I'm developing an AIR app for a client, and they've had a gfx designer edit some graphics for the app.
He's also asked that the installer be changed from this:
To this:
(ignore the XP window style)
Is that possible? I haven't found anything relevant from Googling or searching SO.
That's not possible, the installation of .air packages is handled by the AIR runtime, you cannot change its appearance. Native packages might be standalone installers themselfs, not 100% sure, but their style also cannot be changed.
If you want custom styles, then you have to package your app as a captive runtime application and create your very own installer for it.
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/air/build/WSfffb011ac560372f709e16db131e43659b9-8000.html
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/articles/customize-setup-for-AIR-app-with-captive-runtime.html
Related
I have created a msi which allows user to view license, select installation folder, and features to install. That all works well.
Now I need to create a bootstrapper that will check if framework 4.5 is installed, install it if not, and then install msi.
I can do this using WixStandardBootstrapperApplication.RtfLargeLicense, where I would install framework, and then execute msi with its own UI.
But what if I do not want to show two apps (msi over exe), but only one window?
Since my msi contains feature, standard bootstrapper does not provide interface where I can set features from msi, so I need to create a custom UI.
The problem is I do not quite understand how WixManagedBootstrapperApplicationHost works? I created a dll with new UI, and place it in Payload. When running the setup, when framework needs to be installed, WixManagedBootstrapperApplicationHost always invokes its own window which says:
Microsoft .NET Framework required for MyApp Setup. Click the "Accept and Install" button to accept the Microsoft .NET Framework license terms.
And after it completes installation of .NET Framework, then it invokes the UI that I Created in dll. Why would anyone want this kind of functionality, where my bootstrapper app contains totally different UI than the framework installation UI? Isn't the idea of bootstrapper with custom UI is to provide completely custom UI?
So, how can I provide my custom UI for that framework installation part?
I assume your own UI is C# and WPF? If your installing it on a machine without .Net then it's going to need to install .Net before it can show the WPF UI. I could be wrong but I'm sure that's unavoidable.
If you want to replace / modify the .Net install screen then this thread looks like it has the answer:
Wix Burn: Basic UI handling if No Net Framework is there
However if your saying the .Net install dialog is showing up over your UI at some point in installation then you need to set the Install command to "/q" which means quiet (no UI).
I've programmed a app via visual basic .Net and after made an installation file via Advanced Installer
But both my app's icon and name aren't available .
I mean after installation my app appear in desktop with "Windows Application" and no icon so
What can I do to solve this?
Please help
You need to set the name of your shortcut and its icon from Advanced Installer, as indicated in the tutorial I linked.
After this rebuild the installer and re-install it.
I am using WiX for make installer for any product. But I don't want to use default UI dialog which is using in WiX. How to improvise UI of a installer ? Is there any tool for designing UI for a installer with highly customize ?
Rich GUI is done in bootstrapper (aka. chainer). Chainers are made in tool called Burn (B is for bootstrap). I'm not all that familiar with it, but it was supposed to replace all the GUI available by Windows Installer that you can set in .msi files. This GUI is restrictive, and suitable only for simplest tasks, so the idea is to build .msi only as a database file that is to be consumed by Windows Installer to actually install something, and transfer all the GUI to bootstrapper.
The only thing I've come across is WixEdit, although it seems buggy and may have been abandoned. Still, it allows you to do basic UI design of the WiX dialogs.
I recently came across something called Wix#. It lets you make custom dialogs using a Winforms-like designer.
I know it's 9 years later, but if it helps, great.
I built an application in c#. I published it using the publish option in the visual studio 2010 IDE. I have not used anything fancy in it, its a simple app with a couple of table layout panels. But each time i install it somewhere the app is trying to download the full framework 4.0 in which ever machine i install it.This is very irritating especially since i have not done anything very fancy here. Kindly help me on this problem.
Also i am open to anyother build tools to package my application and install it easily anywhere.
You can edit which prerequisites are set to install when your application is installed by going to the projects properties, going to the publish tab and selecting "Prerequisites".
Generally when I use ClickOnce when I build a VB.NET program but it has a few downsides. I've never really used anything else, so I'm not sure
what my options are.
Downsides to ClickOnce:
Consists of multiple files - Seems easier to distribute one file than manageing a bunch of file and the downloader to download those files.
You have to build it again for CD installations (for when the end user dosn't have internet)
Program does not end up in Program Files - It ends up hidden away in some application catch folder, making it much harder to shortcut to.
Pros to ClickOnce:
It works. Magically. And it's built
into VisualStudio 2008 express.
Makes it easy to upgrade the
application.
Does Windows Installer do these things as well? I know it dosen't have any of the ClickOnce cons, but It would be nice to know if it also has the ClickOnce pros.
Update:
I ended up using Wix 2 (Wix 3 was available but at the time I did the project, no one had a competent tutorial). It was nice because it supported the three things I (eventually) needed. An optional start-up-with-windows shortcut, a start-up-when-the-installer-is-done option, and three paragraphs of text that my boss thinks will keep uses from clicking the wrong option.
Have you seen WiX yet?
http://wix.sourceforge.net/
It builds windows installers using an XML file and has additional libraries to use if you want to fancify your installers and the like. I'll admit the learning curve for me was medium-high in getting things started, but afterwards I was able to build a second installer without any hassles.
It will handle updates and other items if you so desire, and you can apply folder permissions and the like to the installers. It also gives you greater control on where exactly you want to install files and is compatible with all the standardized Windows folder conventions, so you can specify "PROGRAM_DATA" or something to that effect and the installer knows to put it in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data or C:\ProgramData depending on if you're running XP or Vista.
The rumor is that Office 2007 and Visual Studio 2008 used WiX to create their installer, but I haven't been able to verify that anywhere. I do believe is is developed by some Microsoft folks on the inside.
I agree with Joseph, my experience with ClickOnce is its great for the vast majority of projects especially in a corporate environment where it makes build, publish and deployment easy. Implementing the "forced upgrade" to ensure users have the latest version when running is so much easier in ClickOnce, and a main reason for my usage of it.
Issues with ClickOnce: In a corporate environment it has issues with proxy servers and the workarounds are less than ideal. I've had to deploy a few apps in those cases from UNC paths...but you can't do that all the time. Its "sandbox" is great, until you want to find the executable or create a desktop shortcut.
Have not deployed out of 2008 yet so not sure if those issues still exist.
Creating an installer project, with a dependency on your EXE (which in turn depends on whatever it needs) is a fairly straightforward process - but you'll need at least VS Standard Edition for that.
Inside the installer project, you can create custom tasks and dialog steps that allow you to do anything you code up.
What's missing is the auto-upgrade and version-checking magic you get with ClickOnce. You can still build it in, it's just not automatic.
I don't believe there is any easy way to make a Windows Installer project have the ease or upgradability of ClickOnce. I use ClickOnce for all the internal .NET apps I develop (with the exception of Console Apps). I find that in an enterprise environment, the ease of deployment outweighs the lack of flexibility.
ClickOnce can be problematic if you have 3rd party components that need to be installed along with your product. You can skirt this to some extent by creating installers for the components however with ClickOnce deployment you have to create the logic to update said component installers.
I've in a previous life used Wise For Windows Installer to create installation packages. While creating upgrades with it were not automatic like ClickOnce is, they were more precise and less headache filled when it came to other components that needed to be registered/added.