The C#/Vb.Net Code action makes it very easy to define custom update activity within a software update. Just drop a C#/Vb.Net Code Action into your action list and immediately write .Net code to define your update behavior. The code is compiled as the update is built.

Custom Actions can still be created in Visual Studio as a separate .Net code assembly.

Within the AppLife Builder code editor, a custom action can be fully defined. The default class template includes the Execute and Rollback methods. Methods can be added to override any of the other Custom Action base class methods that the update engine supports. With full access to the deployed system, you can augment the built-in update actions with your own .Net code and easily maintain your deployed applications.

Interacting with Shared Properties

A C#/Vb.Net Code action can access the Shared Properties collection through the update Context object. Couple this ability with update action conditional expressions, and you can very easily control the update process on deployed systems using customized .Net code.

This concept is demonstrated in the Custom Actions Quick Start project.