What tools are available?

The intent of this section is not to deliver a comprehensive list of every installer tool available, or for it to be an advertisement for any of these products. Rather it is a snapshot of the tools available in mid-2003 when this chapter was written, some basic information about each of the products, and Internet sites you can visit to gather more details and evaluation copies if available.

Note ‚  

All prices were retrieved directly from the product Web sites in mid-2003 and reflect full price. Upgrade pricing is normally available. The pricing can be changed by the respective manufacturers at any time and could differ from the prices you can get from various software and tool suppliers. We recommend you visit the company Web sites for the most current pricing.

If you are interested in evaluating a number of shareware and freeware installer tools, we recommend checking out the extensive listing available on www. tucows .com . The installer tools can be found under Systems and Utilities > Installation Tools. Developers have created more than a dozen different tools. Although we do not review each one in depth for this chapter, we pass along this information in an effort to expose you to as many options as possible.

ActiveDelivery

Active Delivery ( Figure 1 ) has been around for many years and comes from the makers of the popular DynaZip ActiveX control. It generates self-extracting ZIP installation files with more power and functionality than the standard self-extracting ZIP files you can create using the various compression tools. Active Delivery comes with a script editor and a wizard to assist you with the creation of the deployment package. Active Delivery provides the installation with the fundamentals expected in an install including shortcut creation, specifying icons, custom program groups, running executables before and after the file extraction, performing date and version checking to restrict the file implementation or take another action, file extract to specific directory or global directory (file by file basis), and creating customizable messages. The installation packages can prompt the user for the installation folder, display ReadMe files, generate a log file, replace system files, create and read registry entries, and reboot the target computer. The feature that makes Active Directory stand out from the others is you can automate the product from your applications using the ActiveX or .NET interface.

Figure 1. ActiveDelivery has a wizard to make the initial script settings. This is the ActiveDelivery Script Editor used to make changes to the initial settings.

ActiveDelivery
One edition
Evaluation Copy available on Web site
US$249
Inner Media, Inc., Hollis, NH, USA
www.innermedia.com

Ghost Installer Studio

Ghost Installer ( Figure 2 ) is a tool designed to create compact, self-installing, single-file executables used to install your applications. This package includes an interactive development environment that supports a dependency manager, directory variables , and a project importing feature. The installations created can implement conditional processing (based on operating system and languages), in-use file overwrite, replacement by version and date, COM server registration, font registration, system restart, application repair after the installation, rollback for a partial installation, and configure itself at runtime to the language on the end users machine. There is direct support for .NET, Visual Basic, C++ (Microsoft or Borland), Delphi, and JBuilder projects. The item that might make this product stand out from other products is the capability to have configurable skins. There is a command line interface for developers who want to perform the builds programmatically and an extendible plug-in API.

Figure 2. Ghost Installer combines a project wizard with an interactive user interface to set various properties for generating the installation package.

The WebDeploy Edition adds support for ‚“Install-On-Demand ‚½ (download only components not already installed). The Professional Edition adds protection of the distribution with registration keys and RSA encryption. Projected enhancements include support for MSI files and a custom dialog editor.

Ghost Installer
Comes in Standard, WebDeploy and Professional Editions
Evaluation Copy available on Web site (does not save projects, but does step through process)
US$239 ‚ Standard, US$319 ‚ WebDeploy, US$429 ‚ Professional
gInstall Corporation out of Munich, Germany
www.ginstall.com

Inno Setup

Inno Setup ( Figure 3 ) stands for Innovative Setup. This setup package is free and covered in greater detail in Appendix D, ‚“How To: Inno Setup. ‚½ It supports all 32-bit Windows versions in use today. Developers can create a setup script using the built-in script wizard, and then can edit and maintain the generated script file. It supports customizable setup types such as Full, Minimal, and Custom and comes with its own uninstall capabilities. This tool does not create a Windows Installer setup package; rather it creates a single EXE for the setup package and uses the same file compression used in ZIP files. The installer has the ability to create shortcuts on the desktop or Start menu, generate registry and INI entries, install fonts, compare file version info , replace in-use files, and register ActiveX controls, DLL files, and type libraries. The source code is available if you are interested in extending or altering the product. It was written using Borland Delphi.

Figure 3. Inno Setup generates a script file using a wizard style interface. This script file can be edited directly to alter the way your applications are installed.

Inno Setup
One edition
Download available on Web site
Free (donations accepted)
Jordan Russell Software (location is unknown)
www.jrsoftware.org

InstaFox

InstaFox ( Figure 4 ) is a setup package written entirely in Visual FoxPro. This setup package is covered in greater detail in Appendix C, ‚“How To: InstaFox. ‚½. It supports all 32-bit Windows versions in use today. Functionality includes a setup wizard, creation of shortcuts (desktop, Start menu, Quick Launch toolbar), creation and update of Windows Registry entries, execution of post-installation routine, display of licensing information, and optional installation of the Visual FoxPro runtime files. You have control over the installation of application and system files (including versions and removal of existing files). File attributes (read-only, hidden, and system) of the installed files are retained. InstaFox stands out from other installers because it can update Visual FoxPro table structures, merge in new records to the existing tables, or overwrite existing tables. The complete source code is included so you can add or alter functionality. The product Web site has several whitepapers for more information on customizing and using InstaFox as well as a Frequently Asked Question
(FAQ) page.

