[sword-devel] BibleCS Installer: HKCU vs HKLM
DM Smith
dmsmith555 at yahoo.com
Tue Feb 14 06:29:37 MST 2006
L.Allan-pbio wrote:
> I tested with a limited user account on WinXp-Sp2, and based on that
> modified the HkcuVsHklm test a smidge to detect whether the person
> using the installer has Admin priv, or just limited user priv.
Good work!
>
> Based on this, the custom page's PreShow function can decide whether
> or not to show the custom page at all (won't show it for limited user).
>
> This probably doesn't address all the issues, but maybe enough to not
> punt quite yet and insist on Admin priv?
If you do the leg work, I'll incorporate it. But at some point we need
to do a release. And at that point whatever is solid will make the cut
and be used. We can still work on it for the next release.
> My impression is that a limited user can read HKLM. I'm pretty sure
> that nsis has the capabilit to detect WinNt4/2k/Xp vs Win98, but I
> haven't used that (may be a plugin).
There is a function in WriteEnvStr.nsh, which we use for SWORD_PATH,
called isNT. So if it returns that it is not "NT" and the page is not
offered.
Since we need to assume that if a user does not have admin privs that
they must do a limited user install, should we make the reverse
assumption, that if they can do admin install that we will do it.
>
> However, you may be correct that a limited user will have problems
> writing to C:\Program Files ..... which presents a big problem. On my
> test computer, the C:\Program Files was created by my normal Admin
> account, which may prevent a subsequent limited user account from
> writing to it .... that might not be the case if the C:\Program Files
> was created on a computer that didn't have a previous Admin account
> established. Shucks.
I don't think that it matters. If it can't be written to on some
machines, but because of how the user upgraded to their current os, then
we shouldn't use that location.
That would be a show stopper. There must be an alternative location for
a limited user.
>
>
> There will probably be similar issues with SWORD_PATH ... a limited
> user can probably set this environment variable for just themselves,
> not all users.
Hopefully, WriteEnvStr has all that figured out. But we should check.
>
> Here are revised functions ... the only other change is swapping the
> "state" in the .ini file for Field 1 and Field 2. At the following
> link from the nsis function, the principal nsis developer describes
> how to detect admin priv mode vs limted user mode:
> http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122968
I'll add this into my working copy.
>
> Function .onInit
> ClearErrors
> StrCpy $HkeyChoice "all"
> WriteRegStr HKLM "SOFTWARE\CrossWire\The SWORD Project" "HkcuVsHklm"
> "$HkeyChoice"
> IfErrors LimitedUserDetected AdminLevelDetected
> LimitedUserDetected:
> MessageBox MB_OK "Limited User Detected"
> StrCpy $HkeyChoice "current"
> GoTo PrivLevelDetected
> AdminLevelDetected:
> MessageBox MB_OK "Admin User Detected"
> DeleteRegValue HKLM "SOFTWARE\CrossWire\The SWORD Project"
> "HkcuVsHklm"
> DeleteRegValue HKCU "SOFTWARE\CrossWire\The SWORD Project"
> "HkcuVsHklm"
>
> PrivLevelDetected:
> !insertmacro MUI_INSTALLOPTIONS_EXTRACT "HkcuVsHklm_CustomPage.ini"
> FunctionEnd
>
> Function PreShowInstallChoices
> StrCmp $HkeyChoice "current" 0 ShowInstallChoices
> SetShellVarContext current
> Abort
>
> ShowInstallChoices:
> !insertmacro MUI_HEADER_TEXT "$(TEXT_IO_TITLE)" "$(TEXT_IO_SUBTITLE)"
> !insertmacro MUI_INSTALLOPTIONS_DISPLAY "HkcuVsHklm_CustomPage.ini"
> FunctionEnd
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "DM Smith" <dmsmith555 at yahoo.com>
> To: "SWORD Developers' Collaboration Forum" <sword-devel at crosswire.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 10:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [sword-devel] BibleCS Installer: HKCU vs HKLM
>
>
>>
>>
>> L.Allan-pbio wrote:
>>> Regarding use of HKCU vs HKLM (split from general Installer thread
>>> to be focused on this issue alone) :
>>>
>>> Here is some sample code for a custom page allowing choice of "Just
>>> this user" and "All Users". It is pretty stripped down just to
>>> illustrate the basics of how it works.
