EDI Install for MS-DOS - Version 1.0 Complete MS-DOS Installation Utility by Eschalon Development Inc. (C) Copyright 1992 Robert Salesas - All Rights Reserved. COPYRIGHT ~~~~~~~~~ (C) Copyright 1992 Robert Salesas. All Rights Reserved. This document may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form, without prior consent, in writing, from Robert Salesas. All software described in this manual is (C) Copyright 1992 Robert Salesas. All rights reserved. The distribution and sale of these products are intended for the use of the original purchaser only. Lawful users of these programs are hereby licensed only to read the programs, from their media into memory of a computer, solely for the purpose of executing the programs on one machine at a time. Duplicating or copying for other than backup purposes, or selling or otherwise distributing these products is a violation of the law and this agreement. DISCLAIMER ~~~~~~~~~~ THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR ENDORSEMENTS REGARDING THE USE OF, THE RESULTS OF, OR PERFORMANCE OF THE INFORMATION, ITS APPROPRIATENESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR CORRECTNESS. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS ASSUMED BY THE USER. IN NO EVENT WILL ROBERT SALESAS, ESCHALON DEVELOPMENT INC. OR IT'S EMPLOYEES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECT IN THE INFORMATION, EVEN IF ROBERT SALESAS OR ESCHALON DEVELOPMENT INC. HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS DISCLAIMER SHALL SUPERSEDE ANY VERBAL OR WRITTEN STATEMENT TO THE CONTRARY. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS YOU MUST CEASE AND DESIST USING THIS PRODUCT IMMEDIATELY. LICENSE AGREEMENT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your use of this package indicates your acceptance of the following terms and conditions: 1. Copyright: These programs and the related documentation are copyright. The sole owner is Robert Salesas. You may not use, copy, modify, or transfer the programs, documentation, or any copy except as expressly provided in this agreement. 2. License: You have the non-exclusive right to use any enclosed program only on a single computer at a time. You may load the program into your computers temporary memory (RAM). You may physically transfer the program from one computer to another, provided that the program is used on only one computer at a time. You may not distribute copies of the complete package or the accompanying documentation to others. You may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, modify, or translate the program or the documentation. You may not attempt to unlock or bypass any copy protection utilized with the program. You may distribute the installation program, along with the unpacking program, as long as its intended use is to install an application other then itself, on a users machine. You may not use EDI Install to distribute with, or install "shareware/PD collections", nor may you use it with any product transmitted via a BBS or information service (example: CompuServe, BIX, or GEnie). You may not remove any copyright notice or modify the About dialog box, which can be accessed by pressing ALT-I at the main window. All other rights and uses not specifically granted in this license are reserved by Robert Salesas and/or Eschalon Development Inc. 3. Back-up and Transfer: You may make one (1) copy of the program solely for back-up purposes. You must reproduce and include the copyright notice on the back-up copy. You may transfer the product to another party only if the other party agrees to the terms and conditions of this agreement and completes and returns a registration card to Eschalon Development Inc. If you transfer the program you must at the same time transfer the documentation and back-up copy or transfer the documentation and destroy the back-up copy. 4. Terms: This license is effective until terminated. You may terminate it by destroying the program, the documentation and copies thereof. This license will also terminate if you fail to comply with any terms or conditions of this agreement. You agree upon such termination to destroy all copies of the program and of the documentation. The shareware concept ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shareware is copyrighted software which is distributed by authors through bulletin boards, on-line services, disk vendors, and copies passed among friends. It is commercial software that you are allowed to try before you pay for it. This makes shareware the ultimate in money back guarantees. Most money back guarantees work like this: you pay for the product and then have some period of time to try it out and see whether or not you like it. If you don't like it or find that it doesn't do that you need, you return it and you get your money back. Some software companies won't even let you try their product, since to qualify for a refund the diskette envelope must have an unbroken seal. With shareware you get to try it for a reasonable limited time (like 30 days), without spending a penny. You are able to use the software on your own system(s), in your own special work environment, with no sales people looking over your shoulder. If you decide not to continue using it, you throw it away and forget all about it. There is no paperwork, no phone calls, and no correspondence to waste your valuable time. You only pay for it if you continue to use it. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. Shareware is produced by accomplished programmers, just like retail software. There is good and bad shareware, just as there is good and bad retail software. The primary difference between shareware and retail software is that with shareware you know if it's good or bad before you pay for it. You benefit because you get to use the software to determine whether it meets your needs, before you pay for it. Authors benefit because they are able to get their products into your hands without the expenses it takes to launch a traditional retail software product. There are many programs on the market today that would never have become available without the shareware marketing method. The shareware system and the continued availability of quality shareware products depend on your willingness to register and pay for the shareware you use. It's the registration fees you pay which allow us to support and continue to develop our products. Please show your support for shareware by registering those programs you actually use and by passing them on to others. Shareware is kept alive by your support! What do I get when I register? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace of mind. Seriously, if you like EDI Install and you choose to use it, you must register it. You are not allowed to keep, use, or distribute EDI Install with your applications unless you register. When you register, we send the latest version of the package. It will not have the opening delay screen that you get with the unregistered version and it will support compression. As well, you will receive a compression utility to pack your files and a decompression utility to distribute with your product. To register EDI Install have your VISA card ready and give us a call at (604) 520-1543. If you prefer you may complete the order form and fax it to the same number. We're sorry but we do not currently accept Master Card or American Express, nor do we accept unsolicited purchase orders. You may also complete the order form and send it with a check or money order for $45 US ($55 Cdn, $58 BC) to: Eschalon Development Inc. 110-2 Renaissance Square New Westminster, BC V3M 6K3 Canada If you own EDI Install for Windows or EDI Install Pro for Windows and you would like to register EDI Install for MS-DOS, you may call with your VISA card, or send a check or money order for $25.00 US ($31.80 Cdn; $32.90 BC). What is EDI Install? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you have completed your application, you will require a method for your clients to install it on their drive. EDI Install is a program designed especially for that purpose. It is easy to use by both you and your customers. EDI Install copies your files from the distribution diskettes to the drive in a simple and pleasant manner. It introduces the application, obtains the needed information, copies the files and optionally creates a Program Manager group. How does EDI Install work? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDI Install allows you to specify a default directory that the user can modify if necessary. It also displays the minimum amount of free space required and advises the user if the selected drive has insufficient room. Throughout the installation, EDI Install displays information when a file is copied. This allows the user to feel comfortable with the installation process and to not worry about what the program is doing to the system. The only time intervention is required is when a new disk needs to be inserted. The installation process can be aborted at any time. EDI Install will report that the installation was not completed and that the program should not be used in this condition. The files that have been created will have to be manually deleted. This is done as a precaution since most users would not like a program to start deleting files off the drive. Can I compress my files with EDI Install? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDI Install supports file compression. Packed files require less space on the disk and generally take less time to copy since the CPU usually decompresses faster than the disk drive can transfer the original file. This allows you to use fewer disks, especially if you have a lot of large data files, and decreases the installation time. Your customers will also appreciate not having to switch disks as often. However this has one disadvantage: the files may not be manually copied to the drive since they are useless if they are not decompressed. We supply you with a distributable unpacking utility just in case the user needs to access one file at a time, with rerunning the installation. The user selects on one or more files and executes UnPack. The selected files are then decompressed and copied to the destination directory, ready to use. When you compress a file, the name is changed by adding a "$" (dollar sign) to the extension. The original name is stored in the file. When you install it or use UnPack, the real name is extracted and used for the creation of the new file. You must specify the name of the compressed file (with the "$") in the [FILES] section, not the original name. Files on the distribution disks should be placed in such a way as to minimize disk swapping. Note that a setup file for low density disks will not be the same as one for high density disks. Since the high density disks can hold more files, you won't need as many disks. Keep this in mind when planning the setup file. How do I use EDI Install? