Member Avatar for red_evolve

I am almost done with my project and I'd like to obtain some advice on this.
How do I go about packaging (if this is the right word to use) the whole application? As such, I have some extra active-x components which I'd have to add into the System32 folder manually. What kind of installation like program which can automatically add my .ocx files into the system's folder? :?:

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A few practical deployment tips and troubleshooting steps that complement the suggestions already posted by , and . These focus on the things that commonly break installers for VB6 apps: missing or unregistered COM/OCX components, mismatched data providers, and installers that overwrite or fail to register system runtimes.

Provider / ADO troubleshooting (the Error 3706 case): isolate the provider first with a .udl file. Create a blank text file, rename it to test.udl, double-click it and use the Data Link Properties dialog to see which OLE DB providers appear and to test a connection with the same settings your app uses. If the provider is missing or the test fails, the machine needs the correct Jet/MDAC runtime installed before your app runs.

COM/OCX packaging and registration: do not rely on copying files into System32 and hope they "just work." Copy the control next to your EXE (or to the proper system folder for the target platform) and have the installer register it as a post-copy action with regsvr32, and unregister on uninstall. Example (silent register):

regsvr32 /s "C:\Path\YourControl.ocx"

On 64-bit Windows, 32-bit OCXs must be registered with the 32-bit regsvr32 (under SysWOW64). For files that report "in use" during install, schedule the replace on reboot or use the official redistributable instead of forcing a copy. Also respect shared-file flags (as warned) so uninstallers do not remove common runtimes.

Jet 3.51 vs Jet 4.0 and object names: some names that worked under older Jet can conflict under newer engines. Either rename the object (you did with action -> action2) or always escape identifiers, e.g., use [Action]. Final checklist before release: include official redistributables as prerequisites, register OCXs from the installer, test DB connectivity with a .udl on a clean VM, verify uninstall behavior, and test on every Windows bitness you intend to support.

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Member Avatar for Buff

I am almost done with my project and I'd like to obtain some advice on this.
How do I go about packaging (if this is the right word to use) the whole application? As such, I have some extra active-x components which I'd have to add into the System32 folder manually. What kind of installation like program which can automatically add my .ocx files into the system's folder? :?:

There are several good installation programs out there that will do what you
want or build one yourself with a windows program.

Personally I use a self-extracting exe that runs a setup program to put special files in place.

Most will cost you but they are not usually expensive.

Member Avatar for Toba

Seeing that this is the QB/VB forum and this is a windows app you're talking about, I'll assume that you're using a recent version of Visual Basic. I know what I'm about to tell you works in VB6, I don't know about other versions.

On the main menu bar in VB, click the Add-Ins menu. The "package and deployment wizard" should be on there. There is plenty of information in the VB help file on using this. It is what I use for my apps, and I've found that it is one of the better packages for making installers for VB apps - it knows about all the little runtimes that VB programs need and makes sure they all get in.

Member Avatar for mnemtsas

Use the packaging and deployment wizard. Or try innosetup which is much more configurable (and comes with a much steeper learning curve).

Member Avatar for red_evolve

Seeing that this is the QB/VB forum and this is a windows app you're talking about, I'll assume that you're using a recent version of Visual Basic. I know what I'm about to tell you works in VB6, I don't know about other versions.

On the main menu bar in VB, click the Add-Ins menu. The "package and deployment wizard" should be on there. There is plenty of information in the VB help file on using this. It is what I use for my apps, and I've found that it is one of the better packages for making installers for VB apps - it knows about all the little runtimes that VB programs need and makes sure they all get in.

