Application Structure

[John]

Hi

I am working on an application that has several modules. Each module is
represented by an icon on an outlook like list bar on the left. I want users
to be able to select modules at installation and in the installed app the
listbar icons should reflect the modules installed. The question is how
should I structure my application in the first place (separate assemblies,
classes, what?) and how would it relate to the installation wizard to allow
me to do what I want to do?

Thanks

Regards

 

[Dmitriy Lapshin [C# / .NET MVP]]

Hi John,

I think each module should be implemented as an independent assembly. On the
other hand, all modules should implement the same interface so the host
application would have a unified way to treat the modules. All the modules
can be deployed to a separate folder (say, "Plugins"). The host application
will scan this folder for available modules on start-up and will then
display icons for the modules found and loaded.

But what could become a real obstacle is that VS .NET deployment projects do
not seem to support "componentized" installations. You will either have to
use more advanced tools such as Wise, or edit the resultant MSI file
manually with Orca or batch scripts.