ODK and MSVBVM...

[jackbee]

I am developing an app done mostly in MSAccess and need to
use ODK for distribution.
There are a couple of small VB exe's that go with it, so I
included these along with MSVBVM50,DLL in the ODK setup.
Seems to work fine on all tested platforms, but now one user
says it won't run the VB stuff. Error message can't find
the DLL
I don't understand how this can happen.
Problem is, this is all a bit new to me.
The name of the DLL suggests it has to do with virtual
memory.
Is the version of the DLL OK or will it give problems
if the ODK setup tries to overwrite an earlier or later
version?
Can I or should I force the registration using regsvr32.exe
which apparently registers a DLL.
It seem that using the VB install setup might solve these
problems, but is it worth it for just a small VB exe.
I've also heard thast the VB setup (or PD wizard) gives
more problems than it solves
Does this mean that a VB exe isn't truly portable?
My stuff: Win95, VB5, Office97 ODK
If you've got this far then thanks for your perseverance.

[gravyboy]

What are you developing in Access? Does the VB interact with it? If it does you may be able to distribute the .mdb as a component in the package.

[jackbee]

Cheers for your interest gravyboy

The problem should be fairly easy

Can you distribute a vb exe with out a vb setup?

In answer to your reply:
The access is fairly big and the vb small

The vb has a form which determines whether or not
the access is loaded. If 'yes', the vb form is loaded along with the access

I had enough ag getting the access setup working on
all??? platforms, seems there is a compatibility 'issue' with the ODK to do with the version of IE on the target
machine.
I had to find a patch from MS.

So now that it seems fairly stable, I don't want to mess
with it.

But I didn't expect any grief from a couple of little
VB exes.

Do you know if they are portable?
Do you know if msvbvm50.dll needs to be registered or just
copied?
Do I need to use a VB setup with even the smallest app?
Where can I find out this stuff?

I think I'll try a straight copy of the vb stuff, and take
it out of the ODK...maybe !!

Again thanks for your help.

[gravyboy]

The runtimes (MSVBVM50.DLL) definitely need to be installed and registered before using the VB. How are you 'detecting' the mdb file? Am I right in assuming the sequence (in pseudo code) is

Run SmallVB application
   |
   |
   |
   V
Is the MDB installed?
   |
   |
   |
   V
If yes Run MDB AND run smallVB2
   |
   |
   |
   V
If no then ?

[jackbee]

The sequence is:
Run vb exe from cd
If vb form filled in OK
copy mdb from cd
(done by access ODK includes msvbvm50.dll and vb.exe)

The mdb seems OK from the target pc but the vb exe's
won't run (including the one on the cd).
The error mentions the dll which should be copied and
registered by ODK !!!

I'm still guessing.....

[gravyboy]

Sorry for the delay - draconian corporate policy thing . . .

I would have done the opposite to you - and indeed have in the past.

I am guessing that you have assumed that all users will have Acc97 on their PC (or are you installing the ODK runtime?)

Does the ODK create a setup.lst file?

If it does compile the VB and create a deployment package from VB. Copy the msvbvm50.dll line from the VB setup.lst into the ODK setup.lst (don't forget to renumber the files in the lst). Copy the MSVBVM50.dll into the folder with the setup bits-n-bobs. Does the ODK setup create a CAB file? - if so try and integrate the dll into this.

This is quite longwinded and I don't know if it'll work but who knows!

[jackbee]

Good to hear from you again, I thought I'd lost you.
Your last reply loooks like a mouthful (oops sorry!)
and I've already decided on the following:

DOS batch file to
copy msvbvm50.dll to user's machine (winsyspath)
copy ctl3d32.dll to user's machine (winsyspath)

run regsvr32.exe with the dlls

I'm hoping this will resolve all VB type issues so that
I can run a small VB exe which will determine whether
the ODK setup will run (mdbs on user machine in runtime)

The CD autorun doesn't want to run a 'bat' file so I've
wrapped it in a small 'C' exe

If this is no good I'll come back to your reply.

Just out of interest, do you think the above will work,
and if not, why not?

Thanks again

Jack.

[gravyboy]

It is possibe to self register a VB exe. Start in Sub Main and utilise the following API calls from the VB6STKIT library.

DLLSelfRegister for DLLs
RegisterTLB for type library

I haven't done too much on these as yet so I can't offer much help, but I shall do some research.