how do i distribute my programs to others ?

jerryham · September 27th, 2008, 11:36 AM

according to the wrox books .. to activate the setup wizard, you click (file) .. (add) .. (new project).

then choose (setup project).

there is no (setup project) to choose.

? how do i distribute my programs to others .. on cd ?

thanks

jerry gentry

jerry gentry .. i am not retired .. but after 47 years of computer programming .. i got so old that nobody will hire me anymore.

Imar · September 27th, 2008, 11:45 AM

What version of Visual Studio are you using?

In VS 2008 Professional Edition, you find it under Other Project Types | Setup and Deployment.

I don't this option is available in the Express edition....

Imar

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Imar Spaanjaars
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Everyone is unique, except for me.
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jerryham · September 27th, 2008, 01:23 PM

hi imar.

following the suggestions from my 09/02 post .. i downloaded vs-2008 - sp1 (express) and associated msdn files.

the problem may be that i only installed vb-2008.

after re-reading the wrox book, i noticed it said to start by opening (vs) and creating a new project .. i opened (vb) and created the new project .. and from there, the instructions did not work .. there were no (setup) project to select.

i still have the (vs-2008) dvd's i burned to install vb-2008 on my development machine.

thanks

jerry .. wa0h

Imar · September 27th, 2008, 02:18 PM

The Express editions are free and as such are limited in what they offer (although I am always surprised at what you get for free.)

You may want to take a look here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstu.../cc149003.aspx

Then click Build and Deployment Tools to expand it, turn your head 90 degrees to the left and then you'll see in the second table that Setup Projects are not available in the free editions. You need at least the Standard edition of Visual Studio in order to create installers.

Hope this helps,

Imar

---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
http://Imar.Spaanjaars.Com
Everyone is unique, except for me.
Author of Beginning ASP.NET 3.5 : in C# and VB, ASP.NET 2.0 Instant Results and Dreamweaver MX 2004
Want to be my colleague? Then check out this post.

planoie · September 29th, 2008, 10:14 AM

Nullsoft makes an open source install system.

http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page

-Peter
compiledthoughts.com

jerryham · September 29th, 2008, 12:37 PM

thanks imar .. for the bad news.

i knew microsoft was no friend to the little guy.

i can still use the standard version to learn on.

but .. i will have to spend 1 month of my retirement income just to buy the standard version so i can write and distribute software to my ham radio friends.

i have to distribute it on cd because the built-in databases contain millions of records and a lot of hams still use dial-up connections.

it is bad enough that i have to tell those who are still on windows 98 that they can no longer use my software.

oh well .. thats progress.

thanks again for your help .. the wrox books do (not) indicate what will not work on the express edition.

jerry .. wa0h

planoie · September 29th, 2008, 01:18 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by jerryham
i knew microsoft was no friend to the little guy.

Not entirely true. They are friends to the little guy, as long as he has a big wallet.

-Peter
compiledthoughts.com

Imar · September 29th, 2008, 01:52 PM

Quote:

quote:They are friends to the little guy, as long as he has a big wallet.

Not entirely true either, I think. The Express Editions are very, very feature complete. You get an amazing amount of features for free.

Yes, they do not support every feature that the Standard, Pro, or Team System editions have, but IMO you get a lot for free.

And, as Peter pointed out, there are other, free alternatives available, including Wix: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiX

You didn't mention the book you got this from, but most books have a intro section that discusses these kind of things. Maybe the book targets Standard and Pro and above and was never meant to target the Express Editions?

Imar

---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
http://Imar.Spaanjaars.Com
Everyone is unique, except for me.
Author of Beginning ASP.NET 3.5 : in C# and VB, ASP.NET 2.0 Instant Results and Dreamweaver MX 2004
Want to be my colleague? Then check out this post.