Building & Packaging

Release artifacts

Every release ships four zip packages:

release_<version>_<Variant>_win-<arch>.zip
     2.9.0     Dokan|WinFsp     x64|arm64
Package Contents
…_Dokan_win-x64.zip SimpleZipDrive.exe, 7z.dll, 7z_arm64.dll, ReadMe.md, LICENSE.txt, WhatsNew.md
…_Dokan_win-arm64.zip same layout
…_WinFsp_win-x64.zip SimpleZipDrive_WinFsp.exe, winfsp-msil.dll, 7z.dll, 7z_arm64.dll, docs
…_WinFsp_win-arm64.zip same layout

All are framework-dependent single-file executables (~4–5 MB): the .NET Desktop Runtime and the filesystem driver are the only prerequisites.

Publish commands

Important: the .csproj files contain <SelfContained>true</SelfContained>, but releases are built framework-dependent — the publish command must override it with --self-contained false. Publishing without the override produces huge self-contained bundles that also break the packaging assumptions documented below.

# Dokan variant
dotnet publish SimpleZipDrive\SimpleZipDrive.csproj -c Release -r win-x64   --self-contained false -o out\Dokan_x64
dotnet publish SimpleZipDrive\SimpleZipDrive.csproj -c Release -r win-arm64 --self-contained false -o out\Dokan_arm64

# WinFsp variant
dotnet publish SimpleZipDrive_WinFsp\SimpleZipDrive_WinFsp.csproj -c Release -r win-x64   --self-contained false -o out\WinFsp_x64
dotnet publish SimpleZipDrive_WinFsp\SimpleZipDrive_WinFsp.csproj -c Release -r win-arm64 --self-contained false -o out\WinFsp_arm64

Then zip each output folder together with ReadMe.md, LICENSE.txt, WhatsNew.md using the naming convention above.

Packaging internals

Three constraints make the file layout non-negotiable:

  1. winfsp-msil.dll must stay a real file beside the exe (WinFsp variant). Its static initializer (Fsp.Interop.Api.CheckVersion) calls FileVersionInfo.GetVersionInfo(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location); Assembly.Location is an empty string inside a single-file bundle, so Path.GetFullPath("") throws and every mount dies with “The path is empty (Parameter ‘path’)” before the driver is ever contacted. The csproj contains a target that runs before the bundler computes its file list:

    <Target Name="KeepWinFspInteropOutOfBundle" BeforeTargets="_ComputeFilesToBundle">
    <ItemGroup>
        <ResolvedFileToPublish Update="@(ResolvedFileToPublish)"
            Condition="'%(ResolvedFileToPublish.Filename)%(ResolvedFileToPublish.Extension)' == 'winfsp-msil.dll'"
            ExcludeFromSingleFile="true" />
    </ItemGroup>
</Target>

    Timing matters: AfterTargets="ComputeFilesToPublish" / BeforeTargets="BundleFiles" do not work — the SDK splits bundled/non-bundled files in _ComputeFilesToBundle.

  2. 7z.dll / 7z_arm64.dll must stay real files beside the exe (both variants). SevenZipFallback probes AppContext.BaseDirectory for the library matching the process architecture (SharpSevenZipBase.SetLibraryPath); bundling them into the exe makes the fallback silently unavailable. Both ship in every package so one zip works on x64 and ARM64.

  3. winfsp.net stays at 2.1.x (2.1.25156). Interop 2.2.x rejects the stable native 2.1 driver (“incorrect dll version (need 2.2, have 2.1)”); interop 2.1 accepts both the 2.1 stable driver and 2.2+ betas. Version gates live in MountService (RequiredWinFspVersion = 2.1).

Release process checklist

  1. Bump <Version>/<AssemblyVersion>/<FileVersion> to the new version in all five .csproj files.
  2. Update WhatsNew.md (user-facing Fixed/Changed/Internal sections).
  3. dotnet test SimpleZipDrive.Tests -c Release — green.
  4. Publish the four artifacts (commands above).
  5. Smoke-test each variant: mount a stored ZIP and a compressed archive through the packaged exe (both a drive letter and a folder; elevated and non-elevated for WinFsp).
  6. Create the four zips with the exact naming convention.
  7. Tag release_<version> and push the tag.
  8. gh release create release_<version> --title "<version>" --notes-file … *.zip (GitHub CLI, full release — not draft/prerelease).
  9. Inform issue reporters whose bugs the release fixes.

There is no CI/CD — releases are produced locally with the exact commands above.