Desktop Clients for Windows and macOS

Hybrid & Native PackagingModule 3The samples are ready before the course is: the module outline is on learnwisej.com, and the lessons, the knowledge checks and the hands-on labs follow when it launches — free, with an AI tutor in every lesson.

See the outline

Three projects now:

Project	What it is
FieldOps/	The Wisej.NET web app (Wisej-4 4.1.7, Wisej-4-Hybrid 4.1.7) — the screen of the walkthrough: app bar FieldOps · Work orders, Export report · Open in new window, the grid Order · Site · Task · Status (WO-4821, WO-4818, WO-4815, WO-4809), the STATUS strip and the N orders · Wisej.NET Hybrid client footer.
FieldOps.Client/	The Wisej.NET Hybrid client from the Wisej.NET 4 Hybrid Client Application template (Wisej-4-Hybrid-Native 4.1.7, MAUI 9.0.120): Windows (net9.0-windows10.0.19041.0), plus Mac Catalyst when built on a Mac.
FieldOps.Offline/	The Local app from the Wisej.NET 4 Hybrid Local Application template: OfflineStartup (EmbedIO + WithWisej()), OfflineProgram, Offline.json/html — compiling the same FieldOps page and service files (linked, not copied).

The source of this sample

iceteagroup/LearnWisej-SamplesHybrid and Native Packaging Course/Module 3

Browse this folder on GitHub

Or clone it: git clone https://github.com/iceteagroup/LearnWisej-Samples.git — then open FieldOps.slnx in Visual Studio and press F5.

Run it

# 1. the server
cd "Hybrid and Native Packaging Course/Module 3/FieldOps"
dotnet run -f net10.0 --urls http://localhost:6303

# 2a. the desktop client, Remote only, no package (quickest):
dotnet build ..\FieldOps.Client\FieldOps.Client.csproj -f net9.0-windows10.0.19041.0 -p:WindowsPackageType=None
..\FieldOps.Client\bin\Debug\net9.0-windows10.0.19041.0\win10-x64\FieldOps.Client.exe

# 2b. the full client with the Local fallback: open FieldOps.slnx in Visual Studio, set
#     FieldOps.Client as startup project, profile "Windows Machine" (MSIX), F5.
#     FieldOps.slnx already marks the client Deploy, which the MSIX profile needs (otherwise
#     Visual Studio says "The project needs to be deployed before we can debug"); a packaged
#     debug run also needs Windows Developer Mode switched on.

# 3. a new order from dispatch (server push + local notification):
Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post "http://localhost:6303/dispatch/assign?tech=dana"

Licence key. Copy FieldOps.Client/HybridLicense.props.example to HybridLicense.props and put your Wisej.NET Hybrid key in it (or set WISEJ_HYBRID_LICENSE). The file is git-ignored; the build compiles the key into obj/HybridLicense.g.cs and Startup.cs passes it to config.LicenseKey. Without a key the client still runs, with a Get a free Hybrid License from Wisej.com band at the top.

What to try

Action	Expected result
Open http://localhost:6303 in a browser	The same list; footer N orders · browser. Export report downloads work-orders-yyyy-MM-dd.pdf (Application.Download); Open in new window opens /?order=… in a new tab.
Start the client	The window shows FieldOps; a band FieldOps — Dana Whitfield (Device.TitleBar) above the app bar; status Connected · localhost:6303; footer … · Wisej.NET Hybrid client. Server log: support: … Device.Valid=True Platform=WinUI … PackagingModel=….
Export report in the client	Status Saved to Documents\FieldOps\work-orders-….pdf; the file is on the laptop; Windows offers to open it (Device.Launcher.Open). A write the OS refuses shows Export failed: …, logged on the server.
POST /dispatch/assign	WO-4830 Elmtree Pumping Station appears at the top of every open list (server push); inside the client a Windows notification New work order.
Select a row, Open in new window	A second desktop window titled FieldOps — WO-4830 with Site, Task, Priority, Assigned, Status.
Packaged client, stop the server, wait 5 s	The client switches to FieldOps.Offline: banner Working offline — FieldOps on this laptop's embedded server, the orders saved on the laptop. Change a status: Saved on this device …. Start the server again and sign in: Synced 1 change made offline.

