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c#visual-studio-2022publish

Why is the "Publish" dialog not showing up in Visual Studio?

I recently watched a video tutorial on how to publish a C# application as a single-file .exe using Visual Studio. In the video, when the creator clicks "Publish," they are presented with a dialog offering various options like "Azure," "ClickOnce," "Docker Container Registry," etc. (see attached image).

However, when I click "Publish" in my Visual Studio, I don't see this dialog. Instead, I'm either getting a simplified view or different options.

I'm using Visual Studio 17.12.0 and working on a Windows Forms app project.

What could be causing this "Publish" dialog to not appear as expected? Do I need to install certain extensions or adjust settings? Has anyone encountered this issue and found a solution?

Thanks in advance!

Additional Information:

  • Visual Studio Version: 17.12.0
  • Project Type: Windows Forms app
  • Installed Workloads: ASP.NET, Azure development, .NET desktop development

I expected to see the full "Publish" dialog with all the options like "Azure," "ClickOnce," and "Docker Container Registry," as shown in the tutorial I watched. However, when I tried to publish my Windows Forms app, I only saw a simplified publishing screen with fewer options. I've attached a screenshot of what I see when I click "Publish" in my Visual Studio.

Solution

  • This issue happens because your the target framework of your project is .NET Framework instead of .NET Core or .NET. In .NET Framework projects, the publish wizard presents a different set of options.

    This is because .NET Framework projects use an older publish system, which does not support the modern publish options available in .NET Core or .NET, which offer integrated options like Docker, Azure, and a new interface for ClickOnce. So there appears a dialog offering various options like "Azure," "ClickOnce," "Docker Container Registry," etc: enter image description here

    In contrast, .NET Framework projects display a classic publishing wizard that allows you to choose options such as publishing to a local folder or an FTP server, like this: enter image description here

    Reference documents:

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/deployment/deployment-guide-for-developers https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/deploying/