How can you edit the description, author, etc. for the built exe in MS visual C# 2008?

Question

I have finished my program in c#, hit build solution, and grabbed the exe out of the bin folder in my project directory. I noticed the description under the filename was "WindowsFormApplication1". I browsed briefly through any fields in the solutions explorer I might change, but nothing worked. Am I doing the right thing to release my program, and/or where can you change that description? I would like to just pass the exe around.

Answer 1

Two methods.

1. Right click on project=>properties=>Application=>Assembly Information...

2. Solution Explorer=>Project=>Properties folder=>AssemblyInfo.cs

Answer 2

You can change them in the project properties at Application -> Assembly Information....
If you're concerned about the meta data in general, you may want to disable the pdb at Build -> Advanced... -> Debug Info or the assembly will contain the full path to the .pdb file, wich usually contains the user name.

Answer 3

I'd like to add that in case you're working with multiple projects in one solution, one could create a separate build properties file. This way you don't need to set the properties per project.

1. Create the file Directory.Build.Props in the solution folder.

2. Add the following properties

   <Project>
       <PropertyGroup>
           <Version>1.0.0.0<Version>
           <AssemblyVersion>1.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
           <FileVersion>1.0.0.0</FileVersion>
           <Company>Stack Exchange Inc.</Company>
           <Authors>Jeff Atwood, Joel Spolsky</Authors>
           <Copyright>user contributions licensed under cc by-sa. rev 2020.10.26.37891</Copyright>
       </PropertyGroup>
   </Project>