OpenWebKitSharp and click once?

Question

I am trying to use the OpenWebKitSharp as a browser in my application. I managed to make it work but I can't find a way to deply it via click-once. When I put files from the library's Core directory to my debug dir app works but those files are not deployed via clickonce. If I try to include them into the project - error Could not find file 'WebKit.dll'.

Has anyone did it? Or there are maybe different decent libraries to use instead of the OpenWebKitSharp?

Answer 1

The problem is that you cannot add files that you do not reference to your click-once deployment. I think WebKit.dll is a native dll and can not be referenced like any other .net assembly, so click-once does not recognize and include your file. I see a few possibilities for you

1. use another web kit wrapper that is only one dll which is a .net assembly. I do not know if such a library exists
2. open and edit your project file to include necessary dll files. you may refer to following msdn article: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mwade/archive/2008/06/29/how-to-publish-files-which-are-not-in-the-project.aspx

What I believe is that your problem will not be solved even if you have managed to deploy all the files you require. OpenWebKitSharp uses COM to use WebKit, which requires you to register some COM dlls which itself is another headache. So, you better try to find another webkit library which has no external dependencies or as an ultimate sin, write your own installation and auto-update system which is no fun based on my experience.

Answer 2

The very good alternative is awesomium. It is distributed as a set of dlls so you can simply reference them in your project.