Test files and data with the Isolated Storage Explorer tool

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[ This article is for Windows 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x developers writing Windows Runtime apps. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation ]

Use Isolated Storage Explorer to list, copy, and replace files and directories in your Windows Phone app’s local folder. With this tool you can verify that the correct files are being saved in the correct location, or you can test your app with files that you copy from your computer. Isolated Storage Explorer is a command-line app that's installed when you install the Windows Phone development tools.

Prerequisites

You can use Isolated Storage Explorer with Windows Phone Emulator or with a developer-registered device for apps that target Windows Phone 8.1, Windows Phone OS 8.0, or Windows Phone OS 7.1.

Isolated Storage Explorer (isetool.exe) is installed in the following location:

Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Phone\v8.1\Tools\IsolatedStorageExplorerTool

To use Isolated Storage Explorer, the following conditions must be true:

  • The app that you want to test must be installed on the emulator or device.
  • The emulator or device must be running, but the app doesn’t have to be running.

You cannot do the following things with Isolated Storage Explorer:

  • You can’t view isolated storage for apps that you’ve installed from the Windows Phone Store.
  • You can’t view app settings that are stored in the local folder. These are settings that the app saved by using the IsolatedStorageSettings class.

Isolated Storage Explorer syntax

Isolated Storage Explorer has the following syntax:

ISETool.exe <cmd[:param]> [<appxfolder:[root]>] <target-device[:param]> <product-id> [<desktop-path>]

The following table lists the command-line options for Isolated Storage Explorer.

Option Description
<cmd[:param]>

Specifies the command to run. This option has one of the following values.

cmd optionDescription
ts(Take snapshot)Copies the files and directories in the local folder from the device or emulator to your computer. The ts option copies the folders and files to an IsolatedStore folder that it creates on your computer under the target folder that you specify. The ts option also creates the following subdirectories in the IsolatedStore folder that it creates in the target directory.
  • Shared\Transfers. The Transfers directory contains background transfer data.
  • Shared\ShellContent. The ShellContent directory contains Tile data.
  • Shared\Media.
rs(Restore snapshot)Replaces the files and directories in the local folder on the device or emulator with files and directories from your computer. Note  If you download files from the device to your computer with the ts option, and then you want to restore the same files from your computer to the device with the rs option, keep in mind that the ts option created the IsolatedStore subfolder on your computer. If you downloaded files to c:\data\myfiles, then to upload the same files, you have to specify c:\data\myfiles\IsolatedStore as the desktop-path for upload.
dir[:device-path]Lists the files and directories in the specified directory of the local folder. Don’t include a leading or trailing slash in the directory entry. If a directory is not specified, the files and directories in the root of the app’s local folder are listed. If no files or directories are found, an error is raised.
EnumerateDevicesLists the valid device targets and the device index for each device.

 
[<appxfolder:[root]>]

Specifies the root folder in the local folder, or a subfolder under the root folder, as the target location. If you don't specify root, the default target is the Local subfolder. This option has the following values in addition to root:

appxfolder optionDescription
LocalTargets the Local subfolder in the local folder.
RoamingTargets the Roaming subfolder in the local folder.
TempTargets the Temp subfolder in the local folder.

 
<target-device[:param]>

Specifies the target device. This option has one of the following values:

target-device OptionDescription
xdTargets the default emulator.
deTargets the Windows Phone device connected to the development computer.
deviceindex:n
Targets the device at index n in the list of devices. To get the list of devices, run IseTool.exe EnumerateDevices.

 
<product-id>

Specifies the GUID of the app. This value is found in the app manifest file for the project.

  • For an APPX package, the GUID is the value of the Id attribute of the Application element.
  • For a XAP package, the GUID is the value of the ProductID attribute of the App element.
<desktop-path>

Specifies the directory on your computer to which the files from the app's local folder are written or from which files are copied.

If the specified directory already exists, then the ts option overwrites the contents of the directory with no warning.

When you use the ts option to copy files from the emulator or device to the computer, the tool copies them to an IsolatedStore folder under the target directory that you specify.

 

Isolated Storage Explorer examples

Here are some examples of command-line deployment. The following examples assume that the app's Product ID is f8ce6878-0aeb-497f-bcf4-65be961d4bba

  • Downloads the contents of the app's local folder from the default emulator to the C:\data\myfiles\IsolatedStore folder on the computer. The tool creates the IsolatedStore folder under the directory that you specify.

    ISETool.exe ts xd f8ce6878-0aeb-497f-bcf4-65be961d4bba c:\data\myfiles

  • Downloads the contents of the Roaming subfolder of the app's local folder from the default emulator to the C:\data\myfiles\IsolatedStore folder on the computer. The tool creates the IsolatedStore folder under the directory that you specify.

