[sword-devel] BibleCS Installer

Wed Mar 8 06:18:24 MST 2006

Then it is ready. I'll zip it up and put it on the server tonight.

Troy A. Griffitts wrote:
> Hey guys.  Excited about all the ideas moving forward with multiple 
> windows installs, but please remember that THIS release is only 
> intented to have the identical functionality as the current 
> InstallShield installer, just so we can get an update out for the 
> software.  After that, I'm perfectly happy to entertain ideas about 
> supporting multiple sword clients on a windows computer.  I'm not 
> trying to squelch creativity here.  I really want to move forward with 
> things, but we need to have milestones-- and we have a very immediate 
> need.  I agree with DM that we need to get this out sooner and worry 
> about new functionality after.
>
> The current InstallShield uninstaller calls installmgr with a 
> command-line option to remove all modules.  Lynn, I understand this 
> may not be what you want, but the switch to NSIS-- and thus an open 
> installer which allows for future enhancement-- has to be TOWARD what 
> you want.  Please understand the need I'm trying to meet.  It is 
> nothing personal.
>
>     -Troy.
>
>
> L.Allan-pbio wrote:
>> Thanks for the update. Hope you don't mind the "cage rattling".
>>
>> My impression is that the uninstallers for the front-end apps can and 
>> should ignore removal of modules. As the military phrase goes, "that 
>> is above my pay grade." <b>
>>
>> The intention may be for the InstallManager to be responsible for 
>> removal of most (all?) of the installed modules. Troy G would be the 
>> one to check with on the specifics, but I think that the uninstallers 
>> for the actual apps can pretty much ignore this complicated task. 
>> There is lots that can go wrong with removing modules.
>>
>> Perhaps it is sufficient for the application uninstallers to have a 
>> checkbox on the "components" page (or the Finish page?) whether to 
>> "launch" the InstallManager? The functionality of the application's 
>> uninstaller would be otherwise limited to removal of its specific 
>> executable(s), help files, .conf files, registry entries, environment 
>> variables, icons, StartMenu entries, .ini files, jar files, etc. but 
>> NOT the modules.
>>
>> Unless it involves a pda, today's huge hard drives make it a 
>> relatively lower priority to "clean up" everything during an 
>> uninstall. My experience is that the fussy reviewers at 
>> CNet/Download.com and TuCows pay attention to the thoroughness of the 
>> uninstaller, but most end-users may not care if some resources get 
>> left installed if they uninstall the app.
>>
>> It would still be possible to do a thorough uninstall and "blow away" 
>> every file, module, registry entry, etc, but the default "flow" of 
>> the uninstaller for a specific front-end would leave modules and some 
>> CrossWire "family" registry entries. There should be enough "bread 
>> crumbs" left for a subsequent installation to be able to find a 
>> "sane" place to install to facilitate module sharing.
>>
>> IMHO, I think the difficulty of the uninstaller trying to figure out 
>> all the combinations and permutations, and then making the choices 
>> clear/unambiguous to the end-user about what they can and/or could 
>> and/or should do are not worth the effort, and unlikely to be 
>> "bullet-proof".
>>
>> Here is a scenario:  a person has been using BibleCS sword.exe and 
>> decides to try LcdBible and BibleStudy and BibleDesktop. The modules 
>> are "sort of" shared, except some apps find the shared resources 
>> within the directory structure (i.e. in the same directory as BibleCS 
>> sword.exe which is how SWMgr::findConfig works now), some use 
>> SWORD_PATH, and some have redundant resources (mods.d and modules in 
>> their install directory and KJV has been installed multiple times, 
>> for example).
>>
>> I would advise against the uninstaller trying to figure out this 
>> "hodge podge" out and attempt to "do the right thing". It seems too 
>> likely that some modules will get unintentionally deleted which 
>> interferes with the operation of other apps.
>>
>> To me, the problem is that end-users with multiple CrossWire 
>> front-end apps will intend to install a module, and be confused and 
>> frustrated when some front-ends can "see" the module, and some can't.
>>
>> Perhaps it would be appropriate to have a separate, simple program 
>> that "sniffed around" the registry and certain default locations to 
>> detect redundant modules, such as:
>> C:\Program Files\CrossWire\The SWORD Project\mod.d
>> C:\Program Files\CrossWire\LcdBible\mod.d
>> C:\Program Files\CrossWire\BibleDesktop\mods.d
>> C:\Program Files\CrossWire\mods.d
>> C:\Program Files\CrossWire\resources\mods.d
>> [InstallDir]\mods.d
>> etc.
>>
>> and then brought redundancies to the attention of the end-user. Some 
>> redundancies would be intended, especially for developers. Such a 
>> capability could perhaps be part of the InstallManager (the "test" 
>> version of the LcdBible "StarterKit" installer used a very small 
>> "proxy" for the InstallManager to do some of the above and could 
>> probably be enhanced easily. This proxy was mostly to be a small 
>> replacement for the large InstallManager.exe and sword.exe which made 
>> the compression for the nsis installer be slow.)
>>
>> My 2¢ worth
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "DM Smith" <dmsmith555 at yahoo.com>
>> To: "SWORD Developers' Collaboration Forum" <sword-devel at crosswire.org>
>> Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 8:24 AM
>> Subject: Re: [sword-devel] BibleCS Installer
>>
>>
>>> Lynn,
>>>
>>> I just have one aspect left: On uninstall, don't wack installed 
>>> modules if there is another registered "CrossWire" application.
>>> While this doesn't do everything on your wish list, I think it goes 
>>> a long way toward it.
>>>
>>> For the last few weekends, I thought I'd get it done, but something 
>>> always came up. Maybe, I can get it done tonight.
>>>
>>> Yes, you have noticed that I have spread myself a bit thin. In spare 
>>> cycles I am working on cleaning up the KJV2003. Almost ready to 
>>> check it in and make it available for edits.
>>>
>>> In His Service,
>>>    DM
>>>
>>> L.Allan-pbio wrote:
>>>
>>>> Just thought I'd check what the status of the BibleCS installer 
>>>> was. There was a big flurry of posts in early Feb, but I was 
>>>> wondering if I missed the actual "release candidate". The last SVN 
>>>> entry is from September.
>>>>
>>>> Not meaning to be impatient, as I observe with gratitude (and awe) 
>>>> the large number of different aspects of The CrossWire Bible 
>>>> Society that you are working on. "Well done, good and faithful (and 
>>>> profitable) servant." I would like to release an update of LcdBible 
>>>> with compatible installer, and hesitate to proceed until a number 
>>>> of pending issues and questions related to the BibleCS installer 
>>>> are resolved.
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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