Distribution of VB applications

[tweakmaster]

I've developed a small cost-tracking app with VB 2008. I was wondering what are the dependencies this app requires to install and run on other computers? I am not using any 3rd party or out-of-ordinary controls/DLLs.

[GaryMazzone]

You will (should) need to create a installation project to go with your application. This will ensure that all decency information is placed into the target computer

[DragonRose]

An easy way to check would be to open your project in visual studio, go to the project properties\publish\application files. It should have a small list with your main exe and any .dll's it needs to run.

[sapator]

Also if you know that it may be used to XP computers that don't come ready with the new compact framework then include the compact framework as part of the installation.

[formlesstree4]

Uh....why would he need the Compact Framework if that framework is generally for Windows Mobile phones?

[jmcilhinney]

The things to consider are:

1. .NET Framework in correct version, which will be 3.5 by default for VS 2008.
2. Third-party libraries, which you already say that you don't need.
3. Your own DLLs, if your solution contains multiple projects or you have referenced any existing DLLs of your own.
4. Data files like images, XML, text, databases, etc.
5. Database servers, e.g. SQL Server Express.
6. Your app's config file, if you're using application settings or anything else that is tored in the config file.
7. OS-specific functionality, i.e. the Windows API.
8. Your app itself, i.e. the EXE file.

You need 1 and 8 and you've already discounted 2, but we can't really say for sure on the rest. As Gary suggests, if you use an installer and you've configured your project correctly, pretty much everything will be covered for you.