>> I played with this code and it works as advertised.
>> However, in trying to get it to work, I ran into lots of other
>> questions/issues.
>>
>>
>> Basically different scenarios that could happen on a machine raised
>> questions on what should happen:
>> 1) Reinstall (i.e. user runs install a second time without
>> uninstalling first) and instead of choosing HKCU, which was the
>> install, now chooses HKLM
>> 2) The user only has limited install privs and chooses HKLM.
>> 3) The user tries to install 1.5.8 as HKCU, but the application has
>> already been installed as HKLM.
>> 4) User upgrades (e.g. to > 1.5.6) from a prior HKCU (e.g. <= 1.5.6)
>> and chooses:
>> a) HKCU, or
>> b) HKLM
>> 5) User upgrades (e.g. to > 1.5.8) from a prior HKLM (e.g. 1.5.8) and
>> chooses:
>> a) HKCU, or
>> b) HKLM
>>
>> I am sure there are others.
>>
>> The other question I had was what should happen for a limited user
>> install?
>> Can the user install to C:\Program Files?
>> The application writes to the installation dir for user prefs,
>> install sites, modules and the like. Will this work for a limited user?
>>
>> If the application is installed to a shared workstation by an
>> administrator and the first administrator runs the program and
>> changes the layout to what they like, won't that be the layout that
>> the next administrator sees?
>>
>> I also ran into a problem trying to establish $INSTDIR.
>> The way it should work is that the installer sets a default.
>> Then it looks for a prior HKLM installation and if it is present,
>> then the default is set to that.
>> Then it looks for a prior HKCU installation and if it is present,
>> then the default is set to that.
>> And it should note whether HKLM or HKCU was used to for the default
>> and use that as the default root when presenting to the user.
>> This is so that SetShellVarContext can be called appropriately (all
>> for hklm and current for hkcu).
>>
>> NSIS provides the following commands to help:
>> To establish the default:
>> InstallDir default\dir\path
>> To reset the default to the prior installation, if found:
>> InstallDirRegKey ROOT subkey keyname
>>
>> However, these cannot be in a section or in a function.
>> And InstallDirRegKey does not take SHCTX, forcing using either HKCU
>> or HKLM (or any other explicit root).
>> I tried calling InstallDirRegKey twice once with HKLM and once with
>> HKCU, but the second call is ignored upon compilation.
>> The further problem is that even if it could be called twice, the
>> value of $INSTDIR cannot be examined at each point to determine which
>> root to use, as StrCmp and StrCpy cannot be used outside of functions
>> and sections.
>>
>> What this would leave is not using InstallDir and InstallDirRegKey,
>> but in the function .onInit, simulate this behavior and establish
>> INSTDIR via StrCpy
>> and then call SetShellVarContext to set the default.
>>
>> The other gotcha is that under section D.2 of the NSIS manual it
>> clearly states that HKCU is available to Add/Remove Programs for
>> NT4/2000/XP and that HKLM needs to be used for earlier systems.
>>
>> Even though the HKCU may exist prior to these, it probably should not
>> be used at all. So this would mean adding conditional logic into
>> whether the page is shown or not.
>>
>> Anyway, I think this is a big hurdle and is better left to a later
>> date. I think for now we should assume that the user is an
>> administrator and that all users share the one configuration.
>>
>>>
>>> (I haven't tested with a "limited user" account to see what happens.