What was verified, and how

• Builds: FieldOps (net10.0-windows, net10.0) and FieldOps.Client + FieldOps.Offline (-f net9.0-windows10.0.19041.0): 0 errors, 0 warnings.
• Browser (fieldops-m3, port 6303): the list as in the video; POST /dispatch/assign put WO-4830 at the top of the open browser list through server push; Open in new window took the Application.Navigate path; a fresh tab on /?order=WO-4830&tech=dana showed the order window (Site, Task, Priority High, Van 12 · Dana Whitfield). The browser Export click was not made (the pane would save a file download).
• Windows client, unpackaged, against the running server (read from the server log and from a capture of the client's own window only): Device.Valid=True Platform=WinUI Idiom=Desktop IsDesktop=True PackagingModel=Unpackaged OfflineUrl=(not started); Device.TitleBar showed FieldOps — Dana Whitfield; Device.FileSystem.WriteText saved the snapshot (%LOCALAPPDATA%\FieldOps.Client\Data\FieldOps\orders.json appeared on disk); a dispatched order appeared in the client's grid and the server logged Device.LocalNotification.Schedule "New work order" WO-4830.
• Licence: unlicensed build → band Get a free Hybrid License from Wisej.com in the window and Device.License.LicenseType = None; with the key compiled in → no band, LicenseType = Starter.
• MSIX: dotnet publish … -p:AppxPackageSigningEnabled=false produced FieldOps.Client_1.0.0.1_x64.msix (44 MB, Identity Name="com.contoso.fieldops", Publisher="CN=Contoso FieldOps Demo", runFullTrust, Get-AuthenticodeSignature: NotSigned). It was not installed (no certificate change, no sideloading on this machine).
• Not exercised: the Export report and Open in new window clicks inside the native window (they need a human click in the client), and therefore Device.Launcher.Open and Device.Windows.TryOpenAsync at run time.
• Not verified on this machine: the Local fallback. It needs the packaged client (see below), and running the packaged client means registering a package, which this build machine may not do. What was proven: the failure's root cause (stack trace), that the unmodified templates fail the same way unpackaged, and that the unpackaged client now runs Remote-only instead of showing an error. To verify it: F5 with the Windows Machine profile (or install the signed MSIX), stop the FieldOps server, wait 5 s; %TEMP%\FieldOps.Offline.log gets local app started at http://127.0.0.1:… and the window shows the offline banner.

Where this sample differs from the lesson

• The Local fallback requires MSIX on Windows (4.1.7). First run: the window showed "The embedded application could not start: Operation is not valid due to the current state of the object." Root cause, from a stack trace: WithWisej() → WisejExtensions.GetWebRootPath() → Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current, which throws without a package identity. The lesson's F5 loop is packaged (the template's MsixPackage profile); an unpackaged executable cannot host the Local app. Fix: Startup.CanHostLocalApp() registers UseWisejOffline only with a package identity; the unpackaged run is Remote only and says so in the support log.
• Device.TitleBar is a band inside the window, not the OS caption. Setting Text alone showed nothing; with Visible = true the client draws FieldOps — Dana Whitfield above the app bar. The OS caption stays the client's (FieldOps.Client on the unpackaged run). Setting it from Program.Main also never showed; it is set from the list page's Load.
• The new-order source. The lab says orders "already arrive through server push" after Module 2; Module 2 had no feed, so Module 3 adds OrderFeed and a loopback-only POST /dispatch/assign as the dispatch stand-in.
• Status names: the In progress / Complete are FieldOps' On site / Completed.
• Project names: the FieldOps.Web toolbar label is the FieldOps project.
• Report PDF is produced by a small built-in writer (no third-party library ships with samples).
• Toast and second window in the video are drawn on the desktop by Windows; here they were proven from the server side, not photographed.