Figure 4. InstaFox is the only installer in the roundup completely written in Visual FoxPro.

InstaFox
One edition
No Evaluation Copy
US$349
Fowler Software Design LLC out of Denver, Colorado, USA
www.fowlersoftware.com

InstallShield

InstallShield has several products you can use to deploy Visual FoxPro applications as well as applications developed with other development tools like Visual Studio .NET. In addition to the products highlighted in this section, InstallShield also has a product called MultiPlatform that builds installation packages for the AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Mac OS X, OS/400, Solaris, any other flavor of UNIX, and even Windows.

InstallShield Express ‚ Visual FoxPro Limited Edition

This is the package available to developers with a license to Visual FoxPro 7 or 8. It provides the fundamental features developers require for basic deployments. This product allows you to create robust installation packages with customizable features and setup types, file selection and assignment to features, Windows Installer merge modules, creation of registry keys and setting values, creation of ODBC datasources, working with INI files, and creating file extensions. You can select which dialogs appear in the installation and set properties to customize these dialogs. This version also includes the Automatic Update service where InstallShield informs your customers a new version is available and delivers the updates to them. This service is provided at an additional cost.

The limitations include lack of billboards, custom actions, dynamic file linking, environment variables, globalization, import and export strings, external objects, scanning wizards, text and messages, web deployment, and Visual Studio .NET support. These features are disabled. For more information on these missing features see the InstallShield Express help file under the ‚“Limitations of InstallShield Express ‚ Microsoft Visual FoxPro Limited Edition ‚½ topic. The version included with VFP 8 added the ‚“Upgrade Path ‚½ feature, support for selecting Windows XP as a required operating system, running post-install processes, the ability to modify the path searched for merge modules, and support for Windows Installer v2.0. Feature set wise, it is two major upgrade versions behind the full InstallShield Express product (as of October 2003).

InstallShield Express ‚ VFP Limited Edition
One edition
No evaluation version, comes with Visual FoxPro 7/8 at no additional cost
Microsoft Corporation out of Redmond, Washington, USA
InstallShield Software Corporation out of Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
www.installshield.com

InstallShield Express

InstallShield Express (ISE), shown in Figure 5 , is the version not limited like the version Microsoft ships with Visual FoxPro. This setup package is covered in greater detail in Appendix A, ‚“How To: InstallShield Express. ‚½ In addition to the features described in the ISE ‚ Visual FoxPro Limited Edition, ISE comes with Project Wizards, automatic file collection, dialog editing, extensive third-party technology support, the ability to create Windows Installer patch files (MSP), globalization capabilities (18 languages), creation of Internet Information Server (IIS) virtual directories, and Visual Studio .NET support and integration.

Figure 5. The full version of InstallShield Express is more powerful and more flexible than the limited version that ships with Visual FoxPro 7 and 8.

InstallShield Express
One edition
Evaluation Copy available through sign-up on Web site
US$349
InstallShield Software Corporation out of Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
www.installshield.com

InstallShield DevStudio

InstallShield DevStudio is the brand new, top of the line offering (mid 2003) that combines and replaces the former InstallShield Developer and InstallShield Professional. It works with Windows Installer technology (MSI) as well as InstallShield ‚ s custom InstallScript Engine- based installations. This is the ultimate in power, and the ultimate in complexity.

Features included in DevStudio that are not in Express include source code control, Windows CE deployments, automation interface to maintain InstallShield projects, creation of merge modules, XML project files, project templates, MSI table editor, COM+ support, 15 additional languages for globalization, 26 additional dialogs, multimedia support at install time, 64-bit application support, and much more.

InstallShield DevStudio
Replaces the former Developer and Professional Editions
Evaluation Copy available through sign-up on Web site
US$1199
InstallShield Software Corporation out of Schaumburg, IL, USA
www.installshield.com

Setup Factory

Setup Factory ( Figure 6 ) creates what it calls ‚“single-file, compact, and bulletproof professional software installations ‚½ for all current 32-bit Windows platforms. The installer package allows a developer to customize the wizard interface, create CD-ROM/DVD, LAN, e- mail and Web installations without the need to edit the ‚“Action Scripts, ‚½ but opens up this powerful feature for more challenging installation tasks . You can edit and create registry entries, INI files, and text configurations. Fonts and ActiveX controls can be installed and registered as well. Complete version checking, file searching, copying, renaming, deleting, and setting of attributes are included. Setup Factory has a dependency scanner and international language support (at no additional charge). You can collect information from the users during the installation. There is a simple to use Project Wizard and an enhanced Visual Basic Project Wizard. You can assign files to one or more ‚“packages ‚½ so you can present your users with logical Complete, Typical, Minimum, and Custom styled installations.

