pjh21
New Member
Posts: 5
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Post by pjh21 on Sept 26, 2018 16:22:33 GMT -5
Super noob wants to know how you share the compiled exe program with someone. Is there an installation routine available that will copy all the support files to the correct locations? Create a shortcut to the program? Or is this just something you have to do manually.
I want to be able to give someone a USB drive with a single file (like setup.exe) and have this done. Is it possible?
Thanks!
PJH
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Post by Brandon Parker on Sept 27, 2018 0:29:20 GMT -5
Hello PJH,
Unfortunately Liberty BASIC does not natively support this. You would basically just create a folder on the thumb drive containing all of the required files and have the user run the Program.exe (i.e. renamed Runtime Engine) from that location. You could get really fancy and copy the files to a specific location, create a shortcut on the desktop, and all that jazz on the initial run of the program. That is not a simple task for someone that is just starting out though.
A different route is to package the program up using a packaging software that will automatically unzip your program and all files and run it on command. This seems to give more headaches than it is worth in my opinion, but everyone has their own experiences with things.
Welcome to the forum BTW!
Let us know if we can help further.
What kind of program are you creating if you do not mind me asking?
{:0)
Brandon Parker
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Post by Rod on Sept 27, 2018 2:28:02 GMT -5
There are another couple of approaches. If you store everything in a folder on your usb drive all they need do is copy that folder to their hard drive. Then its fairly simple to navigate to the .exe, right click on it and create a desktop shortcut. The other way is to store the folder or files as a .zip Then they need only click on it and Windows will open a dialog to extract the files in the zip to the hard drive.
I think that virus protection and Windows UAC has made simple installation a relatively complex task.
But other folks have built distributable software so they may comment. If its just for fun keep it real simple.
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Post by Alyce Watson on Sept 27, 2018 4:37:36 GMT -5
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pjh21
New Member
Posts: 5
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Post by pjh21 on Sept 27, 2018 9:05:00 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for your help! I am writing a sports statistics package for coaches in our league. Most of the coaches are younger and have enough knowledge to copy the files to a directory and create their own shortcut, but there are a few coaches who are a bit older and have sworn never to use a computer unless absolutely necessary.
That packaging program is intriguing. That warning at the top of the page about it not working reliably on OS later than Window XP is a bit scary though. Is that message there just in case or are there real problems with newer (Win 10) machines?
PJH
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Post by Alyce Watson on Sept 28, 2018 3:48:37 GMT -5
That packaging program is intriguing. That warning at the top of the page about it not working reliably on OS later than Window XP is a bit scary though. Is that message there just in case or are there real problems with newer (Win 10) machines? PJH LB Workshop will not endanger your computer. It works fine for nearly everyone. The recent files menu can cause a problem. You may try the program safely and use it if it works. It is important to me to support my software, but since I can't do it reliably anymore, I've released it as freeware. I no longer offer assistance to users. |
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Post by Carl Gundel on Sept 28, 2018 9:15:20 GMT -5
That packaging program is intriguing. That warning at the top of the page about it not working reliably on OS later than Window XP is a bit scary though. Is that message there just in case or are there real problems with newer (Win 10) machines? PJH LB Workshop will not endanger your computer. It works fine for nearly everyone. The recent files menu can cause a problem. You may try the program safely and use it if it works. It is important to me to support my software, but since I can't do it reliably anymore, I've released it as freeware. I no longer offer assistance to users. The "Use at your own risk." may be unnecessary. May I offer a gentle suggestion that you strike that?  It might scare people away from trying your wonderful software. |
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Post by mknarr on Sept 28, 2018 9:50:26 GMT -5
I have been using a program called Install Creator for years. Works great, easy to use and they actually have a free version. The only issue with the free version is advertisements at the end.
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Post by donnybowers on Oct 21, 2018 16:34:18 GMT -5
The easiest way would be to use one of the ready made install package makers. But, if you're looking for a bit of a challenge, it wouldn't really be that difficult to make a program that writes the files to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Program Name\fileNames$" using the LB files command and iterating through your folder. You would read your file into a single variable using lof(), and when you write the file to the Program directory (or you could put it in their myDocuments directory if you think it's appropriate). This part isn't all that challenging really.
