| A key aspect of the software development process is the creation of installation programs. Whether you have developed a GUI application, a Smart Device application, or even a Web application, most likely you will end up installing it on machine(s) different from those you developed it on. You have two options ”you can create a Zip file and provide the executables of the application and the necessary resources to the person who will manually install them, or you can create an installer that will do the same for you, but in a much more organized fashion. For the Windows platform, Microsoft Installer (using MSI files) provides a standard way of delivering installers for Windows applications and services. InstallShield DevStudio is one such product that provides visual development of these installers . A visual installation program allows a higher level of productivity to the software developer, who can then focus more on the development of the application itself. DevStudio structures and simplifies the whole installation process by dividing the effort into a set of focused tasks : -
Application information ” General information about the application, including application name, company name , and so on -
Installation requirements ” Supported operating systems -
Installation architecture ” Customization of the installation process by features -
Application files ” Main files of the application -
Application redistributables ” Any required redistributables that should accompany the installation -
Application shortcuts ” Shortcuts to the Windows Start menu -
Application Registry ” Any Windows Registry setup requirements -
Installation interview ” A series of dialog boxes used for initial configuration of the application, such as requiring the user to enter a name or company name, selecting an application directory, and so on -
Installation localization ” Support for multiple languages -
Build installation ” Build the installation depending on the media choices ”single executable, CD-ROM and/or Web-based distribution Key highlights of DevStudio include the following: -
Support for standard MSI-based installers, InstallShield Setup Engine installers, and installers for Smart Device applications -
Support for both wizard and advanced designer modes -
Support for installing Web applications and services -
Useful features such as file dependency scanning, merge modules (for installing related components ), visual dialog editor, Web-based deployment, debugging support, 64-bit support, and so on -
Support for delivering software patches and updates -
XML-based project files -
Integration with Visual Studio .NET -
Integration with Source Code Control for versioning of installers with the related source code files Figure 6.5 shows InstallShield DevStudio launched within the Visual Studio .NET 2003 environment, creating an installer for Smart Device applications. Figure 6.5. Using InstallShield DevStudio to develop a Smart Device installer.  More details, including trial software, are available at http://www.installshield.com/products/devstudio. |
