Inno Setup: How to have Inno install the dotnet framework 2.0

mirtheil,
How would I use shellexec to run the .NET redistributable from a CD? I'm really new at this so I appreciate any help. Thanks!

A simple ShellExec would be:
ShellExec('open', ExpandConstant('{src}\dotnet.exe'),
     '', '', SW_SHOW, ewNoWait, ErrorCode);

You'd want to change the "dotnet.exe" to the actual filename. The example above also assumes that the "dotnet.exe" is in the same directory as SETUP.EXE (or whatever your setup program is called).
There's more documentation in the Inno help file as well.  

Thanks mirtheil that works fine. One more question. I would like my setup to install the .NET Framework is it's not installed. Once the .NET installation is completed I would like the setup of my application to start. I have the script below which is a merge of the setup script for my application and the example of the .NET install script that you provided to me. The .NET Framework installs fine with the script but once it's finished my application does not install. Being so new to this I don't have clue how to do it. I checked Inno help this morning but couldn't find anything. Thanks for all your help!

; Script generated by the Inno Setup Script Wizard.
; SEE THE DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS ON CREATING INNO SETUP SCRIPT FILES!

#define MyAppName "Cycling Journal"
#define MyAppVerName "Cycling Journal 1.0"
#define MyAppPublisher "Merryman Software"
#define MyAppExeName "CyclingJournal.exe"

[Setup]
AppName={#MyAppName}
AppVerName={#MyAppVerName}
AppPublisher={#MyAppPublisher}
DefaultDirName={pf}\{#MyAppName}
DisableDirPage=yes
DefaultGroupName={#MyAppName}
DisableProgramGroupPage=yes
OutputBaseFilename=Cycling_Journal_Setup
Compression=lzma
SolidCompression=yes

//AppName=NETFramework
//AppVerName=NETFramework
//DefaultDirName={pf}\NETFramework
//DisableStartupPrompt=true

[Languages]
Name: english; MessagesFile: compiler:Default.isl

[Tasks]
Name: desktopicon; Description: {cm:CreateDesktopIcon}; GroupDescription: {cm:AdditionalIcons}; Flags: unchecked
Name: quicklaunchicon; Description: {cm:CreateQuickLaunchIcon}; GroupDescription: {cm:AdditionalIcons}; Flags: unchecked

[Files]
Source: C:\Documents and Settings\Marion\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\CyclingJournal\CyclingJournal\bin\Release\CyclingJournal.exe; DestDir: {app}; Flags: ignoreversion
Source: C:\Documents and Settings\Marion\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\CyclingJournal\CyclingJournal\bin\Release\GSNetWizard.dll; DestDir: {app}; Flags: ignoreversion
Source: C:\Documents and Settings\Marion\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\CyclingJournal\CyclingJournal\bin\Release\CyclingJournal.mdb; DestDir: {app}; Flags: ignoreversion
Source: C:\Documents and Settings\Marion\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\CyclingJournal\CyclingJournal\bin\Release\CyclingJournal.pdb; DestDir: {app}; Flags: ignoreversion
Source: C:\Documents and Settings\Marion\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\CyclingJournal\CyclingJournal\bin\Release\CyclingJournal.xml; DestDir: {app}; Flags: ignoreversion
Source: C:\Documents and Settings\Marion\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\CyclingJournal\CyclingJournal\bin\Release\GSNetWin.dll; DestDir: {app}; Flags: ignoreversion
Source: C:\Documents and Settings\Marion\My Documents\Visual Studio 2005\Projects\CyclingJournal\CyclingJournal\bin\Release\GSNetWin.xml; DestDir: {app}; Flags: ignoreversion
; NOTE: Don't use "Flags: ignoreversion" on any shared system files

[Icons]
Name: {group}\{#MyAppName}; Filename: {app}\{#MyAppExeName}
Name: {group}\{cm:UninstallProgram,{#MyAppName}}; Filename: {uninstallexe}
Name: {commondesktop}\{#MyAppName}; Filename: {app}\{#MyAppExeName}; Tasks: desktopicon
Name: {userappdata}\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\{#MyAppName}; Filename: {app}\{#MyAppExeName}; Tasks: quicklaunchicon

[Code]

function InitializeSetup(): Boolean;
var
    ErrorCode: Integer;
    NetFrameWorkInstalled : Boolean;
    Result1 : Boolean;
begin

      NetFrameWorkInstalled := RegKeyExists(HKLM,'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\policy\v2.0');
      if NetFrameWorkInstalled =true then
      begin
      Result1 := MsgBox('.NET Framework v2 is currently installed.',
                                    mbConfirmation, MB_YESNO) = idYes;
            Result := true;
      end;

      if NetFrameWorkInstalled = false then
      begin
            NetFrameWorkInstalled := RegKeyExists(HKLM,'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\policy\v2.0');
            if NetFrameWorkInstalled = true then
            begin

                  Result := true;
            end;

            if NetFrameWorkInstalled =false then
                  begin
                        Result1 := MsgBox('This setup requires the .NET Framework. Would you like to install the .NET Framwork now?',
                                    mbConfirmation, MB_YESNO) = idYes;
                        if Result1 =false then
                        begin
                              Result:=false;
                        end
                        else
                        begin
                        ShellExec('open', ExpandConstant('{src}\dotnetfx.exe'),'', '', SW_SHOW, ewNoWait, ErrorCode);
                              Result:=false;
                                        end;
      end;
      end;
end;

Assuming the install of the Framework succeeds, you can set the "Result" to true (instead of False) in the InitializeSetup. Something like:
if not ShellExec('open', ExpandConstant('{app}\dotnetfx.exe'),
     '', '', SW_SHOW, ewNoWait, ErrorCode) then
  begin
    // handle failure if necessary
   Result := false;
  end
else
 begin
   //Keep going on the install.
   Result:=true;
 end;

mirtheil,

Exactly where in CODE does
if not ShellExec('open', ExpandConstant('{app}\dotnetfx.exe'),
     '', '', SW_SHOW, ewNoWait, ErrorCode) then
  begin
    // handle failure if necessary
   Result := false;
  end
else
 begin
   //Keep going on the install.
   Result:=true;
 end;

go?

It would replace the following:
ShellExec('open', ExpandConstant('{src}\dotnetfx.exe'),'', '', SW_SHOW, ewNoWait, ErrorCode);
Result:=false;

mirtheil,

I tried that and get the following error:

Internal error: An attempt was made to expand the "app" constant before it was intialized.

CHange the "{app}" to {src}.  The {app} constant is the installed location.  {src} is where setup.exe runs from.

mirtheil,

That works. The only thing is that the setup for my application starts while the .NET Framework is installing. Is there a way  to have the .NET Framework installation finish before my application installation starts? I also will have to add MDAC install to this so I was hoping the setup would be able to install the .NET Framework, MDAC, and then my application one after the other. Is there a way to have each installation finish before the next one starts?

We're preparing for some severe weather tonight so I'll check back in the morning. Thanks for all your help.

To keep the install from continuing, you'll probably want to change the "ewNoWait" in the ShellExec line to "ewWaitUntilTerminated".
For MDAC, you'll need to do the same basic thing.  Check the registry for the installed version of MDAC and if it's lower than what you need, run the MDAC installer.  

Thanks mirtheil for all you help. I really appreciate it in this learning experience.