02 getting started

2. Getting Started

2.1 Requirements

Runtime (end users)

• OS: Windows 10 / 11, x64 or ARM64
• Runtime: .NET 10.0 Desktop Runtime
• Bundled executables (shipped with the app, must stay next to BatchConvertToCHD.exe):
  • chdman.exe / chdman_arm64.exe (0.289) — MAME CHD tool (primary encoder, and extraction fallback)
  • CHDSharp.exe / CHDSharp_arm64.exe — managed encoder (automatic conversion fallback; chdman byte-identical output)
  • 7za.exe / 7za_arm64.exe — 7-Zip fallback extractor
• Nothing else to install — CSO, ISZ, ECM, Alcohol .mds/.mdf and split volume sets are all handled inside the application, so x64 and ARM64 get the same feature set.

Build (developers)

• .NET SDK 10.0.x (global.json pins 10.0.0 with rollForward: latestMajor)
• Windows SDK for WPF development
• No other global tools required

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2.2 Installation (End Users)

1. Download the latest binary from the Releases page.
2. Extract the contents to a permanent folder (do not run from a temp/Downloads folder if you want update/self-containment to behave).
3. Important: keep all .exe files (including ARM64 variants) in the same directory as BatchConvertToCHD.exe — chdman.exe and 7za.exe are located relative to the app's base directory (MainWindow.xaml.cs:96–101).
4. Launch BatchConvertToCHD.exe.

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2.3 Building from Source

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/purelogiccode/BatchConvertToCHD.git
cd CSharp_BatchConvertToCHD

# Build the whole solution
dotnet build CSharp_BatchConvertToCHD.sln -c Release

# Run the tests
dotnet test CSharp_BatchConvertToCHD.sln -c Release

# Or just the application
dotnet build BatchConvertToCHD/BatchConvertToCHD.csproj -c Release

The solution contains seven projects:

Project	Kind	Target framework
BatchConvertToCHD	WPF application (WinExe)	net10.0-windows
BatchConvertToCHD.Tests	xUnit test suite	net10.0-windows
MDSSharp	class library (Alcohol 120% .mds/.mdf parsing)	net8.0;net9.0;net10.0
CCDSharp	class library (CloneCD parsing)	net8.0;net9.0;net10.0
CSOSharp	class library (CSO decompression)	net8.0;net9.0;net10.0
PBPSharp	class library (PBP/SFO parsing)	net8.0;net9.0;net10.0
UltraIsoSharp	class library (ISZ decompression)	net10.0;net8.0

Note: chdman.exe and 7za.exe are copied to the output directory by the build (BatchConvertToCHD.csproj:26–40). The libraries are referenced as project references, not NuGet packages, except CHDSharp (NuGet 1.4.3) and other packages listed below.

NuGet dependencies (application)

Package	Version	Purpose
CHDSharp	1.4.3	Pure C# CHD reading, verification, extraction, and creation (chdman byte-identical output)
WPF-UI	4.3.0	Fluent Design theming and controls
SharpCompress	0.50.x	Archive extraction (7z/rar), and bzip2 decompression for ISZ chunks
NAudio	3.1.0	MP3 decoding via Media Foundation
Serilog	4.4.0	Structured logging
Serilog.Sinks.File	7.0.0	Rolling file logs
Serilog.Sinks.Debug	3.0.0	Debugger sink
SharpZipLib	1.4.2	Reference-compatible inflater for PBP PSAR blocks (via PBPSharp)
Meziantou.Analyzer	3.0.x	Roslyn analyzers (build-time only)
Roslynator.Analyzers	5.0.0	Roslyn analyzers (build-time only)

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2.4 Running the Application

From the command line

The application accepts an optional folder path argument to pre-populate the Convert to CHD source folder:

BatchConvertToCHD.exe "C:\ROMs\MyGames"

The path is applied in MainWindow_LoadedAsync via SetInputFolder (MainWindow.xaml.cs:148–153).

First launch

1. The app checks the bundled encoders: a critical error is shown only when neither chdman.exe nor CHDSharp.exe is present; when just one is missing, a warning explains which encoder will carry conversions (status bar indicators + a message box). A batch likewise refuses to start only when neither encoder is usable.
2. Usage statistics are recorded once (anonymous { applicationId, version } POST — see Services Reference).
3. An update check against GitHub releases runs in the background.
4. Leftover temp directories from crashed sessions and legacy files are cleaned up after a short delay.

Single-instance behavior

Only one instance can run: a global mutex Global\BatchConvertToCHD_SingleInstance is acquired at startup; a second launch shows "Another instance of BatchConvertToCHD is already running." and exits (App.xaml.cs:80–105).

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2.5 First Conversion in 30 Seconds

1. Open the Convert to CHD tab.
2. Source Files → browse to your folder of images/archives.
3. Output CHD → browse to your target folder.
4. Click Start Conversion.

Files appear in the list pre-selected; uncheck any you want to skip. The log pane shows live chdman output; the status bar and stat cards show progress, speed, and elapsed time.

See the User Guide for all options and the other two workflows (extraction and verification).