Difference between embedded manifest and separate manifest file

mav northwind

Hi guys! Vista is driving me nuts (once again). So far I thought you get the exactly same results when you have your application manifest file as a separate file or when you have it embedded inside your app. Today I found that the application behaves differently and I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on this topic. I was embedding this manifest

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
<dependency>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls" version="6.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df" language="*"></assemblyIdentity>
</dependentAssembly>
</dependency>
<v3:trustInfo xmlns:v3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
v3:security
v3:requestedPrivileges

<v3:requestedExecutionLevel level="requireAdministrator" />
</v3:requestedPrivileges>
</v3:security>
</v3:trustInfo>
</assembly>

and, as expected, the little shield appeared at the program icon and the UAC dialog popped up every time I started the application. Then I rebuilt the application and didn't embed the manifest, but kept it in a separate file named MyApp.exe.manifest in the same directory as MyApp.exe. Explorer showed the little shield again after refreshing the view, but then there was no UAC dialog and the application ran without requesting elevated rights. Can anyone explain this behaviour? Thanks in advance! Regards, mav -- Black holes are the places where God divided by 0...

modified on Monday, January 21, 2008 2:15:25 PM