You can launch the current MDriven Designer from the MDriven Portal when you develop a Turnkey application and need Designer to update before it starts.
Why start Designer from the portal
When you work with Turnkey, start MDriven Designer through the portal so that the ClickOnce launcher refreshes Designer to the latest available version before opening it. ClickOnce is Microsoft's application distribution technology; it keeps the application files in the Windows internet cache and downloads an update when one is available.
For example, after you have created or selected a Turnkey site in the portal, launching Designer from that portal session lets you sign in and refresh your site list before you download and work on its model.
Start MDriven Designer
- Sign in to the MDriven Portal. If you do not yet have an account, register at portal.mdriven.net.
- Open the portal option to start MDriven Designer.
- When the browser asks how to open the ClickOnce
.applicationfile, allow it to launch MDriven Designer. - Wait for ClickOnce to check for and download updates. Designer opens when the update check is complete.
- Sign in to Designer using the same account that you use for the portal.
- Refresh your site list in Designer, select your Turnkey site, and download its model.
After the model is open, continue with the Designer overview or the Designer overview series to learn the modeling interface.
Browser requirements
ClickOnce must be available in the browser that launches Designer.
| Browser situation | What you should do |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Edge | ClickOnce works natively. Start Designer from the portal and allow the application launcher when prompted. |
| Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox | Install a ClickOnce extension or plug-in that associates .application files with ClickOnce, then return to the portal and start Designer again.
|
The browser downloads the .application file but does not start Designer
|
Check that ClickOnce support is installed and enabled in that browser. Then retry the portal launch. |
The portal launch is intended to use ClickOnce. A separately installed local copy of Designer can interfere with this path; see Fix Google sign-in when an older local Designer installation is present.
Clear the ClickOnce cache
Windows can retain incorrect or stale ClickOnce application files. If starting Designer reports a ClickOnce error, clear the ClickOnce online application cache and launch Designer from the portal again.
- Close MDriven Designer.
- Open Command Prompt with administrator privileges.
- Run the following command:
rundll32 dfshim CleanOnlineAppCache
- Return to the MDriven Portal and start MDriven Designer again.
Clearing this cache removes ClickOnce-cached applications. The next launch downloads the required Designer files again.
Fix Google sign-in when an older local Designer installation is present
Google sign-in can fail inside Designer when old Designer files cause an older embedded Internet Explorer browser to be used. Internet Explorer is no longer supported for Google login. Current Designer uses WebView2 rather than the old embedded Internet Explorer browser.
This can occur even on Windows 11 and even after you have previously uninstalled an old local Designer installation. The symptom is that Google login does not work inside Designer after you started it through ClickOnce.
Use the following recovery procedure in the stated order:
- Clear the ClickOnce cache.
- Open Windows Installed apps or Apps settings and uninstall any old locally installed version of MDriven Designer.
- Install a new version of the downloadable MDriven Designer.
- Uninstall that newly installed Designer again.
- Start MDriven Designer from the MDriven Portal through ClickOnce.
After this procedure, the ClickOnce version should use the current browser component and Google sign-in should work.
If Google sign-in still fails
Repair Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime from Windows Installed apps, then start Designer from the portal again.
If Designer fails during startup
A ClickOnce launch problem is different from a Designer startup exception caused by residual assemblies from older MDriven Framework for Visual Studio installations. For errors such as plugin-loading failures or an assembly manifest mismatch, follow Exception starting instead of repeatedly clearing the ClickOnce cache.
Next steps
Once Designer is running and your model is open, use Connecting to MDrivenServer when you need to connect Designer to an MDrivenServer environment. For a broader setup path, return to Getting Started.