Brief Full Advanced Search Search Tips
|  |  | To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles. Visual Basic 6 Programming Blue Book: The Most Complete, Hands-On Resource for Writing Programs with Microsoft Visual Basic 6! (Publisher: The Coriolis Group) Author(s): Peter G. Aitken ISBN: 1576102815 Publication Date: 08/01/98 Search this book:
Previous | Table of Contents | Next
To start creating your distribution package, load the desired project. Recompiling your project to an EXE (or whatever the target is) is a good idea, because the PD Wizard requires up-to-date files before it can do its job. If the wizard detects out-of-date or unsaved files, it will prompt you to correct the situation before continuing. Next, start the PD Wizard and click on the Package button. You’ll be offered a choice of package types. The types available will depend on the type of project: • Standard Setup Package—The correct choice for EXE projects and any other type of project that will be installed with a setup program and distributed on disks or on a local network. • Internet Package—Available only for ActiveX projects. It creates a package that will be installed by downloading from an Internet site. On the next screen, shown in Figure 26.6, you select a folder where the PD Wizard will place the setup package. Placing each package in its own folder is advisable to avoid confusion. Click on the Network button to select a folder on the network (assuming, of course, that you are connected to one). Click on the New Folder button to create a new folder with a name different from the one suggested by the PD Wizard. The next screen (Figure 26.7) lists all of the files the PD Wizard will include in your setup package. To add files, click on the Add button. Files you might need to add include a READ.ME file, help files, licensing information, and the like. You should never need to add an actual program component, because the PD Wizard will have already included all required items. You can also remove a file from the distribution package by clearing the checkbox next to its name in the list. I strongly suggest that you never do this, because the files included in the list are required for your application to install and run correctly. The next screen lets you select whether your package will be compressed into a single cab file (a cab file, short for cabinet, is a type of compressed file used by Microsoft for program distribution) or into multiple cabs. If you select multiple cabs, you can also select the maximum size for each file to match the distribution media. For example, select 1.44MB if your program will be distributed on standard high-density diskettes. Figure 26.6 Selecting a folder for the setup package. Figure 26.7 Selecting files to include in the distribution package. The next few screens let you select options, such as the name your program will be assigned when it is installed and the location of the program on the user’s Start menu. You can make your selections, using the PD Wizard prompts to help you if needed. When asked whether to designate shared files, accept the default settings, unless you have a specific reason to change them. The final screen lets you enter a name for the setup script. All the choices you made will be saved in this script. Then, the next time you run the wizard to package this application, you can reload the script to save time. The last step is to click on Finish. The PD Wizard will create the distribution files in the specified folder and display a summary report. All you need to do is copy the resulting files (SETUP.EXE, one or more cab files, and SETUP.LST) to the distribution disks, and you are ready to start distributing your program. If you will be distributing the program via the Internet or a network, you’ll use the deployment part of the wizard next to deploy the files. Deploying Your Application If your package will not be distributed on disks, the next step is to deploy it—copy it to a Web server or folder. The first option is most useful, as the PD Wizard will actually log onto the desired Web site and upload files. Deploying to a folder is useful only if your computer is itself the Web server or if you want to upload the files manually at a later time. To deploy a package, start the PD Wizard and click on the Deploy button. On the first screen, you can either load a deployment script or select (none) if you are starting a new deployment. Next, select the package to deploy and choose between Web publishing and folder deployment. For folder deployment, the only remaining task is to select the destination folder. Web publishing has a few more steps on subsequent PD Wizard screens: 1. Select the files to deploy. You should not remove any of the automatically selected files unless you are sure of what you are doing. Add files, such as READ.ME documents, as needed. 2. Specify the destination URL and publishing protocol (Figure 26.8). The URL is, of course, the destination for the package (for example, http://www.yoursite.com/). For the protocol, select either HTTP Post or FTP, depending on what the destination server supports. The end result is the same in either case. Select the Unpack and Install Server-Side cab only if necessary—for example, if deploying a DHTML application. Note that the protocol specified in the URL (HTTP:// or FTP://) must match the publishing protocol selected. 3. Next you will be asked whether to save the URL and publishing protocol in the registry as a Web Publishing Site. Select Yes, then specify a name for this site. 4. Enter a name for the deployment script. All of the information you entered will be saved and can be recalled again if you need to redeploy the same package. 5. Click on Finish. The PD Wizard will begin the deployment procedure. You may be asked for a logon and password, depending on the security measures in effect at the destination site. When the process is complete, the wizard will display a report detailing which files were uploaded, any errors that were encountered, and so on. Figure 26.8 Specifying the destination URL and protocol for Web publishing. #### A Word Of Warning Deploying your Visual Basic applications on the Web can be a tricky business. Part of the problem comes from the fact that you are usually dealing with a remote computer that is not under your control. More difficulties arise from the lack of universally accepted standards. If you are deploying to a server that is running Windows NT and Microsoft’s Web server software, the job is a lot more likely to go smoothly than if you are deploying to a server running Sun Unix and the Netscape Web server. If you run into problems, the best approach is to find out as much as you can about the destination server and whether it supports the operations you are attempting. A chat with the Webmaster is usually helpful, too.
Previous | Table of Contents | Next

| Products | Contact Us | About Us | Privacy | Ad Info | Home Use of this site is subject to certain Terms & Conditions, Copyright © 1996-2000 EarthWeb Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of EarthWeb is prohibited. Read EarthWeb's privacy statement.