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDI Install is a complete installation program that you can use without modification. It reads the INSTALL.INF file which contains the necessary information describing the layout of your files on the distribution disks as well as a variety of options and labels. To customize your installation process you simply modify the INSTALL.INF file to suit your application. Sample INSTALL.INF file ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below is a sample INSTALL.INF (taken from one of our products' distribution disks) file that we will use to explain the format required by EDI Install. ; WinCLI Pro V1.0 - Installation Script ; Eschalon Development Inc. [Application] ; Application information. Name=WinCLI Pro Title=WinCLI Pro - Installation Directory=C:\WINDOWS\WINCLI Free Space=754 ReadMe=README.TXT End Program=INSTPROG.EXE [Disks] ; Disk descriptions. 1=WinCLI Pro Disk #1 2=WinCLI Pro Disk #2 [Directories] ; Disks must follow the same directory structure outlined in this ; section. Directory entry "0" is automatically the root, and ; need not be specified. 1=Extended 2=Program 3=Program\DemoExt.Pas 4=Program\DemoExt.C 5=Program\STUtls 6=Program\UUCode [Files] ; Files to be installed in the specified directory. ; Description=(File name) (directory #) (diskette #) (Compressed?) ReadMe text file=README.TXT 0 1 N WinCLI Pro=WINCLI.EX$ 0 1 Y WCLIUtls library=WCLIUTLS.DL$ 0 1 Y WCLIExts library=WCLIEXTS.DL$ 0 1 Y WinCLI Pro help=WINCLI.HLP 0 1 N Control Panel help=WCLICTRL.HLP 0 1 N WC FileApp help=FILEAPP.HLP 0 1 N DemoExt - DLL=DEMOEXT.DL$ 1 1 Y STUtls - DLL=STUTLS.DL$ 1 1 Y UUCode - DLL=UUCODE.DL$ 1 1 Y API - Help=PROGHELP.EX$ 2 1 Y API - C Help=WCLIINTC.HLP 2 1 N API - Pascal Help=WCLIINTP.HLP 2 1 N API - C=WCLIINT.H 2 1 N API - Pascal=WCLIINT.PAS 2 1 N Control Panel=WCLICTRL.EX$ 0 1 Y WC FileApp=FILEAPP.EX$ 0 1 Y WC SysInfo=SYSINFO.EX$ 0 1 Y WC Drives=DRIVES.EX$ 0 1 Y WC ClkSvr=WCCLKSVR.EX$ 0 1 Y WC ClkSvr - Hook=WCCSHOOK.DL$ 0 1 Y WC Password=PASSWORD.EX$ 0 1 Y WC CalcApp=CALCAPP.EX$ 0 1 Y UnPack Utility=UNPACK.EXE 0 1 N DemoExt - Pascal=DEMOEXT.PAS 3 2 N DemoExt - C=DEMOEXT.C 4 2 N DemoExt - Def=DEMOEXT.DEF 4 2 N STUtls - C=STUTLS.C 5 2 N STUtls - Def=STUTLS.DEF 5 2 N TrimFile - C=TRIMFILE.C 5 2 N UUCode - C=UUCODE.C 6 2 N UUCode - Def=UUCODE.DEF 6 2 N UUDecode - C=UUDECODE.C 6 2 N UUEncode - C=UUENCODE.C 6 2 N INSTALL.INF sections ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The INSTALL.INF file is separated into various sections that control different aspects of the installation process. By modifying them you configure EDI Install for your own application. [Application] The application section contains basic information about your application. Field Description Name The name of the application that is to be installed. The name appears in portions of the text and in some dialog boxes. Title The title that should appear in the caption of every dialog box. Directory The default directory where you want the installation placed. The user may change this by specifying a different path. Free Space The amount of free kilobytes required for the installation to succeed. This amount should equal the total size of your files. The "progress meter" display uses this information to determine what percentage of the installation has been completed. ReadMe Specifies a file to display to the user just before completing the installation. You usually include last minute information that didn't make it into the manual, or information that is so important the user MUST read it before they run the application. This field is optional. End Program Specifies a custom program to run before completing the installation (or displaying the ReadMe file). You may do anything you want in the program, such as modifying config.sys/autoexec.bat, running an application, checking system settings, or obtaining additional information from the user. See the file INSTPROG.PAS for more information on creating an "end program". Debug Mode This is a special option that sets a "debug mode" on or off. When this value equals "1", EDI Install will not actually copy the files, it will just pretend that it is doing so. This is useful when you have a long INSTALL.INF to debug since it will catch most error (but not all). Make sure you either omit this field or set it to "0" before shipping, or your files will be copied! [Disks] The disks section lists the names of the disks required for the installation. These names do not have to be the disks' DOS label. They should be names that will help the user recognize which disk to insert. Preferably the name will be printed on the disk in such a way that the user can spot it quickly. Each line consists of an integer number (1 to 32000), an equal sign, and the name of the distribution disk. The numbers are only used internally and need not be consecutive, although it makes more sense to number them like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. than like this: 1, 45, 33, 56, 78, etc. When EDI Install cannot find a file in the currently inserted disk, it will prompt the user to insert the appropriate disk that is retrieved from the disks section. The user has the option of changing the source path each time EDI Install prompts for a new disk. [Directories] The directories section lists the names of the directories required for the installation. EDI Install will attempt to create all the directories in the section. If a directory already exists, an error is not reported. It will create all the directories in the order in which you list them, so if you need to create a sub directory that is more