Running RIA Applications Without Using ClickOnce or Without Launching the Publish HTML File (Magic xpa 3.x)

Challenge

Once a RIA application is published, a publish HTML file is created, meaning that a browser needs to be used (that supports ClickOnce).

Since in some cases using ClickOnce is not possible, how can we run RIA applications without starting a browser / without using ClickOnce?

Solution

Using ClickOnce

Simply run the application manifest (http://riademo.magicsoftware.com/ – Magic Software's Magic xpa RIA Demo application).

You can run it via the command line (Start->Run). The main benefit of using this method is that ClickOnce deploys and also automatically upgrades the client files.

Not using ClickOnce

To be able to use this option, you should copy all the files from the correct RIAModules\Desktop directory. This means that this option is only feasible if the users are known and can be controlled.

Method 1 – Execute MgxpaRIA.exe using execution.properties.

For example: MgxpaRIA.exe /ini=execution.properties

This file should contain the correct server name, application name, etc. If the execution.properties file is in the same directory as the MgxpaRIA.exe file, you can simply execute the MgxpaRIA.exe file – it will automatically look for the execution.properties file.

Method 2 – Execute MgxpaRIA.exe with parameters from the command line.

The MgxpaRIA.exe file is available at \RIAModules\Desktop directory.

The format of the command line is as follows:

MgxpaRIA.exe protocol= server= requester= appname= prgname= for example: MgxpaRIA.exe protocol=http server=localhost requester=MagicScripts/MGrqispi.dll appname=RIATrans prgname=RC