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Software development
Chapter 7 – Application
distribution and sales
Contents
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Your applications on your devices
Windows Store developer account
Distributing applications
Publishing your app in the Store
Essential Visual Studio windows
Assignments
Questions and answers
Your applications on your devices
• You may not need a Windows 8 touch screen
device for testing during the development
period
• Light testing can be performed with the Visual
Studio simulator
• Final testing should be done on a real device,
such as a tablet
Visual Studio simulator
Microsoft Surface -tablet
Installing applications
• The way Windows 8 is constructed prevents
direct installation of Windows 8 applications
–
This way the data security of the whole operating
system is kept at a high level
• However, as a developer, you can transfer your
application to a device through Visual Studio
• Normal users can install applications only
through the Windows Store
Transferring applications
1. Open your Visual Studio project.
2. Ensure that the application can be built without errors.
From the Build menu, choose Rebuild.
3. From the list of choices on Visual Studio's toolbar, choose
Device as the deployment target.
4. Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable.
5. Click on Build/Deploy in Visual Studio.
6. After a moment, your application should be transferred to
the device. Disconnect the USB cable. You should now see
your application in the device's Start screen.
Choosing the target device in Visual
Studio
Windows Store developer account
• To sell and distribute your applications in the
Windows Store, you will need a developer
account
• This account enables to send your application to
Microsoft for certification
• If your application is accepted, you may publish it
in Windows Store at a price of your choice (or for
free, in which case we would talk about
distribution)
Acquiring a developer account
• Anyone who pays the annual account activation
fee on a credit or debit card can get a developer
account
• At the moment the annual fee is 20€ for private
individuals and 75€ for companies
• After paying to fee, you can submit an almost
unlimited number of application for sale and
distribution
• Registration: http://dev.windows.com/
Developer account's dashboard
Distributing applications
• You can decide how widely you want to
distribute and sell it
• You may choose any and all of the 80
Microsoft Store-supported countries
–
The number of supported countries is increasing,
so your business possibilities keep getting better
• Especially if your application is in English, you
may not need to limit the number of countries
Matters of note
• Distributing applications globally may require
changes in the application
• The most concrete example is translating the
interface
• You may also have to think about the used
colors, icons, sounds, and the direction text is
read
Application detail in the Store, note
the number of languages
Publishing an application in the store
• Publishing your app in the Store begins by ensuring
that:
–
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your application's features are finished
it's appearance and usability are as polished as possible
• In the most recent 2013 version of Visual Studio the
publishing process has been made quicker with
automated processes
• The publication of Windows 8 applications ss a webbased
Information needed for publishing
• The application title
–
This title is what users use to find your application in the Store
• The countries where your application will be distributed or sold
(and the possible price range)
–
The most popular pricing options are the lowest 1-2 euro prices, such
as 1.19€, 1.69€, 1.99€, and 2.49€
• A deployment package
–
The APPX file contains your applications compiled binary file and
related supporting files
• Graphics, screen captures, and a short description
–
The application is presented in the Store with its title, graphics, and
screen captures
The manifest file
• The manifest file is a part of every Windows 8
application
–
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It includes the technical details required by the store
For example: system requirements, available
languages, etc.
• You can locate the manifest file in Visual Studio
by using the Solution Explorer window
• The manifest file is XML-based, and it can be
edited in Visual Studio and manually in XML code
The manifest file
Editing it Visual Studio
Submitting your application
• Once you're application is finished, tested,
and its manifest file is ready, it's time so
submit your app to Microsoft for certification
• There are two ways to do this:
–
–
Use a web broser to log into your developer
account at dev.windows.com
Start the process from Visual Studio
Creating a distribution package
• In Visual Studio you can click on the Store
menu and choose Create App Packages
• This command creates a deployment package
of your application and combines it with the
manifest file to a bundle that is sent to
Microsoft
Create App Packages
Prepared deployment package
• There are four steps to the submission process
• Once these steps have been successfully
passed, Visual Studio will create an .APPX file
in the project folder
• Next you must upload the application package
to the Store
–
You can do this in Visual Studio with the Upload
App Packages command
Prepared deployment package
Essential Visual Studio windows
• Visual Studio 2013 is a versatile development
tool, and its intended for both amateur and
professional use
• Being familiar with your tools helps you
develop applications faster
• We will now go through the most essential
Visual Studio windows
Solution Explorer
• The Solution Explorer is one of the most
important Visual Studio's sub-windows
• It's used primarily to manage the files
connected to your application
–
It can be used as a useful search tool for your
whole application
–
you can search files by name, or classes and
methods in the program code.
Solution Explorer
Toolbox
• The Toolbox window contains all the
components you can use to design your
application's interface
• The contents of the Toolbox window will
change according to the currently active Visual
Studio mode
–
If you're designing an XAML interface, Toolbox will
display the available interface components
Toolbox
Properties
• Properties window is usually positioned in the
lower right corner of the Visual Studio main view.
• Properties displays information of the selected
object and lets you edit the object-specific
properties
• Sometimes the Properties window will not be
visible and you must bring it up
–
The Properties keyboard shortcut is F4
Properties
Team Explorer
• The Team Explorer is your gateway to source control and its
features
• Source control between different developers is necessary
when more than one person is working on the project at a
time
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source control can be useful even for solitary developers, so it
shouldn't be underestimated.
• Team Explorer gives you access to Microsoft's own source
control service, known as Team Foundation Server (TFS)
–
Git source control is also supported
Team Explorer
Assignments
1. Find out how many countries you can distribute
your applications to at the most. Estimate how
many consumers you could reach.
2. Name three things you should take into account
when creating multi-language versions of your
application.
3. Consider how providing a trial version of your
application might increase its sales.
Questions and answers 1
I have finished my Windows 8 application and would
like to sell it in the Windows Store. What should I do?
• Ensure that you have registered a developer account
either as a private developer or as a company
• Ensure that you have completed the approval process
for your credit card. This will take approximately 3-4
days.
• After this you can create a deployment package as
described in this chapter and submit it to Microsoft at
dev.windows.com.
Questions and answers 2
In the manifest file I can choose which features my application uses,
such as location data, voice, contact book, etc. How will I know which
features I must choose?
• As a developer you must inform Microsoft of the technical features
(such as network traffic, phone location, etc.) your application uses
• The final inspection of the features used by the application is
performed during the certification process, so accidentally made
wrong choices will be fixed before the application is distributed and
sold.
• The certification process is interrupted, however, if the made
choices are radically different from reality.
Questions and answers 3
Where can I find more information on Microsoft's cloudbased source control system?
• Microsoft's cloud-based free source control service for
under five users is called Visual Studio Online Basic
(earlier know as Team Foundation Service).
• More information on the service and the registration
page can be found at www.visualstudio.com.
• Visual Studio has a direct connection to this service
through the Team Explorer window.