than one level deep, make sure that the sub directories that are closer to the root are listed first. For example, in the sample INSTALL.INF the directories section looks like this: [Directories] 1=Extended 2=Program 3=Program\DemoExt.Pas 4=Program\DemoExt.C 5=Program\STUtls 6=Program\UUCode notice how before it can create directory number 7, Program\UUCode, it needs to create directory number 4, Program, and therefore directory number 4 is listed first. Each line consists of an integer number (1 to 32000), an equal sign, and the name of the directory. The numbers are only used internally and need not be consecutive, although it makes more sense to number them like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. than like this: 1, 45, 33, 56, 78, etc. Directory entry number "0" is reserved and specifies the root directory. You can use "0" in the files section whenever you need to specify the destination directory directly. EDI Install uses this information to determine which directory on the distribution diskette contains the file and to which directory, relative to the destination, the file is to be copied. The path is always relative to the source and destination, which the user specified. [Files] The files section lists all the files that EDI Install must copy to the users drive. Each line consists of a description, an equal sign, and 4 fields separated by at least one space. The description is displayed in the progress dialog box, indicating which file is being copied. It may contain spaces, commas, quotes, and other special characters. The following 4 fields provide information on the file to be copied. They are each separated by a space. Field Description File name The exact name of the file to be copied, as it appears on your disks. Do not specify the path. If the file is compressed, you should specify the name with the "$" extension. EDI Install will automatically create the destination file with the original name. Directory The directory number that contains the file to be copied. The source path is constructed by combining the source directory, this directory, and the file name. The same process is used to construct the destination path. Disk The disk number that contains the file to be copied. EDI Install first attempts to read the file in the current disk and if the file cannot be located it prompts the user to insert this disk. Compression Notifies EDI Install whether or not the file is stored in a packed format. If the value is "Y", EDI Install will decompress the file as it is copied. If the value is "N", it will simply copy the file without decompressing it. If you attempt to decompress a file that was not compressed using the included Pack utility, an error will be reported. However, no error is reported if a packed file is copied without being decompressed. General information on INSTALL.INF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You must remember that the INSTALL.INF file is like a program's source code. It needs to be tested and debugged under various conditions. We have used and tested the installation program thoroughly and so far, to the best of our knowledge, there are no major bugs. Still, this only means that the installation program itself is safe, the INSTALL.INF file that you write can still contain bugs. Check that you have properly labeled the disks; that the labels in each section are unique; that all files have the correct directories and disks; and finally that you have checked that all compressed files are properly marked. If the user attempts to run a compressed file they will be angry when it does not work. Special option for laptop users ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If your customers are using laptops and they have a problem seeing the display, they may start EDI Install with the "/BW" switch. This will force EDI Install to use black and white mode only. For example: C:\> install.exe /BW It's a good idea to make a note of this in your manual or in a slip sheet. Distributing EDI Install ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you have completed the INSTALL.INF file and you have created your distribution disks, you will need to copy INSTALL.EXE, INSTALL.INF, UNPACK.EXE to the first disk in your package. This disk should be clearly identified so the user can locate it easily. You might also consider writing a message similar to this, on the label: ***** INSERT DISK AND RUN INSTALL FROM MS-DOS. ***** You may not distribute PACK.EXE with your package, only the UNPACK.EXE utility is redistributable. It is highly recommended that you include the unpacking utility since without it your customers will not be able to use the compressed files unless they go through the whole installation process. Sometimes that is not desirable. We suggest you add a README.TXT file to your disk and include something like the following passage, to let customers know about the compressed files: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The executable and library files in this package are compressed. If you don't use the installation program or you need to copy one of the original files onto your hard disk, use the UNPACK.EXE file located in the WinCLI Pro directory or on the diskette. