Create an exe without need of setup file and packaging and deployment advice
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Dear Coders, At the risk of asking a stupid question, or at least a question that has been answered before many times. How would one go about the following situation. I have an application which comprises the following: 1. VB.NET 2008 Windows Forms application 2. MySQL 3. Framework 3.5 4. Crystal Reports 5. Infragistics UI controls 6. COM controls (to connect to MySQL database) I would like to package and deploy this application so that the user can do this without requiring much computer savvy. (Pretty much standard exam question it seems) Currently I do the installation myself and have taught one person how to install without me. Basically the steps include: 1. Install dotnexfx35.exe (not much user intervention) 2. Install MySQL (configuration is a bit above non computer savvy) 3. Install Crystal Runtime (not much user intervention so is good) 4. Run a bat file that copies the 2 COM files to %windowsroot%\system and runs regsvr32 on each. 5. Included Infragistics the first time in a deployment 6. Install setup What I would like to do is, create an autorun.ini and an exe on a CD that brings up a menu that can install the various components. However, how (in VB 2008) can I make an exe that does not need to be installed first? Do you think I am going about this the right way?
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Dear Coders, At the risk of asking a stupid question, or at least a question that has been answered before many times. How would one go about the following situation. I have an application which comprises the following: 1. VB.NET 2008 Windows Forms application 2. MySQL 3. Framework 3.5 4. Crystal Reports 5. Infragistics UI controls 6. COM controls (to connect to MySQL database) I would like to package and deploy this application so that the user can do this without requiring much computer savvy. (Pretty much standard exam question it seems) Currently I do the installation myself and have taught one person how to install without me. Basically the steps include: 1. Install dotnexfx35.exe (not much user intervention) 2. Install MySQL (configuration is a bit above non computer savvy) 3. Install Crystal Runtime (not much user intervention so is good) 4. Run a bat file that copies the 2 COM files to %windowsroot%\system and runs regsvr32 on each. 5. Included Infragistics the first time in a deployment 6. Install setup What I would like to do is, create an autorun.ini and an exe on a CD that brings up a menu that can install the various components. However, how (in VB 2008) can I make an exe that does not need to be installed first? Do you think I am going about this the right way?
You can't. Not in VB2008, because VB2008 needs .NET. Instead, you need to write it in C++, preferably without MFC, but you can link it so that it will work without the MFC dlls on the target machine.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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You can't. Not in VB2008, because VB2008 needs .NET. Instead, you need to write it in C++, preferably without MFC, but you can link it so that it will work without the MFC dlls on the target machine.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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no problem. I've been doing it that way for ages. Here is a method I wrote to run an msi, or other program, and wait for it to finish: void CInstallerDlg::ShellExecuteAndWait(const char * path, const char * params, const char * message) { // Run a file and wait until it's done SHELLEXECUTEINFO ShExecInfo = {0}; ShExecInfo.cbSize = sizeof(SHELLEXECUTEINFO); ShExecInfo.fMask = SEE_MASK_NOCLOSEPROCESS; ShExecInfo.hwnd = NULL; ShExecInfo.lpVerb = NULL; ShExecInfo.lpFile = path; ShExecInfo.lpParameters = params; ShExecInfo.lpDirectory = NULL; ShExecInfo.nShow = SW_SHOW; ShExecInfo.hInstApp = NULL; ShellExecuteEx(&ShExecInfo); if (message != NULL) { ModelessDisplay d(this); d.SetString(message); WaitForSingleObject(ShExecInfo.hProcess,INFINITE); d.DestroyWindow(); } else { WaitForSingleObject(ShExecInfo.hProcess,INFINITE); } } Now, the really painful bit is writing code to check registry keys, etc, to work out what you need to install..... Oh, the ModelessDisplay stuff is code that shows a message while it runs, you need to add your own class to do that, or ignore that bit.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "I am new to programming world. I have been learning c# for about past four weeks. I am quite acquainted with the fundamentals of c#. Now I have to work on a project which converts given flat files to XML using the XML serialization method" - SK64 ( but the forums have stuff like this posted every day )
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Dear Coders, At the risk of asking a stupid question, or at least a question that has been answered before many times. How would one go about the following situation. I have an application which comprises the following: 1. VB.NET 2008 Windows Forms application 2. MySQL 3. Framework 3.5 4. Crystal Reports 5. Infragistics UI controls 6. COM controls (to connect to MySQL database) I would like to package and deploy this application so that the user can do this without requiring much computer savvy. (Pretty much standard exam question it seems) Currently I do the installation myself and have taught one person how to install without me. Basically the steps include: 1. Install dotnexfx35.exe (not much user intervention) 2. Install MySQL (configuration is a bit above non computer savvy) 3. Install Crystal Runtime (not much user intervention so is good) 4. Run a bat file that copies the 2 COM files to %windowsroot%\system and runs regsvr32 on each. 5. Included Infragistics the first time in a deployment 6. Install setup What I would like to do is, create an autorun.ini and an exe on a CD that brings up a menu that can install the various components. However, how (in VB 2008) can I make an exe that does not need to be installed first? Do you think I am going about this the right way?