deploying an application that uses jet 4.0 for data access
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Hello, I want to create a setup program to deploy my application, but I'm a little confused on what I need to install on the user's computer in order for my application to work. I have implemented the boot strap sample from Microsoft's website in order to install the .Net framework, but I don't know for sure what to do to make sure that my application will be able to read data from an Access database. At first I thought that I could just use a MDAC merge module in my .msi project, but then I read that MDAC doesn't include Microsoft Jet, which is what I am using to access the database. So, should I use a JET merge module in my project instead? Or will one of the pre-existing merge modules that ship with .Net work? I saw a database_access.msm and a database_access_enu.msm already included with .Net. Would one of these merge modules do what I need? I'll take any suggestions. Thanks! Blake
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Hello, I want to create a setup program to deploy my application, but I'm a little confused on what I need to install on the user's computer in order for my application to work. I have implemented the boot strap sample from Microsoft's website in order to install the .Net framework, but I don't know for sure what to do to make sure that my application will be able to read data from an Access database. At first I thought that I could just use a MDAC merge module in my .msi project, but then I read that MDAC doesn't include Microsoft Jet, which is what I am using to access the database. So, should I use a JET merge module in my project instead? Or will one of the pre-existing merge modules that ship with .Net work? I saw a database_access.msm and a database_access_enu.msm already included with .Net. Would one of these merge modules do what I need? I'll take any suggestions. Thanks! Blake
Those assemblies are for the Crystal Reports .NET runtime. You can make your own merge module that just runs the installation (there's documentation included with the Jet download that details the setup switches) as a custom action, but VS.NET's MSI project designer doesn't give you very much flexibility. I did create one for Jet 3.5 a while back which is available on InstallSite at http://www.installsite.org/pages/en/msi/msm.htm[^]. The page also states that InstallShield created a Jet 4.0 MSM and that you can download it from their web site.
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Those assemblies are for the Crystal Reports .NET runtime. You can make your own merge module that just runs the installation (there's documentation included with the Jet download that details the setup switches) as a custom action, but VS.NET's MSI project designer doesn't give you very much flexibility. I did create one for Jet 3.5 a while back which is available on InstallSite at http://www.installsite.org/pages/en/msi/msm.htm[^]. The page also states that InstallShield created a Jet 4.0 MSM and that you can download it from their web site.
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Thanks for the reply. I'm still a little confused though. Here's a little more information. My program needs to be able to open an access database and read data from it. The connection string that I am using for the dataconnection is "@"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=EngSpanGlossary.mdb". I don't really understand how everything works, but I assume that this means I need the Microsoft Jet OLEDB 4.0 to be installed on the computer for my program to work. So, will downloading the merge module from installshield and adding it to my setup project be sufficient for my application to run on other computers? Do I need the MDAC at all? Thanks so much for your help. Blake
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Thanks for the reply. I'm still a little confused though. Here's a little more information. My program needs to be able to open an access database and read data from it. The connection string that I am using for the dataconnection is "@"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=EngSpanGlossary.mdb". I don't really understand how everything works, but I assume that this means I need the Microsoft Jet OLEDB 4.0 to be installed on the computer for my program to work. So, will downloading the merge module from installshield and adding it to my setup project be sufficient for my application to run on other computers? Do I need the MDAC at all? Thanks so much for your help. Blake
Yes, .NET requires MDAC 2.6 or higher for ADO.NET (2.7 recommended). What you're using is the OLE DB driver for Jet databases, so OLE DB (part of ADO) is still required. Just include the Jet MSM and the MDAC MSM (mdac27refresh is good) in the setup project and you're good to go. It will prompt for a redirection target, so just specify the [SystemFolder] (\windows\system32).
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