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Publish Page, Project Designer (Office Development in Visual Studio)

  • Article

The Publish page of the Project Designer is used to configure properties for deployment.

To access this page, select the project in Solution Explorer, and then, on the Project menu, choose Projectname Properties. If the Publish page is not displayed, choose the Publish tab.

Note

You can also set the publishing location in the Publish Wizard. For more information, see How to: Publish an Office Solution by Using ClickOnce.

  • Publishing Folder Location (web site, ftp server, or file path)
    Required.

    The publishing folder location is the directory to which Visual Studio copies the solution files such as the manifests, assemblies, and other files from the build. You must have write access to this directory.

    Options include the local computer, a UNC file share, or a HTTP/HTTPS web site. The path can be local (c:\foldername\publishfolder), relative (publish\), or a fully qualified location (\\servername\foldername or https://servername/foldername).

    By default, the publishing location is https://localhost/projectname/ if you have IIS installed, or the publish\ directory if you do not have IIS installed.

  • Installation Folder URL
    Optional.

    The installation folder URL is the directory from which the end user will install the customization. It is also the path that the solution will use to check for updates. The path can be the same as the publishing folder location, but this is not a requirement.

    Options include the local computer, a UNC file share, or a HTTP/HTTPS web site. The path can be local (c:\foldername\publishfolder), relative (publish\), or a fully qualified location (\\servername\foldername or https://servername/foldername). All HTTP/HTTPS locations must be created with US-ASCII characters. Unicode characters are not supported.

    If the installation path is set, the customization files must be in that location for users to install the customization. The location should be set only if you know the final deployment location.

    If the installation files are in a location relative to the document or Setup program, such as with the CD option, leave this box blank.

    This value can be assigned later by an administrator. For more information, see How to: Change the Installation Path of an Office Solution.

  • Prerequisites
    The prerequisites can be included with the Setup program or downloaded on demand during installation.

    • Download prerequisites from the component vendor's web site: Use this option to download these prerequisites from Microsoft.

    • Download prerequisites from the same location as my application: Use this option to package the prerequisites in your installer. Including the prerequisite files with the Setup program increases the size of the solution.

    • Download prerequisites from the following location: Use this option to make the prerequisites available to end users separately as another Setup program on a web page or network share.

  • Updates
    The update interval determines how often the solution checks for updates. The default is to check every seven days.

    Checking for updates every time a document-level customization or application-level add-in is loaded would keep it updated, but would affect startup performance.

    If you are deploying by using a CD or removable drive, set this to Never check for updates.

  • Options (Description)
    The publish options for the following properties can be set:

    • Publish language: the locale of the Office solution.

    • Publisher name: the company or developer name as it appears in Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features.

    • Product name: the name of the Office solution as it appears in Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features.

    • Support URL: the location for end users to contact technical support for the Office solution.

  • Options (Office Settings)
    The publish options for the following properties can be set:

    • Solution name: the name of the Office solution as it appears in the Office application.

    • Description: the description of the Office solution as it appears in the Office application.

    • Add-in Load Behavior.

      • Load at Startup: specifies that the add-in loads when the Office application starts.

      • Load on Demand: specifies that the add-in loads when the application requires it, such as when a user clicks a UI element that uses functionality in the add-in.

  • Publish Language
    This option sets the language of the Microsoft Software License Terms, and includes the language packs in the list of prerequisites. It does not affect the language of the customization. The language in the Setup program is determined by the installed languages of Visual Studio.

    For more information about how to change the Publish language, see How to: Change the Publish Language for a ClickOnce Application.

  • Publish Version
    Sets the version number for the customization. When the version number is changed, the application is published as an update. A new folder is created for each version during the build process to prevent overwriting the previously published version. Each part of the publish version (Major, Minor, Build, Revision) can contain up to five digits.

  • Automatically increment revision with each release
    Optional. When selected (the default), the Revision part of the version number is incremented by one every time the customization is published. This causes the customization to be published as an update.

  • Publish Now
    Publishes the application using the current settings. Equivalent to the Finish button in the Publish Wizard.

See Also

Concepts

Office Solution Prerequisites for Deployment

Other Resources

Deploying Office Solutions

Publishing Office Solutions by Using ClickOnce