    ISETool.exe ts appxfolder:Roaming xd e9df6878-0aeb-497f-bcf4-65be961d5ccb c:\data\myfiles

  • Downloads the contents of the Local subfolder (by default) of the app's local folder from the default emulator to the C:\data\myfiles\IsolatedStore folder on the computer. The tool creates the IsolatedStore folder under the directory that you specify.

    ISETool.exe ts xd e9df6878-0aeb-497f-bcf4-65be961d5ccb c:\data\myfiles

  • Uploads all of the files from the C:\data\myfiles folder on the computer to the app’s local folder on the attached device.

    ISETool.exe rs de f8ce6878-0aeb-497f-bcf4-65be961d4bba c:\data\myfiles

    Note  If you download files from the device to your computer with the ts option, and then you want to restore the same files from your computer to the device with the rs option, keep in mind that the ts option created the IsolatedStore subfolder on your computer. If you downloaded files to c:\data\myfiles, then to upload the same files, you have to specify c:\data\myfiles\IsolatedStore as the desktop-path for upload.

  • Uploads all of the files from the C:\data\myfiles folder on the computer to the device specified by device index 2. To get the list of available devices, run the command ISETool EnumerateDevices.

    ISETool.exe rs deviceindex:2 f8ce6878-0aeb-497f-bcf4-65be961d4bba c:\data\myfiles

  • Lists the valid device targets and the device index for each device.

    ISETool.exe EnumerateDevices

  • Lists the contents of the \MyPictures\Images subfolder in the app’s local folder on the device at index 2. To get the list of available devices, run the command ISETool EnumerateDevices.

    ISETool.exe dir:"MyPictures\Images" deviceindex:2 f8ce6878-0aeb-497f-bcf4-65be961d4bba

Listing files in the local folder

You can use the Isolated Storage Explorer tool with the dir option to list the files and directories in the local folder for an app.

To list files in the local folder with the dir option

  1. Deploy the app that you want to test to the emulator or a device.

  2. Run the app to create files in the local folder.

  3. Get the product id for the app (this is a GUID value) specified in the ID attribute of the Application element of the app manifest file.

  4. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the location of ISETool.exe.

  5. To list the files and directories at the root of the app’s local folder, use the following syntax with the Product GUID obtained in a previous step.

    ISETool.exe dir <xd|de> <product-id>

    The following example shows a command that lists the files and directories at the root of the app’s local folder on the emulator.

    ISETool.exe dir xd 11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555

    If no files or directories are found, you see the following message: Directory Listing Error. The system cannot find the file specified.

    Note  Don’t include a leading or trailing slash in the directory entry.

Copying files from the local folder to the computer

You can use the Isolated Storage Explorer tool with the ts option to copy the files and directories in an app’s local folder on the emulator or device to your computer. You can then view the files to make sure that the app is saving them in the correct location with the correct data.

To copy files from the local folder to the computer with the ts option

  1. Deploy the app that you want to test to the emulator or a device.

  2. Run the app to create files in the local folder.

  3. Get the product id for the app (this is a GUID value) specified in the ID attribute of the Application element of the app manifest file.

  4. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the location of ISETool.exe.

  5. To copy all of the files from the app’s local folder to your computer, use the following syntax with the Product GUID obtained in a previous step, and specify a target directory on your computer.

    ISETool.exe ts <xd|de> <product-id> <desktop-path>

    The following example shows a command that copies the contents of the app's local folder to the directory C:\Data\My Files\IsolatedStore on your computer.

    ISETool.exe ts xd 11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555 "C:\Data\My Files"

    This command creates the target directory on your computer, creates the IsolatedStore directory in the target directory, and then copies the files and directories from the app’s local folder into the IsolatedStore directory.

    Note  If the target directory already exists and you copy the files again, the entire contents of the target directory are overwritten without any warning.

Copying files from the computer to the local folder

You can use the Isolated Storage Explorer tool to replace the files and directories in an app’s local folder on an emulator or a device with files and directories from your computer. Replacing the files can be useful while you're testing an app.

To copy files from the computer to the local folder with the rs option

  1. Deploy the app that you want to test to the emulator or a device.

  2. Get the product id for the app (this is a GUID value) specified in the ID attribute of the Application element of the app manifest file.

  3. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the location of ISETool.exe.

  4. To replace all the files in the app’s local folder with files from your computer, use the following syntax with the Product GUID obtained in a previous step, and specify the source directory on your computer.

    ISETool.exe rs <xd|de> <product-id> <desktop-path>

    The following example shows a command that replaces the files and directories in an app’s local folder with the files from the directory "C:\Data\My Files" on your computer.

    ISETool.exe rs xd 11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555 "C:\Data\My Files"

    Note  If you download files from the device to your computer with the ts option, and then you want to restore the same files from your computer to the device with the rs option, keep in mind that the ts option created the IsolatedStore subfolder on your computer. If you downloaded files to c:\data\myfiles, then to upload the same files, you have to specify c:\data\myfiles\IsolatedStore as the desktop-path for upload.