes.

Attribute	Description
iid	Required. The interface ID (IID) which is served by this proxy. The IID must have braces surrounding it.
baseInterface	Optional. The IID of the interface from which the interface referenced by iid is derived.
numMethods	Optional. The number of methods implemented by the interface.
Name	Optional. The name of the interface as it will appear in code.
Tlbid	Optional. The type library that contains the description of the interface specified by the iid attribute.
proxyStubClass32	Optional. Maps an IID to a CLSID in 32-bit proxy DLLs.
threadingModel	Optional. Optional. The threading model used by in-process COM classes. If this property is null, no threading model is used. The component is created on the main thread of the client and calls from other threads are marshaled to this thread. The following list shows the valid values: Apartment, Free, Both, and Neutral.

windowClass

The windowClass element is an optional child of the file element, but may be required if the ClickOnce application contains a COM component it intends to deploy using registration-free COM. The element refers to a window class defined by the COM component that must have a version applied to it. The element contains the following attributes.

Attribute	Description
versioned	Optional. Controls whether the internal window class name used in registration contains the version of the assembly that contains the window class. The value of this attribute can be yes or no. The default is yes. The value no should only be used if the same window class is defined by a side-by-side component and an equivalent non-side-by-side component and you want to treat them as the same window class. Note that the usual rules about window class registration apply—only the first component that registers the window class will be able to register it, because it does not have a version applied to it.

versioned

Optional. Controls whether the internal window class name used in registration contains the version of the assembly that contains the window class. The value of this attribute can be yes or no. The default is yes. The value no should only be used if the same window class is defined by a side-by-side component and an equivalent non-side-by-side component and you want to treat them as the same window class. Note that the usual rules about window class registration apply—only the first component that registers the window class will be able to register it, because it does not have a version applied to it.

hash

The hash element is an optional child of the file element. The hash element has no attributes.

ClickOnce uses an algorithmic hash of all the files in an application as a security check, to ensure that none of the files were changed after deployment. If the hash element is not included, this check will not be performed. Therefore, omitting the hash element is not recommended.

If a manifest contains a file that is not hashed, that manifest cannot be digitally signed, because users cannot verify the contents of an unhashed file.

dsig:Transforms

The dsig:Transforms element is a required child of the hash element. The dsig:Transforms element has no attributes.

dsig:Transform

The dsig:Transform element is a required child of the dsig:Transforms element. The dsig:Transform element has the following attributes.

Attribute	Description
Algorithm	The algorithm used to calculate the digest for this file. Currently the only value used by ClickOnce is urn:schemas-microsoft-com:HashTransforms.Identity.

dsig:DigestMethod

The dsig:DigestMethod element is a required child of the hash element. The dsig:DigestMethod element has the following attributes.

Attribute	Description
Algorithm	The algorithm used to calculate the digest for this file. Currently the only value used by ClickOnce is http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#sha1.

dsig:DigestValue

The dsig:DigestValue element is a required child of the hash element. The dsig:DigestValue element has no attributes. Its text value is the computed hash for the specified file.

Remarks

This element identifies all the nonassembly files that make up the application and, in particular, the hash values for file verification. This element can also include Component Object Model (COM) isolation data associated with the file. If a file changes, the application manifest file also must be updated to reflect the change.

Example

The following code example illustrates file elements in an application manifest for an application deployed using ClickOnce.

  <file name="Icon.ico" size="9216">
    <hash>
      <dsig:Transforms>
        <dsig:Transform Algorithm="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:HashTransforms.Identity" />
      </dsig:Transforms>
      <dsig:DigestMethod Algorithm="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#sha1" />
      <dsig:DigestValue>lVoj+Rh6RQ/HPNLOdayQah5McrI=</dsig:DigestValue>
    </hash>
  </file>

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