"Activation context generation failed" complaint trying to add an application manifest

Question

I'm trying to add an application manifest that requires elevation to my .NET 2.0 EXE. I've done that for a simple EXE and it worked without any problems, but on this more complex EXE it's not working.

My EXE has a config file and a lot of dependencies of other DLLs in my solution.

When I start the EXE, I get a SideBySide error saying "Activation context generation failed for "C:\MyCompany.MyProduct.WinUI.exe".Error in manifest or policy file "C:\MyCompany.MyProduct.WinUI.exe.Config" on line 1. Invalid Xml syntax."

What does my config file have to do with the manifest file? Here is my manifest:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<asmv1:assembly manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"
                xmlns:asmv1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"
                xmlns:asmv2="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2"
                xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <assemblyIdentity version="2.10.0.0" name="MyCompany.MyProduct.WinUI"/>
  <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2">
    <security>
      <requestedPrivileges xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
        <requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" uiAccess="false" />
      </requestedPrivileges>
    </security>
  </trustInfo>
</asmv1:assembly>

Houghton

Just to make sure it isn't a typo, but your manifest file does have the closing </asmv1:assembly> tag in it, yes? – Basketry

Also, can you post the code for your WinUI.exe.Config file. There could be a problem there. – Basketry

Answer 1

I found the solution.

The encoding specified in the MyCompany.MyProduct.WinUI.exe.Config is not supported.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>

I changed the encoding to utf-8, and everything work fine...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

Houghton

this did the trick. i suppose the manifest parser must be looking at the config files, even if only in passing. – Radcliffe

Answer 2

You didn't close the asmv1:assembly tag.

Also, try downloading XML Notepad and loading your XML into it. It's very good at telling you what you did wrong.

Kiakiah

Sory for that... My file did contains the missing closing tag </asmv1:assembly>. I probably delete it when I was formatting the post.. – Houghton

Answer 3

my issue with this was that i had invalid XML in my App,Config, an app setting element closing with two quotes -> ""

as soon as i removed the second -> " my console app worked fine, a misleading error no doute.

Bretbretagne