Creating a C# MSI Installer with IronBarCode

What Prerequisites Do I Need Before Starting?

Before starting the project, please download the Microsoft Visual Studio Installer Projects extension for the MSI build to work. Additionally, ensure you have installed IronBarCode via NuGet in your project.

How Do I Create the Initial MSI Installer Project?

For this example, use a Windows Forms App (.NET Framework) project to demonstrate its functionality. This approach provides a familiar UI paradigm for desktop barcode scanning applications.

How Do I Add a Button to the Windows Form?

• Navigate to the ToolBox
• Search for Button
• Add the button by dragging and dropping onto the Windows form

How Do I Edit the Button Code to Handle Barcode Scanning?

Double-click on the button component to access the C# code of the form. Below is the logic for the form component—it takes in a barcode and attempts to scan it. This code only scans images and does not work for PDFs. Use the ReadPdf method for PDF documents. For comprehensive barcode reading options, refer to the barcode reader settings documentation.

using IronBarCode;
using IronSoftware.Drawing;
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace MsiInstallerSample
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingMode = IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingModes.All;
            IronSoftware.Logger.LogFilePath = "Default.log";

            IronBarCode.License.LicenseKey = "IRONBARCODE-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01";

            using (OpenFileDialog openFileDialog = new OpenFileDialog())
            {
                openFileDialog.Filter = "Image files (All files (*.*)|*.*";

                if (openFileDialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
                {
                    try
                    {
                        // Load the selected image
                        using (Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(openFileDialog.FileName))
                        {
                            // Process the image
                            AnyBitmap anyBitmap = AnyBitmap.FromBitmap(bmp);

                            // Configure barcode reader options (customize as needed)
                            var option = new BarcodeReaderOptions
                            {
                                Speed = ReadingSpeed.Detailed,
                                ExpectMultipleBarcodes = true,
                                ScanMode = BarcodeScanMode.Auto,
                            };

                            BarcodeResults result = IronBarCode.BarcodeReader.Read(anyBitmap, option);

                            if (result.Count > 0)
                            {
                                string output = string.Empty;
                                foreach(var barcode in result)
                                {
                                    Console.WriteLine($"Barcode Found: {barcode.Text}");
                                    output += barcode.Text + "\n";
                                }

                                MessageBox.Show($"Detected Barcodes: \n{output}");
                            }
                            else
                            {
                                MessageBox.Show("No Barcode found.");
                            }
                        }
                    }
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        MessageBox.Show($"{ex.Message}");
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

using IronBarCode;
using IronSoftware.Drawing;
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace MsiInstallerSample
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingMode = IronSoftware.Logger.LoggingModes.All;
            IronSoftware.Logger.LogFilePath = "Default.log";

            IronBarCode.License.LicenseKey = "IRONBARCODE-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01";

            using (OpenFileDialog openFileDialog = new OpenFileDialog())
            {
                openFileDialog.Filter = "Image files (All files (*.*)|*.*";

                if (openFileDialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
                {
                    try
                    {
                        // Load the selected image
                        using (Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(openFileDialog.FileName))
                        {
                            // Process the image
                            AnyBitmap anyBitmap = AnyBitmap.FromBitmap(bmp);

                            // Configure barcode reader options (customize as needed)
                            var option = new BarcodeReaderOptions
                            {
                                Speed = ReadingSpeed.Detailed,
                                ExpectMultipleBarcodes = true,
                                ScanMode = BarcodeScanMode.Auto,
                            };

                            BarcodeResults result = IronBarCode.BarcodeReader.Read(anyBitmap, option);

                            if (result.Count > 0)
                            {
                                string output = string.Empty;
                                foreach(var barcode in result)
                                {
                                    Console.WriteLine($"Barcode Found: {barcode.Text}");
                                    output += barcode.Text + "\n";
                                }

                                MessageBox.Show($"Detected Barcodes: \n{output}");
                            }
                            else
                            {
                                MessageBox.Show("No Barcode found.");
                            }
                        }
                    }
                    catch (Exception ex)
                    {
                        MessageBox.Show($"{ex.Message}");
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

// For PDF documents, use ReadPdf method
if (Path.GetExtension(openFileDialog.FileName).ToLower() == ".pdf")
{
    var pdfResults = BarcodeReader.ReadPdf(openFileDialog.FileName, option);
    // Process PDF results similar to image results
}

// For PDF documents, use ReadPdf method
if (Path.GetExtension(openFileDialog.FileName).ToLower() == ".pdf")
{
    var pdfResults = BarcodeReader.ReadPdf(openFileDialog.FileName, option);
    // Process PDF results similar to image results
}

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

How Do I Add a Setup Project to Create the MSI?

After setting up the form and its controller logic, add a Setup Project to the existing solution to create an MSI installer. The Setup Project allows you to build an installer for the application you just created. This process packages all necessary components, including IronBarCode dependencies, into a single deployable unit.

Right-click on the solution, then go to Add > New Project...

For the MSI installer, build the MsiInstallerSample project again in Release mode. Right-click on the Setup Project, then go to Add > Project Output...

To ensure the MSI installer runs smoothly, you must include the following three files in your setup project: onnxruntime.dll, IronBarcodeInterop.dll, and ReaderInterop.dll. These files are generated when you build the project in Release mode:

• onnxruntime.dll: Located at MsiInstallerSample\MsiInstallerSample\bin\Release
• IronBarcodeInterop.dll: Located at MsiInstallerSample\MsiInstallerSample\bin\Release\runtimes\win-x86\native
• ReaderInterop.dll: Located at MsiInstallerSample\MsiInstallerSample\bin\Release\runtimes\win-x86\native

If any of these files is missing, you may encounter the following exception message, as noted in this troubleshooting article: Missing DLLs in Creating MSI Installer

Finally, build the Setup Project. The installer will be located at: MsiInstallerSample\SetupProject\Release

How Do I Run and Test the MSI Installer?

Install the application with the MSI file to ensure everything runs smoothly. Testing should cover both installation and uninstallation scenarios to verify proper deployment.

Where Can I Download the Complete Sample Project?

You can download the complete code for this guide. It comes as a zipped file that you can open in Visual Studio as a WinFormApp project. The sample includes all necessary configuration and demonstrates best practices for MSI deployment.

Download the WinForm MSI App Project