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Eschalon Development product line as of April 1992 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDI Install for Windows - Version 1.3 $45 US ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDI Install for Windows is the first in the EDI Install product line. It is a simple to use, complete installation utility for Windows applications. Features a nice Windows interface, prompts user for destination, creates Program Manager groups, multiple disk support, file compression included. Uses a simple .INF file that doesn't require programming or learning a new script language. You just list your files and go! EDI Install for MS-DOS - Version 1.0 $45 US ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDI Install for MS-DOS is a complete implementation of EDI Install written specifically for MS-DOS. Features a pleasant text based windowed interface which gives your users a good first impression of your product. This versions uses the same format .INF file making it just as easy to learn as its Windows cousin. You can even share .INF files across Windows/MS-DOS platforms! EDI Install Pro for Windows - Version 1.0 $95 US ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Finally, an advanced installation utility that doesn't take days to learn. EDI Install Pro uses an enhanced version of the familiar .INF file format introduced in EDI Install for Windows. It is extremely easy to use, yet offers all the powerful features of products costing 3 times as much. There is very little, if anything, that you cannot do with EDI Install Pro. Here are just some of the features you'll find: o Optional dithered and/or bit mapped background. o Optional selectable components allow the user to install only what is needed. o Program Manager group creation. o .INI file creation and modification. Works on WIN.INI and .INI files. o Display "ReadMe.Txt" file to the user. o Smart progress bar displays percent completed by file size. o User specified source and destination paths. o Creates directory structure "on the fly", only as required. o Version checking based on "newer files" and "user confirmation". o Complete file compression support, including a redistributable graphical "unpacker". o Multiple diskette installations supported. o Custom DLL allows you do expand the capabilities of EDI Install Pro. You can do almost anything you need with EDI Install Pro, just as it is. However, by allowing custom DLLs, you can expand the capabilities to include anything you need, such as custom setup information, custom component selection, advertising text, file encryption, autoexec.bat or config.sys modifications, and much more. We couldn't include every possible feature, but with a custom DLL you can add anything you need. If you are unable to write your own DLL we can usually create one for you at a reasonable cost. WinCLI/WinCLI Pro* - Version 3.0/1.0 $35/$80 US ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WinCLI is a complete command line interface capable of running Windows applications as well as DOS applications. It replaces the standard DOS prompt on standard and enhanced mode systems. WinCLI also includes over 30 file management commands that are built-in to WinCLI Pro (ALIAS, ASSOCIATE, ATTRIB, CD, CLS, COPY, DATE, DEL, DIR, EXIT, FINDFILE, HELP, INFO, LABEL, MEM, MAKEDIR, MORE, MOVE, PATH, PROMPT, RENAME, RENDIR, RMDIR, SYSINFO, TIME, TITLE, VER, VERIFY, VOL, WHICH and many other extended commands). WinCLI has full clipboard support, a detailed help system, command line editing, command line history, aliases (like Doskey macros in MS-DOS 5.0), a scroll-back buffer, selectable font and adjustable colors. Also included in the package is a complete File Manager replacement, settings utility for WinCLI, password system protector, clock & screen saver and various other small utilities. *Some features are only available in WinCLI Pro. FileApp - Version 1.1 (available May 1992) $25 US ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FileApp is a "quick and dirty" file manager that's powerful enough to handle all your routine tasks. It sports a friendly graphical interface with "buttons" for all management chores. Easily copy, move, rename, delete, edit, or run files. You can also copy, move, rename, or delete entire directories. Provides system and disk information, as well as a complete on-line help system. Three different interfaces are available. LZSSLib - Version 1.0 $25 US ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Complete compression/decompression DLL for Windows. Quickly and easily add compression support to your current applications. Supports Visual Basic, Turbo Pascal for Windows, C/C++, Actor, Object Vision 2.0 and any language product that supports DLLs. Switcher - Version 1.2 Free! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This neat little utility quickly allows you to switch between various Windows video modes. Supports most drivers and fonts. Works with Windows 3.0 and 3.1. Included free with most of our products. All of our products can be registered directly through us and you can download the shareware versions from CompuServe (WINADV section usually). We cannot ship unregistered copies, sorry. Contacting us at Eschalon Development ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We will periodically provide bug fixes and upgrades. You may contact us for the latest version. Minor changes and/or bug fixes are free; major revisions carry an upgrade fee. You always pay for shipping and handling. For technical assistance, orders, site licenses or information on our other products, you may contact us at: Eschalon Development Inc. 110-2 Renaissance Square New Westminster, BC V3M 6K3 Canada Telephone/Fax: (604) 520-1543 CompuServe: 76625,1320 Internet: robert_salesas@mindlink.bc.ca