WinForm DPI issue

Question

There was this issue:

WinForm looks different than in VS designer

I thought I solved with this one:

https://stackoverflow.com/a/13228495/1806838

I used the app.manifest one.

<dpiAware>true</dpiAware>

After that all seemed to be OK. It looks perfect if I debug or if I run the application from the folder where I build it. (app\app\bin\Release\app.exe). But if I copy the executable outside that folder (for e.g. to my Desktop, and I run it then it looks like this (the right one obviously):

It's like the app.manifest is not embedded, but I checked the settings and it seems to be OK. Also, I made sure that in the app properties the correct manifest file is being selected.

Any ideas?

EDIT: So, it seems if the app.exe.manifest is in the same folder then it looks good, otherwise it's not.

EDIT2: I found that I have 2 app.mainfest files. One is app\app\app.manifest and the other one is app\app\Properties\app.manifest. So I deleted both and added a very new one having the DPI setting in it. I still have the same issue. Checked the app.manifest properties and the Build Action is set to None. Shall I change it?

EDIT3: I addedd app.manifest to the Resources and set app -> Properties -> Manifest to be Resources\app.manifest. Still the same.

Curious. If you copy that folder to the desktop and then run the exe, does it work? Perhaps there's a file in that folder that is silently helping out. — Millie Smith, Jan 15 '16 at 08:36
@MillieSmith Correct. This is the case. And there is a file called `app.exe.manifest` which is suspicious. — fishmong3r, Jan 15 '16 at 08:43
But no. I copied only the exe and the exe.manifest. But apparently that's not enough. — fishmong3r, Jan 15 '16 at 08:47
Hmm... do a binary search with the files. Keep removing half of them :D. — Millie Smith, Jan 15 '16 at 08:49
@MillieSmith OK, I tried with the wrong exe... Sorry. So yes, `app.exe.manifest` is the one. So if it is not in the same folder, then it looks awful. — fishmong3r, Jan 15 '16 at 08:59
I'm going to fall asleep... it's really late... but try to embed the manifest file in the exe somehow. — Millie Smith, Jan 15 '16 at 09:09

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 18 '16 at 08:05

1

So, after trying to compile the app.manifest for 3 days, I added another setting to see whether it's going to be applied. This was the run as admin:

<requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false" />

And when I tried to build with that I got an error message stating that it's not compatible with ClickOnce. And this was the point when I realized what a moron I am. After disabling ClickOnce via app -> Properties -> Security -> uncheck Enable ClickOnce security settings everything is just working perfectly. It seems that if it's enabled then it ignores the manifest.

I'm really sorry for the time of people tried to help wasted.

answered Jan 18 '16 at 08:05

fishmong3r

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Glad you got it working. Don't worry about the time. That's part of programming. – Millie Smith Jan 18 '16 at 18:33
@MillieSmith I know, it's just sometimes frustrating when you are on the wrong path for long time. Anyway, thank you for your help, it is really appreciated. – fishmong3r Jan 18 '16 at 18:37

WinForm DPI issue

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