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

Step 2: Build Folder

In Step 2 of the Package And Deployment Wizard, you select the folder in which your deployment package will be created. By default, this folder is named Package and Package And Deployment is added to your Visual Basic project’s folder. For example, in the alarm project, which is in the C:\vbbb\alarm folder, the deployment package will be created in the folder C:\vbbb\alarm\Package. If you want to build the deployment package in another folder, select that folder now.

When you’re ready, click the Next button to move on to the next step in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

Step 3: Files

In Step 3 of the Package And Deployment Wizard, you can select what files will be included for distribution. This includes your application’s executable file and all the needed support files—the Package And Deployment Wizard determines what support files your application needs and adds them automatically.

The Package And Deployment Wizard presents a list of files it will include in your deployment package in this step, and you can deselect ones you don’t want to include. You can also include additional files in your deployment package, such as Help or application-specific data files, by clicking the Add button and specifying those files.

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TIP:  If you’re going to install your application on a computer that already has Visual Basic installed, you can deselect the standard DLL and OCX files that come with Visual Basic because you won’t have to deploy them. Doing so will avoid annoying questions about replacing those files when you install your application.

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When you’re ready, click the Next button to move on to the next step in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

Step 4: Distribution Type

In Step 4 of the Package And Deployment Wizard, you specify how you want to distribute your application—as one single cabinet (.cab) file, or over multiple disks—as shown in Figure 30.2. If you select deployment with multiple disks, you can specify the capacity of each disk, from 360K to 2.88MB, and the Package And Deployment Wizard will create a CAB file for each disk and let you know how many disks you need. Here, we’ll select the single cab option for the alarm clock application we’re working with.

Figure 30.2  Selecting the distribution type in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

When you’re ready, click the Next button to move on to the next step in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

Step 5: Installation Title

In Step 5 of the Package And Deployment Wizard, you enter the installation title for your application, as shown in Figure 30.3. This title will appear on the setup program’s “wash” screen (which covers the whole screen) when the user installs the application.

Figure 30.3  Selecting a deployment package’s installation title.

Here, we’ll use the title “Alarm”, as shown in Figure 30.3, while creating the deployment package for our alarm clock application, but you may also want to include your company’s name in the title, if applicable.

When you’re ready, click the Next button to move on to the next step in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

Step 6: Icons

In Step 6 of the Package And Deployment Wizard, you indicate what new program group(s) you want to add to Windows and the icons to use. In this case, where we’re building a deployment package for our alarm application, we’re only going to add one program group, Alarm, and use the icon from the alarm.exe file, as shown in Figure 30.4 (these are the defaults the Package And Deployment Wizard has selected for us).

Figure 30.4  Selecting program groups and icons to install in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

When you’re ready, click the Next button to move on to the next step in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

Step 7: Install Locations

In Step 7 of the Package And Deployment Wizard, you indicate where you want the parts of your application installed on the target computer. By default, your application is placed into the directory the user specifies, which is represented in the Package And Deployment Wizard with the macro $(AppPath), and the other files, like DLL files, are installed where your application expects to find them (such as the windows\system directory).

You can change the default installation location of your applications files in this step; for example, if you want your Help files to go into the installation folder’s Help subfolder, specify that they should be installed in the $(AppPath)\Help folder.

When you’re ready, click the Next button to move on to the next step in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

Step 8: Shared Files

In Step 8 of the Package And Deployment Wizard, you can indicate which files you want to register as shared files. These files may be used by several applications in the target computer and will be uninstalled only if all applications that use them are uninstalled. If in doubt, it’s better to register files as shared—especially common DLLs and OCXs. (And if really in doubt, don’t forget to test your application’s setup program.)

When you’re ready, click the Next button to move on to the next step in the Package And Deployment Wizard.

Step 9: Finished!

Step 9 in the Package And Deployment Wizard is the last step in creating your application’s deployment package. Just click the Finish button to create the CAB file(s), the setup.exe program itself, and the setup.lst file, which holds a list of the files to install and where they go (setup.exe reads setup.lst to know what to install where).

When you click Finish, the Package And Deployment Wizard also displays a packaging report indicating that the alarm.cab file has been created (click Close to close the packaging report dialog box and click Close again to close the Package And Deployment Wizard).

And that’s all it takes—now the user can run the setup.exe program to install your application, as shown in Figure 30.5. When the setup program runs, it handles all the details of checking for adequate disk space, asking the user where to install the application, and installs the necessary files for you, using the CAB file and the setup.lst file. It’s that simple.

Figure 30.5  Installing the alarm application.

You’ve completed the process: using the Package And Deployment Wizard, you can now create setup programs to distribute your application.