Question

HOWTO: Deploy an app that is built with custom designed components.

Asked by: superbeast23

i have an app that i designed that has many components.  what i would like to know is how to deploy my app consisting of components A, B and C such that if an update to component C is made all i have to do is create an update deploy package for that component instead of redeploying the recompiled app?  i am using vb6 and ms installer.  
thanks in advance,
dennis

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2004-02-17 at 05:50:18ID20887778
Tags

deploy

,

howto

Topic

Visual Basic Programming

Participating Experts
2
Points
250
Comments
9

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. DEPLOYING A SYSTEM DSN
    I’m using VB 6 to connect to a SQL Server 2000 database using odbc. I have a system DSN set up on the development box and it works fine. When I try and deploy the package to another PC using the package and deployment wizard the system DSN (odbc) does not get deployed. If I...
  2. deploy
    I have a standard VB6 programme, i need to deploy to a folder in my website and i want users to install online or optionally download it. how can that be done many thanks ahm
  3. Package and Deploy
    Is there an equivalent to the Package and Deploy application in VB6? I have a program in .NET but I need to know how to compile it and get it to the end users desktop? Thanks yunginv
  4. Deploying an Application
    I have a vb6 application that I am deploying. The application uses a system DSN. When I package and deploy the application, and install it on a client, the application can not find the datasource. Is there a way to resolve this when deploying the application? Do I have to re-...
  5. Packaging and Deploying multiple VB6 projects or VB6 Gr…
    I have never used the "Packaging and Deployment" Wizard in VB6. I have a VB6 application that consists of many vb6 projects and classes. I also created a group project that consists of all the vb6 projects as well. When I started to use the "Package and Depl...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: mccainz2Posted on 2004-02-17 at 06:11:04ID: 10382204

For our app which we maintain 3 continent updates...

we have an autoupdate.exe which works as such

1.Our app launches and retrieves an https initialization string which contains the current version of the app
2. the app checks this version aginst its version , if it needs to update itself it calls the autoupdate.exe and then shuts itself down
3. the autoupdate.exe pauses for 5 seconds (giving the app.exe time to shutdown) and then retrieves a selfextracting zip with the latest update via https file trnsfer.
4. the zip package contains a script file which the autoupdate uses to move/delete/replace files as needed.
5. after downloading the zip package and again pausing a few seconds , autoupdate.exe extracts the zip package into a downloads folder and then parses the script file to perform the autoupdate.
6. Once finished the autoupdate launches the app.exe and shuts itself down.

In a nutshell .... devil is in the details. Other things to consider is code-signing etc ... all depends on company policy...

 

by: mccainz2Posted on 2004-02-17 at 06:11:59ID: 10382218

4.the zip package contains a script file which the autoupdate uses to move/delete/replace files as needed , as well as all update files.

 

by: superbeast23Posted on 2004-02-17 at 10:15:25ID: 10384674

thanks for your response mccainz2.  i have a couple of follow up questions.  
1.  is autoupdated.exe a third party deployment pkg?
2.  does your script take care of registering the component so that the rest of the code can find it?  (i run into the problem "cant create activex component" when i deploy component "A" and then try to unregister "A" and reregister the updated version of "A".)

 

by: mccainz2Posted on 2004-02-17 at 11:11:01ID: 10385183

(1) Autoupdate : is whatever in-house exe/component etc you decide to roll to accomplish the task... for us it is a standalone exe with an inet-transfer control.

(2) because our app is deployed to users that are severly strapped down by their IMO's we dont regsvr32 any dll's we download. We do have full control over our app folder so we use the dll's at app level without registering them.

 

by: superbeast23Posted on 2004-02-17 at 11:27:37ID: 10385313

do you know of any third party solution that would accomplish what we have been discussing?  i am the only developer at my company, and i dont have the resources right now to code a deployment package.

 

by: mccainz2Posted on 2004-02-17 at 11:51:40ID: 10385527

http://www.soft411.com/company/Pantaray-Research/QSetup-Installation-Suite-Express.htm

never tried it  so no idea on its effectiveness...

Its really not much trouble to do a simple file transfer program keyed off a version check.

 

by: superbeast23Posted on 2004-02-17 at 12:03:30ID: 10385627

thanks mccainz2,
i will give this software a try.

 

by: SethiPosted on 2004-02-18 at 02:06:23ID: 10390857

Also look at InnoSetup at www.jrsoftware.org

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...