Thanks for all your feedback. I didn't notice that in VB. Yup, I'm using VB6.
I'll give that a try. Thanks. ;)

Member Avatar for Toba

Oh, I forgot - there are some things you have to be careful about when you make a package in the wizard. Make SURE that all system DLL's that you install are marked as shared in the Setup.Lst file. If they are not, any uninstallation from the control panel will REMOVE the DLL's from the user's system, causing all sorts of problems. I hope my forgetfullness hasn't cause any trouble yet - sorry :(.

commented: Thanks for the advice + reminder. :-) +3
Member Avatar for red_evolve

Erm yeah, thanks for the reminder.
Yup, I ticked that "shared" selection when I was building the package a while ago.
On the way to test it in another computer. Thanks a lot, Toba!

Member Avatar for red_evolve

Hi, I've tried using the "package and deployment wizard" but I got the error number 3706: Provider could not be found.
I've tried searching on the msdn library for a solution but to no avail.
I'm using Access 97 with Jet350. Please advise.

Member Avatar for Toba

When did you get the error? Was it during installation of your app or did it happen when you ran your app?

Member Avatar for red_evolve

Okay, during installation files like mshtml.tlb and uxtheme.dll could not be copied, and I ignored the error to complete the installation.
When I run the application later, I could see my start page but as I navigate to another form, which requires connection to the database, the error message "Error 3706: Provider not found" was raised. Any idea?

Member Avatar for Toba

I don't know what those files were for. I suspect that the missing files (the ones that errored) were part of the "provider" that was "not found". I'd try remaking the installer, rebooting the target system, and trying again. Those errors happen sometimes for some unknown reason.

Member Avatar for red_evolve

Okay, thanks anyway.
I've tried remaking the installer for almost 4-5 times already.
I thought with the installer, every dependent files would be included already, isn't that right?
But why would something like this occur?
Hmph, I've done some search over the Internet, and most of them suggest that it's something wrong with the MDAC. I've checked my version of MDAC, it's a MDAC 2.7 SP1 Refresh. I've downloaded this file, and have yet to install on the target system.
I'll let you know if this works. Thanks.

Member Avatar for mnemtsas

Hi There,

I've usually found that the 3706 error is related to Jet rather than ADO. If the MDAC 2.7 download doesn't work I'd try the Jet 4.0 SP8 update that available from MS.

Cheers,

Mark

Member Avatar for red_evolve

Ok, thanks.
I've tried downloading the MDAC 2.7, but it's not working either.

I'd try the Jet 4.0 SP8 update that available from MS.

Which means I've to change the connection string in my project entirely to Jet 4.0?
Actually, I've tried before.
The reason I change to Jet 3.51 was because, only part of the forms could work with Jet 4.0, which I don't understand why. :(

Member Avatar for mnemtsas

I dont think so, you should be able to keep the 3.51 connection stirng. Give it a go!

Member Avatar for red_evolve

Morning! Just saw your reply this morning.
During the weekend, I've tried changing all my connection strings to the Jet 4.0 one.
And now all the forms could work. I previously mentioned that some forms won't work with Jet 4, I've figured out why.
I've noticed that all those defect forms had trouble opening a particular table, and the table name is called "action". I'd thought of 2 possibilities, the table is corrupted or the name "action" for a table is not allowed. So, I copied the whole table, and rename it to action2, alas, it worked!
I don't think so it's because of the second reason, anyway, do you have any idea why it won't work when I name it as "action" when using Jet 4.0? Because I did not encounter such problem when I was using Jet 3.5 then.

Member Avatar for red_evolve

Another question, is msado20.tlb an important file?
During installation, msado20.tlb and 2 more files caused an interrupt.

Member Avatar for mnemtsas

msado20.tlb is the type library for ADO 2. Whats the error message?

Member Avatar for red_evolve

Err, it just says that it could not copy this file into the system folder (along with other files, namely, mshtml.tlb and uxtheme.tlb) because the file is being used by another application, when that is not true, as there were no other applications running on my desktop at that moment of installation.

Member Avatar for mnemtsas

Ignore it then, the files are there, or reboot the computer and try reinstalling. I always say you can be 80% of a PC Support person by just saying ''' have you rebooted?"

Member Avatar for red_evolve

LOL. Alright, then. Thanks a lot for your help!

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