VB6 Package & Installation Wizard

[Punchy]

I have been using the standard VB6 installation package and it normally works fine. However the install directory for one VB6 application has the wrong install directory for the application. How can I change the install directory before I distribute to users?

Note: I do not want the users to have to change the directory when they are doing the install. I want the install package to show the correct directory.

Thank you

Punchy

[RhinoBull]

I do not want the users to have to change the directory when they are doing the install. I want the install package to show the correct directory.

Just curios: Why? Is your application tied to specific folder?


Anyway, there must be *.LST file created; if you open it you can edit DefaultDir variable ([Setup] section).
I hope it's what you need...

[DataMiser]

Yep there are two sections you may want to look at

[Setup]
DefaultDir=$(ProgramFiles)\MyProgram

[Setup1]
File1=@MyDataBase.Mdb,$(AppPath),,,8/14/06 11:07:14 AM,167936,0.0.0.0

The second would not need to be touched unless the file is needed somewhere other than the selected application install folder
Of course there will be other entries there as well which install files to the system folder, you won't want to change those.

[maxXPsoft]

standard VB6 installation package?
OMG does someone still use that? Do yourself a favor and look into Innosetup and never look back

[DataMiser]

Lots of people still use the PDW, I have looked into INNO but ended up not using it. I have also used Install Shield. SAX Setup and Setup Factory but none of them are as simple and quick as the PDW

[maxXPsoft]

Lots of people still use the PDW, I have looked into INNO but ended up not using it. I have also used Install Shield. SAX Setup and Setup Factory but none of them are as simple and quick as the PDW

Not Lots anymore we are a dieing breed.
And yeah I looked at them others also

Well M8 don't think you looked hard enough. Years back I turned cause I wanted to put my app on root instead of Program Files. Finally figured out how to do that with PDW but done seen the light.
1 file, 32 or 64 bit compatible including reg and system32, syswow64. Install right over the top of existing
Compare this to the .pdm .dep
Hands down you can't do what this does with PDW. I use an addon give me more control https://www.kymoto.org/products/inno-script-studio

[DataMiser]

You can do quite a lot with the PDW if you want to put in a little effort, remember the source is included so you can modify the setup routine if you like which I have done to mine to give it more options,

The thing about the PDW is that it is just a few point and click and it generally works, other engines require more knowledge about your program and the setup engine used.

To install in the root with PDW is very simple

Anyway most people who have questions such as the OP do not need anything more than the PDW

[RhinoBull]

Lots of people still use the PDW, I have looked into INNO but ended up not using it. I have also used Install Shield. SAX Setup and Setup Factory but none of them are as simple and quick as the PDW

I wouldn't say "lots" but back in the days when VB6 was still hot PDW was the only installer that worked for me too.
The main advantage was to have source code that you can modify.

[DataMiser]

Perhaps I should have lots of the people who still use VB6

[dilettante]

Be very cautious with that "Inno" thing.

It often results in an installer that works... until a user uninstalls the application. Then it can break many other applications on the user's system. It fails to follow the rules for shared library deployment.

This doesn't have to happen, but it can be hazardous by default. The problem often stems from poor scripts people copy/paste off the web.

These "No-no setups" might be the single reason why you see so many places on the web that let users download various libraries to "fix" a broken computer.


Ideally you wouldn't use either of these legacy scripted installer tools. It is almost always better to create proper Windows Installer packages.

[DataMiser]

Speaking of the windows installer package do you happen to know the file name for the MSI setup tool that was released for VB6 back in the day. I think I have it on my system as a zip file or self extractor but I do not know what to search for. I would like to give it a look see

[Arnoutdv]

I believe it was called Visual Studio Installer

[dilettante]

There was a rushed version and a final version, Visual Studio Installer 1.0 came out first quickly followed by the more stable 1.1 release.

[DataMiser]

What I am looking for is the actual filename, I am pretty sure that it is on my system on one of the download archives drives but without the filename it is like a needle in a haystack

[DataMiser]

I found a link for the files in another thread

If anyone is interested http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...=1#post3989969

[maxXPsoft]

Be very cautious with that "Inno" thing.

It often results in an installer that works... until a user uninstalls the application. Then it can break many other applications on the user's system. It fails to follow the rules for shared library deployment.

This doesn't have to happen, but it can be hazardous by default. The problem often stems from poor scripts people copy/paste off the web.

These "No-no setups" might be the single reason why you see so many places on the web that let users download various libraries to "fix" a broken computer.


Ideally you wouldn't use either of these legacy scripted installer tools. It is almost always better to create proper Windows Installer packages.

Back that up with some Google results cause you the only person saying that. I have many thousand installs with Inno and no problems. I do make sure I extract the current install.wims and check dependencies very carefully and make my application installs very LITE where it don't add any .dll if not needed or present in the sources.

I do understand people will copy other scripts and not look into things carefully but that is them. Don't accuse an installer application for stupid people

[dilettante]

I never said that it can't be used safely, but it very often isn't used safely and it is not safe by default.

I stand by my comments, having had to repair customers' installations of my software many times and the problem was always traced to some 3rd party "no-no script" setup.

Frankly I think its script engine should be flagged as malware by antivirus software.

[RhinoBull]

One of those days when I absolutely agree with dilettante's comments. Big D, you may smile now.

[dilettante]

Uh oh, maybe I should go back and read what I typed!

[DataMiser]

I installed and took a quick peek at the VSI1.1 looks like that was created as they were making the switch to .Net and looks more like a VB.Net project than a VB6 project, Looks like it will be interesting to dive into when I get time.

[dilettante]

No, what happened there is that VSI uses the Visual Studio IDE because it applied to other Visual Studio tools besides VB6.

VB6 was never migrated to a Visual Studio IDE plugin, and doing so abruptly would have broken everyones' VB6/VBA IDE add-ins. This wasn't all bad because VB's tight integration with its IDE is one of the things that makes it more productive than Visual Studio, Eclipse, or just about any other IDE you can name.

Remember, VB predates Visual Studio by many years.

[DataMiser]

Remember, VB predates Visual Studio by many years.

I did not realize that, Never really looked at VS until version 5
My first exposure to VB was VBDos which I loved using and wrote tons of stuff in before moving totally to the Windows platform

[Siddharth Rout]

Moved from Visual Basic 6 and Earlier