>>> I suppose that could be detected with Contrib\UserInfo\UserInfo.nsi
>>> and only allow "current" and don't even show the custom page ... my
>>> impression is that a "limited user" can still read HKLM)
>>>
>>> ;*************** ini file ************
>>> # HkcuVsHklm_CustomPage.ini
>>>
>>> [Settings]
>>> NumFields=2
>>>
>>> [Field 1]
>>> Type=RadioButton
>>> Text=Install for just this user
>>> Flags=NOTIFY|GROUP
>>> State=0 ### Was 1 .... if shows custom page, must be admin
>>> Left=0
>>> Right=-10
>>> Top=0
>>> Bottom=12
>>>
>>> [Field 2]
>>> Type=RadioButton
>>> Text=Install for all users on this computer
>>> Flags=NOTIFY|NOTABSTOP
>>> State=1 ### was 0 ... if shows custom page, must be admin
>>> Left=0
>>> Right=-10
>>> Top=20
>>> Bottom=32
>>>
>>> ********** Installer ***************
>>> !include Sections.nsh
>>> !include "MUI.nsh"
>>>
>>> Var HkeyChoice
>>>
>>> Page custom PreShowInstallChoices LeaveInstallChoices ": Just this
>>> user or all users"
>>>
>>> !insertmacro MUI_PAGE_INSTFILES
>>>
>>> !insertmacro MUI_LANGUAGE English
>>>
>>> ;--------------------------------
>>> ; Installer attributes
>>> Name "Modern UI Test"
>>> OutFile HkcuVsHklm.exe
>>> InstallDir "$PROGRAMFILES\Modern UI Test"
>>> InstallDirRegKey HKCU "Software\Modern UI Test" ""
>>>
>>> LangString TEXT_IO_TITLE ${LANG_ENGLISH} "CrossWire family of
>>> applications."
>>> LangString TEXT_IO_SUBTITLE ${LANG_ENGLISH} "Explanation about
>>> choosing 'Just this User' vs 'All Users' goes here."
>>>
>>> Function .onInit
>>> DeleteRegValue HKLM "SOFTWARE\CrossWire\The SWORD Project"
>>> "HkcuVsHklm"
>>> DeleteRegValue HKCU "SOFTWARE\CrossWire\The SWORD Project"
>>> "HkcuVsHklm"
>>> StrCpy $HkeyChoice "current"
>>> !insertmacro MUI_INSTALLOPTIONS_EXTRACT "HkcuVsHklm_CustomPage.ini"
>>> FunctionEnd
>>>
>>> # Installer sections
>>> Section -Main WriteFiles
>>> SectionEnd
>>>
>>> Section -post WriteRegistryEntries
>>> WriteRegStr SHCTX "SOFTWARE\CrossWire\The SWORD Project"
>>> "HkcuVsHklm" "$HkeyChoice"
>>> SectionEnd
>>>
>>> Function PreShowInstallChoices
>>> !insertmacro MUI_HEADER_TEXT "$(TEXT_IO_TITLE)" "$(TEXT_IO_SUBTITLE)"
>>> !insertmacro MUI_INSTALLOPTIONS_DISPLAY "HkcuVsHklm_CustomPage.ini"
>>> FunctionEnd
>>>
>>> Function LeaveInstallChoices
>>> ; At this point the user has either pressed the Next Button or one
>>> of our custom RadioButtons
>>> ; We find out which by reading the "Settings" field from the INI file
>>> !insertmacro MUI_INSTALLOPTIONS_READ $0 "HkcuVsHklm_CustomPage.ini"
>>> "Settings" "State"
>>> StrCmp $0 0 NextButtonPicked
>>> StrCmp $0 1 JustThisUser
>>> StrCmp $0 2 AllUsers
>>> Abort ; Return to the page to allow further choices
>>>
>>> JustThisUser:
>>> StrCpy $HkeyChoice "current"
>>> Abort ; Return to the page
>>>
>>> AllUsers:
>>> StrCpy $HkeyChoice "all"
>>> Abort ; Return to the page
>>>
>>> NextButtonPicked:
>>> StrCmp $HkeyChoice "current" 0 UseAll
>>> SetShellVarContext current
>>> GoTo ChoiceDone
>>>
>>> UseAll:
>>> SetShellVarContext all
>>>
>>> ChoiceDone:
>>> FunctionEnd
>>>
>>> Function .onInstSuccess
>>> ReadRegStr $0 SHCTX "SOFTWARE\CrossWire\The SWORD Project"
>>> "HkcuVsHklm"
>>> MessageBox MB_OK "Hkey Choice: $0"
>>> FunctionEnd
>>>
>
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