Installing the Product
Every development machine that builds WPF applications with TX Text Control .NET for WPF gets the Windows setup of the product first. It installs the local NuGet package source for .NET projects, the assemblies for .NET Framework projects, the controls for the Visual Studio toolbox and the sample applications. Read on for the setup that fits your license, where to download it, what ends up on your machine and how a service pack updates it.
Choose the Setup
Version 34.0 of TX Text Control .NET for WPF has two setups:
| Setup | File | For |
|---|---|---|
| Full version | TX Text Control.NET for WPF 34.0 with SP5.exe | Developers with a license of the Enterprise, Professional or Standard edition. One file serves all three editions. |
| Trial version | TX Text Control.NET for WPF 34.0 Trial.exe | Evaluating the product: fully featured and free for 30 days |
There is no Express edition of TX Text Control .NET for WPF; the free TX Text Control Express is a Windows Forms product. Editions and Feature Availability compares the editions, and Licensing Overview explains the licenses.
Download the Setup
- Full version. The setup files in the Text Control license management portal are updated with each service pack. The owner of the Text Control account signs in, downloads the latest version and runs it. A developer who has a license assigned but no access to the portal receives an email with a download link for the full version.
- Trial version. On the download page of TX Text Control .NET for WPF on textcontrol.com, sign in to your Text Control account, or create one, and download the trial.
Check the System Requirements before you run the setup: Windows 10, Windows 11 or a supported Windows Server, and Visual Studio.
Run the Setup
Run the downloaded file on the development machine. By installing TX Text Control, you agree to the TX Text Control license agreement.
A single setup covers both a new installation and an update. If an earlier release of version 34.0 is installed, the setup updates it to the service pack it contains; otherwise, it installs the product from scratch.
What the Setup Installs
| What | Where | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Installation folder | C:\Program Files\Text Control GmbH\TX Text Control 34.0.NET for WPF, by default | The folders below that have no location of their own |
| .NET Framework assemblies | The Assembly folder of the installation, with the native libraries in Assembly\bin (32-bit) and Assembly\bin64 (64-bit) | References in .NET Framework projects, and the files you deploy with them |
| Local NuGet package source | A package source named Text Control Offline Packages, in C:\Program Files (x86)\Text Control GmbH\NuGetPackages | Installing TXTextControl.TextControl.WPF.SDK in .NET 8 or higher projects |
| Visual Studio integration | The controls in the toolbox tab TX Text Control 34.0 | Adding the controls to a window in the XAML Designer |
| Sample documents | Samples\Demo in the installation folder | Documents and templates that the samples and tutorials open, such as travel-form.tx |
| Sample projects | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\TX Text Control 34.0.NET for WPF, in a CSharp and a VB.NET folder | Tutorials, how-to samples and the TX Words sample applications |
| Resource Kit | The ResourceKit folder of the installation | Building satellite assemblies that translate the built-in dialog boxes and messages |
- No global assembly cache. Since version 30.0, the setup doesn't register the assemblies in the global assembly cache. A .NET Framework project references them in the Assembly folder.
- No nuget.org. The package isn't published on nuget.org. In a .NET project, you select Text Control Offline Packages as the package source and install it from there. Configuring Package Sources also covers builds outside Visual Studio.
- The designer needs the setup. The package on the Text Control Private NuGet Feed is meant for compiling on build servers and in CI/CD pipelines and contains no design-time components. Working with the XAML Designer requires the setup on the development machine. See Visual Studio Toolbox and XAML Designer.
The Sample Projects
Each language folder holds the same WPF projects:
- Tutorial\Simple: the small word processor with a button bar, rulers and a status bar that the tutorial builds.
- Howto: focused samples named Hyperlinks, MailMerge, MiniToolbar, Spreadsheet and XMLBasics.
- TX Words: sample applications named Conditional Instructions, Context Menu, Drag And Drop, Open Hyperlink, Reporting, Ribbon, Right To Left, Shortcuts and User Access. Ribbon is a word processor with the WPF ribbon and the ribbon tabs of TX Text Control.
TX Words WPF Sample Application describes each one.
Install a Service Pack
A service pack comes as the latest full setup, named after the service pack it contains, such as TX Text Control.NET for WPF 34.0 with SP5.exe. Run it, and it updates the installed version 34.0.
- .NET 8 or higher projects reference one version of
TXTextControl.TextControl.WPF.SDK, and the setup doesn't change it. Update the package in each project to the new version, 34.0.5 for Service Pack 5, as Installing and Updating Packages describes. - .NET Framework projects reference the assemblies in the Assembly folder, which the setup updates. Rebuild the project and deploy the new files with your application.
To see which service pack your application runs with, read the ServicePack property of the VersionInfo object that GetVersionInfo returns, as Check the Installed Service Pack shows.
Several major versions of TX Text Control can be installed on the same machine. Moving a project to version 34.0 is covered in Upgrading from Previous Versions.
Next Steps
- Visual Studio Toolbox and XAML Designer: the toolbox tab and how to place the controls in a window.
- NuGet Packages: the package for .NET 8 or higher projects and its package sources.
- Assemblies and XAML Namespaces: the assemblies the setup and the package contain, and how XAML refers to them.
- License Configuration: how your license reaches your projects.
- Create Your First WPF Application: put the editor in a window.