[awaiting winget update] Channel in all manifests

[iDolmatov]

I propose to revise the entire list of manifests for the addition of the "Channel" attribute.

Proposed technical implementation details (optional)

Channel | The details on whether the application is preview or release.
winget-cli-master\doc\windows\package-manager\winget\show.md
winget-cli-master\schemas\JSON\manifests\v1.0.0\manifest.installer.1.0.0.json

// A property of a package version. enum class PackageVersionProperty { Id, Name, SourceIdentifier, SourceName, Version, Channel, RelativePath, // Returned in hexadecimal format ManifestSHA256Hash, };

winget-cli-master\src\AppInstallerRepositoryCore\Public\AppInstallerRepositorySearch.h

At the moment this is ignored and resolved through the package name, which is incorrect if it is possible to specify this in the manifest.
Also, this attribute should be made required in the manifest creation tools. microsoft/winget-cli#147
Filling in this attribute will allow you to prepare in advance the base for testing when implementing other winget functions (searching, installing only test or release versions, placing different channels under the same ID when the program uses the same folder for different channels, etc.).

Add "Channel" to all manifests.

[OfficialEsco]

Don't believe everything you see in the manifest schema 🙄

PS C:\Users\******\GitHub\winget-pkgs> winget validate .\manifests\m\Malwarebytes\Privacy\3.0.0.602\
Manifest validation failed.
Manifest Error: Field is not supported. Field: Channel Value: 1

PS C:\Users\******\GitHub\winget-pkgs> winget validate .\manifests\m\Malwarebytes\Privacy\3.0.0.602\
Manifest validation failed.
Manifest Error: Field is not supported. Field: Channel Value: beta

PS C:\Users\******\GitHub\winget-pkgs> winget validate .\manifests\m\Malwarebytes\Privacy\3.0.0.602\
Manifest validation failed.
Manifest Error: Field is not supported. Field: Channel Value: stable

Channel is actually the only one which is not supported AFAK, probably because they haven't decided how to do it yet.

There is 3 other fields that you can add metadata to, but they don't actually do anything

• Protocols
• FileExtensions
• Dependencies (WindowsLibraries, PackageDependencies, ExternalDependencies)

[denelon]

@iDolmatov our early thinking for "channels" is to support packages that are not able to be run side by side like Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio Code Insider. One example of such a package is Docker Desktop. There are several different concerns. One of the primary concerns is if a user has a "beta" build, we don't want to overwrite with the stable build and the reverse is also true.

@OfficialEsco is correct. There are several things included in the schema that we either had from 0.2.0 and carried forward, or we have an idea of what we want to implement and just haven't gotten to it yet. Changing the schema has far reaching implications across the client, validation pipelines, publishing pipelines, REST API, wingetcreate, and a few other surfaces.

[denelon]

When we implement support for microsoft/winget-cli#147 we will likely make a determination of whether or not we update all manifests.

[vedantmgoyal9]

There is 3 other fields that you can add metadata to, but they don't actually do anything

• Protocols
• FileExtensions
• Dependencies (WindowsLibraries, PackageDependencies, ExternalDependencies)

What? Protocols and FileExtensions don't do ANYTHING 🤔😕

[OfficialEsco]

You can test if Protocols or FileExtensions are supported by using winget search, as of now they are just there for future information, a few manifests have a few FileExtensions in the tags section which is how you can see some if you do winget search png

InstallModes also does not seem to be working which is annoying because we need to add the silent switch to the SilentWithProgress field.

It also seems like winget-cli does not utilize PublisherUrl, PublisherSupportUrl, PrivacyUrl, Copyright or CopyrightUrl, but those fields are nice for 3rd party sites.

[iDolmatov]

I forgot about this issue and wrote a comment in the previously mentioned issue 147. I am closing the issue unresolved in order to exclude the already large list of active issues.