UiSharp + gUI#

A C# (.NET 10 / WinForms) port of UI++ — the ConfigMgr task-sequence front-end originally written in C++17/MFC by Jason Sandys.

What is UiSharp?

UiSharp displays a customizable WinForms UI during OS deployments driven by Microsoft Configuration Manager (SCCM/ConfigMgr). It reads an XML configuration file and presents input dialogs, info screens, and pre-flight checks, then writes the collected values back as task-sequence variables that the rest of the deployment can consume.

What is gUI#?

gUI# is a WinUI 3 desktop app for creating and editing UiSharp/UI++ XML configuration files. A guided form covers every action type and stays in bidirectional sync with a Monaco-powered XML editor. See tools/gUISharp/README.md for the full feature overview, build instructions, and screenshots.

Why a C# port?

• Easier to build and maintain without the Visual C++ / MFC / curl toolchain
• Unit-testable pure logic (conditions, variable substitution, XML parsing)
• Single-file self-contained publish with .NET 10
• Retains WinPE compatibility via Windows Forms (.NET 10-windows)

Solution structure

Project	Framework	Purpose
UIpp.Core	net10.0	Pure logic — parsers, evaluators, action implementations. No Windows dependencies.
UIpp.Windows	net10.0-windows	WMI, COM, LDAP, registry integrations
UIpp.UI	net10.0-windows	WinForms dialogs and controls
UIpp	net10.0-windows	Entry point, single-file publish target
tools/gUISharp	net10.0-windows10.0.22621.0	WinUI 3 visual XML editor — see tools/gUISharp/README.md

Building

Requirements: .NET 10 SDK (Windows required for UIpp.Windows, UIpp.UI, and UIpp)

dotnet build
dotnet test src/UIpp.Core.Tests        # 254 tests — pure logic, runs on any OS
dotnet test src/UIpp.Windows.Tests     # 49 tests  — registry/WMI, Windows only

Deploying to WinPE

Publish as a single self-contained executable — no .NET runtime or redistributable needed in the WinPE image:

dotnet publish src/UIpp/UIpp.csproj -r win-x64 --self-contained true `
    -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:TrimMode=partial -c Release

Copy the output UIpp.exe into your WinPE image in place of the original UI++.exe. No other changes to the image are required.

Command-line arguments

Argument	Purpose
/Config:<path|URL>	XML config file path or HTTP/HTTPS URL. Default: UI++.xml in the current directory.
/ConfigFallback:<path>	Local file to use if the URL download fails after all retries.
/ConfigRetry:<n>	Number of download attempts before falling back (default: 3).
/DisableTSVarEditor	Prevents the Ctrl+F2 task-sequence variable editor from opening during dialogs.
/conditionengine:native|vbscript	Override the condition evaluator. Default: native. vbscript uses the Windows IActiveScript COM host; requires WinPE-Scripting in WinPE.

Differences from the original C++ UI++

These are the only intentional behavioral changes:

Area	Original UI++	UiSharp
<Action Type="Vars"> save format	MFC CArchive binary (.dat)	JSON — existing .dat files are not readable
<Action Type="RandomString"> output variable	Always writes to Random regardless of the Variable attribute (C++ bug)	Correctly uses the Variable attribute
VBScript condition engine	Fully supported via IActiveScript COM	Supported — select with ConditionEngine="vbscript" or /conditionengine:vbscript. Requires WinPE-Scripting in WinPE; default engine is native which needs no extra component.
WinPE optional components	WinPE-WMI + WinPE-Scripting required	WinPE-WMI always; WinPE-Scripting only when using the vbscript engine

All other XML attributes, variable names, dialog behavior, and output formats are identical to the C++ original. Existing XML config files work without modification.

Repository layout

File / folder	Purpose
UiSharp.slnx	Modern C# solution — open this in Visual Studio or Rider
src/	C# runtime projects (UIpp.Core, UIpp.Windows, UIpp.UI, UIpp)
tools/gUISharp/	WinUI 3 visual XML editor — see tools/gUISharp/README.md
UI++.sln	Legacy C++ solution for the original UI++ source (not the C# port)
UI++/, FTWCMLog/, FTWldap/	Original C++ source, included for historical reference

Original project

The original C++ source code is included in this repository under its original license. See UI++ for the upstream project and Jason Sandys's write-up of 15+ years of history behind it.