There are two main challenges:
1. You don't want to write over an existing directory with the same name as your program. Here's a possible way around that:
x=0
tempName$="C:\Program Files (x86)\Program Folder Name"
[tryagain]
tryagain=0
result=mkdir()
if result <>0 then
x=x+1
progName$=tempName$+"("+str$(x)+")" ' producing something like Program Folder Name(1)
end if
if tryagain<>0 then goto [tryagain]
- Then you just write a routine that reads the files from the folder in your install media and writes them to the program folder one by one using the files command (remembering the semicolon after the variable that contains the file data). This used to work for me in XP. I think it had to be admin authorized first. I'm not sure if it would work with Windows 8 or above because I stopped using Windows after version 7.
Another approach would be to send the user to a subroutine where they could enter their own directory name for the program files directory, but you would still have to have a way of catching it in case they used a name that's already being used.
2. How does the user access the program?
In Windows XP, all I had to do was create a link to my program (or any program really) and then in Windows Explorer there's a menu item that allows you to see hidden files and directories (in the "View" menu?). You go into your Windows Desktop directory (a hidden directory if I remember correctly) and find the ".desktop" file and open it with notepad. At least back then it was a plain ASCII text file, so you could make whatever changes you wanted to the file according to your program name, Program Files (x86) directory, Icon (you'll need an icon file) etc. It was something like an .ini file if I remember correctly.
You can easily print the parts of the desktop that don't need to be changed to the new ".desktop" file specs, inserting the variables of your file name and icon file etc. where they belong in the file:
'... open the new destop file in "C:\Windows\Desktop" - I think that's the name of the directory?
PRINT #deskTopFile, DeskTopFilePart1$;ProgName$;DesktopFilePart2$
PRINT #deskTopFile, DeskTopFilePart3$;iconFile$;DesktopFilePart4$
'etc. etc (whatever order the file is supposed to be in)
'... close the desktop file
Obviously I'm not testing this code, but I'm getting ready to reinstall XP in VirtualBox on my fresh LINUX install, so I could do a little bit of checking later, for the format of a ".desktop" file, if you want to play around with this idea. Test it in a different directory than your actual program directory until you're sure it's going to work and not overwrite an existing programing directory etc.
I know I used to do this about 15 ago with XP. The question is whether or not it will work in the newer systems. I think the Start menu folder worked the same way, but I'm not sure about that. All I ever did with my programs that I wanted to be able to install was use a desktop icon for access. I was usually just doing it for my own use or for friends, like you're doing.
Anyway, it's just a thought in case you don't want to go the easy way and find a program that will make the installer for you. It's a little bit of a challenge, but not that much really, unless the newer systems have some kind of built in prohibition from doing it that way. It would probably only be a page or two of code, if that.
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Post by donnybowers on Dec 7, 2020 21:47:12 GMT -5
Does the packaging wizard tool work for installing on Windows Vista and 7 through 10? |
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chikega
New Member
Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want
Posts: 6 
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Post by chikega on Dec 18, 2020 2:39:45 GMT -5
Novice here myself. Would the LBB (Liberty Basic Booster) compiler work? It states " Compile a Liberty BASIC program to a compact, standalone executable." |
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Post by Rod on Dec 18, 2020 2:48:13 GMT -5
Yes it works, there will be a few differences in coding style to take note off but you must discuss those on their support forum. This forum is very specifically about Liberty BASIC..
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Post by mknarr on Dec 18, 2020 11:36:15 GMT -5
I know this isn't a forum about LBB but I use it a lot but be aware, there are a few programs that do not work well so be sure that your program works before you start to distribute it. As posted before, I used Install Creator (can be free) to distribute a commercial program for years. If you buy it, it takes out the ads.
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It might scare people away from trying your wonderful software.
