Visual Basic 6 Black Book
(Publisher: The Coriolis Group)
Author(s): Steven Holzner
ISBN: 1576102831
Publication Date: 08/01/98

The “Designed For Microsoft Windows” Logo

If you’re serious about your application and want to release it commercially, you might want to fulfill the requirements for the Microsoft “Designed for Microsoft Windows” logo. To add this logo to your application, that application must pass a fairly rigorous set of tests (you submit the application on a CD for testing).

Even if you are not trying to get the logo, it’s worth taking a look at some of the requirements an application must fill to get that logo, because they provide some insight into what Microsoft considers good programming practice. For example, your application must:

•  Be a 32-bit multitasking program, stable and functional on all current versions of Windows and Windows NT.

•  Digitally sign ActiveX controls that it provides and support Authenticode signing of all its downloadable code.

•  Provide an OLE container or object server, and allow users to drag objects to any container. Object servers and OLE containers must pass tests of basic functionality, and an Object command must be placed on a container’s Insert menu.

•  Use new Microsoft installer technology, which makes it easy to meet the other install/uninstall requirements.

•  Provide a graphical 32-bit setup program that detects software versions, creates shortcuts, supports CD-ROM AutoPlay, supports Add/Remove Programs, and checks operations in advance.

•  Support the Universal Naming Convention, long file names, and hard drives larger than 2GB.

•  Support users who upgrade their computers from one version of Windows to another by providing a migration DLL (when necessary).

•  Provide keyboard access to all features and provide some kind of notification of the keyboard focus location.

•  Provide and register a fully automated uninstaller that appears in Add/Remove Programs and that when run, removes all application files, references in the Start menu, and Registry entries.

•  Not install executables or DLLs in the root directory, but must use the \Program Files directory instead.

•  Separate user data from application code and query the Registry for the names of suitable directories in which to save user data.

•  Not overwrite core components when installing, or decrement or remove core components when uninstalling. It must register all shared components during installation.

•  Register native data types and support informational keys in the Registry. It must not add any entries to the Win.ini or System.ini files.

That’s just a partial list—you can get more information directly from Microsoft.

That’s it for the overview of what’s in this chapter. Now it’s time to turn to the Immediate Solutions section.

Immediate Solutions

Creating Your Application’s EXE File

The first step in deploying your application is to create its EXE (or DLL or OCX) file. You probably already know how to create your project’s EXE file, but for the record, you just select the Make projectname.exe (or .dll or .ocx) item in the File menu.

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TIP:  The Package And Deployment Wizard will actually create your application’s executable file for you if that file doesn’t exist (it first asks whether you want it to).

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After your application’s executable file is created, you’re ready to create a setup program to deploy it with.

Using The Package And Deployment Wizard

The Visual Basic Package And Deployment Wizard is an add-in that lets you deploy your application. If you don’t see it in the Visual Basic Add-Ins menu, use the Add-In Manager (which appears in the Add-Ins menu) to insert it in that menu.

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TIP:  It’s important to make sure that you don’t distribute licensed material or components without permission, of course. Check with the manufacturer of the DLL or OCX files you want to distribute first, making sure their policy allows distribution.

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Open the application you want to distribute in Visual Basic now, and open the Package And Deployment Wizard, as shown in Figure 30.1. As you can see in that figure, there are several options here: you can create a new setup program, deploy a setup package to a distribution site, or manage the scripts you can use with this wizard.

Figure 30.1  The Package And Deployment Wizard.

We’ll create a setup program for our alarm clock application, the alarm project, which we developed in Chapter 13, in the next few topics in this chapter, progressing step-by-step through the Package And Deployment Wizard. Select the top button in the Package And Deployment Wizard now to create a setup program for the Alarm application.

Step 1: Package Type

In the first step of the Package And Deployment Wizard, you select the package type you want to create. In this case, make sure the Standard Setup Package item is selected in the Package Type box.

Selecting this item means that we will create a deployment package that can be installed using a setup.exe file. After you’ve selected the Standard Setup Package item, click the Next button to move on to Step 2 in the Package And Deployment Wizard.