************************************************************** InstallWare Version 3.0 April 3, 1994 By Bob Dolan ************************************************************** NOTICE: If you are upgrading from a previous version, please check the Development History section for any changes that may affect your INF file. ************************************************************** Thank you for trying InstallWare. This is a small, easy to use application installation program. It costs nothing to use if you are distributing shareware or freeware. I wrote this system to distribute my own shareware because I couldn't find anything that met my requirements. Those requirements were: * Small: I didn't want to add too much extra baggage to my distribution or upload packages. * Cheap: I didn't mind paying a shareware type price but all I found were commercial type prices. * Simple: It had to be easy for me to configure and easy for my customers to use. * Attractive: It had to look good since it is the first impression your customers get of your product. In this case I used the CTL3D.DLL provided by Microsoft to give a sculpted look to all of the windows in the program. The biggest omission in this package as compared to other installers is the lack of INI file modification. This was intentional since I don't think that this is the job of an installation program. Apps should maintain their own private INI files and not muck up WIN.INI. Now I realize that there are some types of system oriented applications that must modify WIN.INI in order for them to work, but they are not in the same market as this installer is (that's my excuse anyway 8} ). I also feel compelled to point out that this code is based on some sample code that Microsoft made available in 1991. I have added a lot of functionality and cleaned up the code and dialogs. As far as how to use this package... The INSTALL.EXE application reads a configuration file when it starts up. This file is called APPSETUP.INF and must be present with INSTALL. The entire personality of InstallWare is defined within this program. Rather than go into a long discussion on how to do this, I have commented each section of this file with what I feel are rather descriptive hints on how to change things to suit your needs. Hey, I figured this out from the Microsoft stuff with no help and you're probably smarter than me. However, if you are lost, then contact me and I'll see if I can help. Files that are compressed using Microsoft's COMPRESS utility, will be automatically de-compressed by InstallWare. When COMPRESS processes your uncompressed files it will put an underscore character into the filename. InstallWare requires that the filename have this format. Just be sure that the files are listed in the APPSETUP.INF file without the underscore character. To see what the system looks like, you can run INSTALL.EXE right from this directory. You will see what a user of yours would see. Remember to include to CTL3D.DLL file to your distribution floppy or upload file. InstallWare will crash without it. I will be doing a version that tries to dynamically load this file. This will allow the program to continue if it is not found. When it is available, I will upload it. My shareware is usually found on CIS, GEnie, and SDN. This version of the program (3.0) corrects a problem with installing from multiple disks. The method that I have implemented for the fix involves using 2 executables. The first one (INSTALL.EXE) is used to copy the actual installer (IW.EXE), the APPSETUP.INF, and CTL3D.DLL to the WINDOWS directory which is assumed to be in the PATH. CTL3D.DLL is only copied if there is not one there already. After these files are copied, IW.EXE is launched using WinExec. IW does all of the installing work and then deletes these files before exiting. If your installation only uses one disk, then you don't need the loader file. Just rename IW.EXE to INSTALL.EXE and go. IW.EXE knows whether it was copied from the floppy or not and will work properly in either case. The file 2DISK.INF has been included as an example of a multiple disk installation. The main dialogs of the system have had an icon added to them. If you would like to have a version of InstallWare that uses your own icons, send them to me along with $15 and I'll re-compile the system and send it back to you. If anyone has any code that loads an ICO file and places it in a dialog, I can add that functionality to the INF file to make the system that much more configurable. The code seems robust and has worked with everything I've thrown at it. Large apps with multiple disks should work. I'd be interested in hear- ing about your experiences. However, see the disclaimer below. If you are distributing Shareware with this system, then you are not obligated to send me money. However, I won't refuse any donations if you feel so inclined. I do require that you register with me and send me a copy of what you are sending out with my program. No money, just a disk. If you are using this in a commercial environment or distributing commercial software (in other words, your customers pay before they try), then you must register by sending $25 along with a copy of what you are distributing (unless it is a private internal application). Make checks payable to Bob Dolan and send them to: Bob Dolan P.O. Box 16514 Rochester, New York 14616-0514 716-865-8248 Good Luck! and have fun! Development History ------------------- 2.0 Added the capability to place icon executables in directories other than the base directory. 3.0 Major Changes including the following: > Fixed some grammatical errors in the displayed text. > The handling of Compressed files is discussed. > Multiple disks are supported (see below) > The [app.copy.appstuff] section name has been changed to [dest.directories] because that is what it is. I don't know why it was named the former! > A user specified executable can be run once the installation is complete. > Added huge amounts of comments to the sample APPSETUP.INF file to help with setting it up. > The contents of an existing Program Group are no longer erased when InstallWare adds an icon to it. (ouch!) Distribution ------------ If you distribute InstallWare to friends, associates, or to a computer bulletin board system (BBS), you may only distribute the compressed file including the copyright and disclaimer. Disclaimer ---------- The Copyright Owner hereby disclaims all warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The Copyright Owner will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason, even if The Copyright owner or an agent of The Copyright Owner has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall The Copyright Owner's liability for any damages ever exceed the price paid for the license to use the software, regardless of the form of the claim. The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software.