🛠 .NET WebToApp x86 Template

A professional foundation for developers to transform web surfaces into native Windows desktop applications. This template is designed to provide a lightweight, high-performance wrapper for any web-based dashboard, tool, or site.

🌟 Key Features

• Native x86 Architecture: Specifically optimized for standard Windows environments and compatibility.
• WebView2 Engine: High-performance rendering via the modern Microsoft Edge (Chromium) engine.
• Deployment Ready: Clean project structure, prepared for integration with WiX Toolset to create .msi installers.
• Lightweight: Minimal boilerplate, focusing on performance and ease of use.

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🚀 Getting Started

Follow these steps to create your own wrapper application using this template:

1. Template Setup

Click the "Use this template" button at the top of this repository to create your own copy of this project under your account or organization.

2. Development Environment

• Open the solution (.sln) in Visual Studio 2022.
• Ensure the .NET Desktop Development workload is installed in your Visual Studio instance.
• Restore NuGet packages to ensure Microsoft.Web.WebView2 is correctly loaded.

3. Customization

Navigate to the MainWindow.cs file and replace the placeholder URL with your target website address:

// Locate this line in MainWindow.cs
webView.CoreWebView2.Navigate("[https://alexgaming.netlify.app](https://alexgaming.netlify.app)");

4. Build & Deploy (Visual Studio)

• Set your build configuration in Visual Studio to Release.
• Set the platform to x86.
• Build the solution to generate your standalone executable.

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📦 Publishing via CLI

If you prefer using the command line or want to automate your build process, use the following .NET CLI commands:

Restore & Build

dotnet restore --arch x86
dotnet build -c Release -r win-x86

Publish Standalone Executable

This command generates an optimized, self-contained executable:

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x86 --self-contained true -p:PublishReadyToRun=true

Generate WiX Installer (CLI)

Navigate to your Setup directory and run the WiX compiler and linker:

candle.exe Product.wxs
light.exe Product.wixobj -o WebToApp_Setup.msi

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🛠 Technical Details

• Framework: .NET 6.0 (Windows)
• Platform: x86
• Dependencies: Microsoft.Web.WebView2
• Installer Support: Compatible with WiX Toolset v3.11+

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⚖️ License

Distributed under the MIT License. This means you are free to use, modify, and distribute this template for private and commercial projects.

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Created and maintained by Alex Studios

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