Figure 6. Setup Factory has a comprehensive development environment and creates compact deployment packages.

Setup Factory
One edition
Evaluation version available through Web site
US$395
IndigoRose Software Design Corporation out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
www.indigorose.com

Tarma Installer

Tarma Installer ( Figure 7 ) is a custom installer not based on the Windows Installer technology, yet compatible with all current 32-bit Windows platforms. It is royalty free and ad-free and comes with free technical support. It has a Wizard style interface to get you started, allows you to edit all aspects of the project, has more than 200 preflight checks to point out any problems with the installation, and does not require scripting. The Standard version has the fundamentals including ReadMe and licensing displays, creates shortcuts, handles the All Users issue, can start the application after the install, tells the target computer to reboot itself, does file versioning checks, registers ActiveX controls, and registers COM servers. The Professional version includes all the features in the Standard version as well as checking target computer requirements, password protection, customized icons, uninstall of previous version during upgrades, external actions, language support, font and device driver registration, editing registry keys, editing INI file settings, editing environment variables, and the ability to extend the installer via a dynamic linked library (DLL). Tarma Installer supports CD-ROM based installations as well as self-extracting executables for Internet download. You can use the interactive user interface to create installs or the command line interface if you want to create the installs programmatically. It comes with an extensive, context-sensitive Help file.

Figure 7. Tarma Installer has a comprehensive development environment and creates compact deployment packages.

Tarma Installer
Comes in Standard and Professional Editions
Evaluation Copy Available on Web site
Free - Standard, US$99 - Professional (single user)
Tarma Software Research Pty Ltd. out of Melbourne, Australia
www.tarma.com

Wise Solutions

Wise Solutions has several products you can use to deploy Visual FoxPro applications as well as applications developed with other development tools like Visual Studio .NET. One of the struggles we experienced with Wise Solutions is they have so many editions of each package and have changed the name of the product lines over the years. This makes it difficult to select the right product for the deployment scenarios we support, but is not something that should stop you from considering any of their tool offerings.

Wise for Windows Installer

Wise for Windows Installer (WfWI) is the entry point for the various installers available from Wise Solutions. This setup package is covered in greater detail in Appendix B, ‚“How To: Wise for Windows Installer. ‚½ It provides the fundamental features developers require for basic deployments. This product allows you to create robust installation packages with customizable features and setup types, file selection and assignment to features, shortcuts, Windows Installer merge modules, creation of registry keys and setting values, creation of ODBC datasources, working with INI files, and creating file extensions. You can select which dialogs appear in the installation and set properties to customize the dialogs. WfWI has some features unique to this product as well. You can add Windows services as well as stopping, starting, and deleting services on Windows NT/2000/XP target machines.

Wise for Windows Installer not only has the ‚“Installation Expert ‚½ mode (shown in Figure 8 ), but it also has the MSI Script editor and Setup Editor that give developers more ‚“under the hood ‚½ views of the settings and selections made to build the installation package. The Setup Editor is a view of the underlying MSI database. This view allows developers to edit the contents of the database as well as adding custom tables if necessary. Additional advanced features include a Visual MSI Difference utility to compare MSI files, creation of Patch files (MSP), and integration with your source code control provider.

Figure 8. Wise for Windows Installer creates Windows Installer based deployment packages.

Wise for Windows Installer
Comes in Standard, Professional Editions and Enterprise Editions
Evaluation Copy available on Web site
US$449 ‚ Standard, US$1199 - Professional, US$1999 - Enterprise
Wise Solutions, Inc. out of Canton, Michigan, USA
www.wise.com

Wise Installation System

The Wise Installation System is Wise Solution ‚ s setup tool not based on Windows Installer technology. It is script-based and generates a compact, single file, and self-installing executable. It still has an ‚“Installation Expert ‚½ graphical interface that steps developers through the installation creation process so developers who do not want to deal with the script for simpler installations can set properties, select files, and build the installation package. The scripting capability gives developers complete control over their installation package. This product allows for dialog customization, user defined actions, Windows API call support, custom billboard editor, and runtime support. It comes with its own uninstall routine.

It provides the fundamental features developers require for all types of deployments. This product allows you to create robust installation packages with customizable features and setup types, file selection and assignment to features, shortcuts, add/remove programs support, runtimes (ships with MDAC, DAO, MSDE, VB, VFP 6 & 7, VC++, DirectX, Crystal Reports, and more), creation of registry keys and setting values, font registration, creation of ODBC datasources, working with INI files, and creating file extensions. Wise considers this product superior to their Windows Installer product line.

Wise Installation System
Comes in Standard and Professional Editions
Evaluation Copy available on Web site
US$449 ‚ Standard, US$999 ‚ Professional
Wise Solutions, Inc. out of Canton, Michigan, USA
www.wise.com