XAP file (.NET)

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XAP file is a deployment package used in Windows Phone and Silverlight . The file extension of XAP file is .xap. The .xap file is a compressed file that includes AppManifest.xaml, compiled output assemblies of the project (.dll) and resource files referred by the application. XAP files use the standard zip compression algorithm to minimize client download size.

Let's have an example. The following picture below shows a XAP file that has English application assembly, a manifest file and two library assemblies.

The following table shows the content of an example .xap file.

File type	Example file name	Description
Manifest file	`AppManifest.xaml`	Manifest file that lists files that the .xap file contains.
Application assembly file	`Driving.dll`	Main assembly file of the application.
Library assembly file	`Microsoft.Phone.Controls.dll`	Assembly file of Windows Phone SDK
Resource files	`ApplicationIcon.png Background.png`	Icon and background images

When we use Soluling to localize a XAP file Soluling creates either set of localized XAP files each supporting one languages, or one multilingual XAP file supporting several languages. The choice is yours. By default Soluling creates localized XAp files but you can easily configure it to create multilingual or both.

Localized XAP files

This is the default output files. Soluling creates one localized XAP file for each language of the project. XAP files are written into language specific sub directories.

When Soluling creates localized XAP files it can use two methods:

Method	Description	German package file	French package file
Localized assembly	Soluling creates a similar XAP file as the original but instead of English assembly file the file contains localized assembly file. Use this if you want to optimize the size of the localized application or your want it to always start in a specific language.
Original assembly with localized satellite assembly	Soluling creates similar package file that contains the same files plus a satellite assembly file for the application assembly file and the library files. Also the manifest file must be modified to contain information about the satellite assembly file(s). Use this if you want to keep possibility to start the application in the original language.

Method

Description

German package file

French package file

Localized assembly

Soluling creates a similar XAP file as the original but instead of English assembly file the file contains localized assembly file.

Use this if you want to optimize the size of the localized application or your want it to always start in a specific language.

Original assembly with
localized satellite assembly

Soluling creates similar package file that contains the same files plus a satellite assembly file for the application assembly file and the library files. Also the manifest file must be modified to contain information about the satellite assembly file(s).

Use this if you want to keep possibility to start the application in the original language.

Multilingual XAP file

You can configure your project to make one multilingual XAP instead of localized XAP.

Soluling can also create one multilingual XAP file. It has the original assembly files plus one or more localized satellite assembly file for the application assembly file and the library files.

This method is the most flexible because the same package file can support any number of languages. However because the package contains the resources in several languages the size of the package is larger than the original English XAP or localized XAP.

Soluling can create any of above XAP file types. By default it creates localized XAP files that contain localized assemblies but you can change the settings using Output sheet of the source dialog.