PUBLISHING A VISUAL BASIC APPLICATION

While you can certainly make a copy of the release version of your Visual Basic application and distribute it as you see fit, Visual Basic 2005 Express provide a publishing feature that is designed to help automate the distribution of your application. Using this feature, you can automate the distribution of your Visual Basic applications to any of the following locations.

• Disk path. Select this option to save an executable copy of your application to a folder on your computer.

• File share. Select this option to save an executable copy of your application to a folder on a network server.

• FTP server. Select this option to save an executable copy of your application on a FRT server.

• Web site. Select this option to save an executable copy of your application to a folder on a web site.

If for example, you choose the option of publishing to a folder on your local computer, Visual Basic will automatically create all the files that are required to install the application on a user's computer, including a Setup.exe program. The following procedure outlines the steps involved in automating the publishing of a Visual Basic application.

1. Finish creating and testing your Visual Basic application.

2. Click on File and select Save All.

3. Click on the Build menu and then select Publish. In response, Visual Basic launches the Publish Wizard.

4. Specify the location where you wish to publish your application and then click on Next.

5. The Publish Wizard will collect the required information needed to automate the distribution of your application to the specified location.

6. Click on Finish to publish your application.