Location and Directory Structure of Deployment Output Files
Prior to generating a deployment report, you can specify a location to copy the source, content, and binary files associated with those applications that you plan to deploy. By specifying a location, you can more easily find and collect those files needed for deployment. You can specify this deployment output location using the Destination Path property of the deployment diagram from which you will generate the deployment report. For more information, see How to: Generate Deployment Reports.
Overview of the Location and Directory Structure of Deployment Output Files
When you generate a deployment report, HTML and XML versions of the report are saved to the main solution folder on disk. In Solution Explorer, they appear in the system folder in which the system diagram and the deployment diagram used to generate the deployment report were created.
For each implemented application in the deployment report, a project directory is created at the specified output location. Each project directory resembles the application project hierarchy in Solution Explorer. However, the project folder name on disk is used to create this directory, not the project name in Solution Explorer. In addition, parent folders of these project folders are not included in the directory structure created. For more information, see How to: Find Paths to Deployment Output Files in Deployment Reports.
Warning
Make sure that projects and their folders on disk have unique names, even if those projects have different names in Solution Explorer and their folders on disk have different parent folders. Renaming projects in Solution Explorer does not change their assembly names or their folder names on disk. For example, if you rename a Windows project from "MyGeneratedName" to "MyRenamedProject" in Solution Explorer, then that project is compiled as "MyGeneratedName.exe" instead of "MyRenamedProject.exe"; its project folder name remains "MyGeneratedName" on disk, and a directory named "MyGeneratedName" will be created at the output location. If a solution contains projects whose folders have the same name on disk, even if they are in different parent folders, only a single directory is created for those projects with the same name. This might cause some of the deployment output files for these projects to overwrite each other when they are copied to that single directory.
The HTML and XML versions of the deployment report describe the project directories created at the specified location and the files copied to that location. You can then use the deployment report to determine which files need to be installed on the target computers. These files will typically include binary files such as application DLLs, executable files, Web service .asmx files, Web content files including .aspx files, master .cs files, .css style sheet files, and configuration files such as Web.config and App.config files. For more information, see Application Information in Deployment Reports.
The following sections contain more information about the project directories created at the specified location depending on the application type:
Deployment Output Directory Structure for ASP.NET Applications
Deployment Output Directory Structure for Windows and Office Applications
Deployment Output Directory Structure for ASP.NET Applications
Depending on the endpoints associated with an ASP.NET application, the directory created at the specified output location will contain the following directories:
App_Code
If the application exposes one or more Web service provider endpoints, this directory contains the code-behind files for those Web services.
App_WebReferences
If the application consumes one or more Web services, this directory contains another directory called "\ApplicationName\WebServiceProxies", which contains the .discomap and .wsdl files for the corresponding Web services that are consumed.
Bin
If the application exposes one or more Web content provider endpoints, this directory contains application DLLs, assemblies, associated manifest files, and executables.
Images
If any image files are included as part of an application that exposes Web content provider endpoints, this directory contains those files.
The Web.config application configuration file and all other content files such as .asmx, .aspx (and .aspx.cs), .master (and .master.cs), and .css files are located in the top-level directory.
Deployment Output Directory Structure for Windows and Office Applications
For a Windows or Office application, the project directory created at the specified output location will contain a "Bin" directory. Depending on the solution's build configuration when the deployment report is generated, this "Bin" directory will contain a "Debug" or "Release" directory, which contains application assemblies, associated manifest files, and executables. The project directory will also contain a "Web References" directory, if the application consumes one or more Web services, and the App.config application configuration file.
Note
When the deployment report is generated, the assembly manifest, AssemblyName.dll.manifest (or AssemblyName.exe.manifest), for a Windows application is copied to the same directory in which the assembly is located. However, the application's configuration file is named App.config instead of MyApplicationName.exe.config and is placed in the application's directory. In order for Windows to locate and load the configuration file at run time, the deployment process needs to copy the App.config file to the location of the application's executable or DLL file and then rename App.config to MyApplicationName.exe.config.