Creating Your Application .INF

[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]

Your application requires a standard Setup .inf file. This section details only those modifications required to integrate with the Setup Computer Wizard (SCW). For more information on the .inf file required for setting up your application, see the documentation that accompanied your Setup management software.

Along with the other information you must place in your application .inf file, you must provide the following information to SCW:

• The name of the .inf section that contains information about your setup application.
• The symbol number of the icon to associate with your application.
• The command line text to install your application on the client workstation.
• The command line text to remove (uninstall) your application from the client workstation.
• The amount of disk space in megabytes that your application needs during installation. This includes temporary files and directories.
• Message strings your application may need to display during installation.

To create the .inf file for your setup application

1. Include the required [Version] section.
2. Under the [Version] section, include the Signature parameter with the value $WINDOWS NT$.
3. Include the [Optional Components] section.
4. Under the [Optional Components] section, include the name of the section that contains the information about your Setup application. Only one application per .inf file is allowed.
5. Under your [application] section, you can use the optional OptionDesc and Tip parameters to provide explanatory text about your application to SCW. The values for these optional parameters must be string parameters defined in the [Strings] section.
6. Under your [application] section, add the IconIndex parameter with the index number of the icon you plan to use for your application Setup program. Legal values for IconIndex are defined in Icon Indices.
7. Under your [application] section, add the InstallCmd parameter with the actual quoted text required to run your Setup program in unattended mode. Do not use a value from the [String] section.

   Use the %SBSServer% environment variable for the path to the server, and construct the install command from that location. Small Business Server shares the %SBSServer%\CLIENTS directory that you can use for this purpose. If you don't use the %SBSServer%\CLIENTS directory, then you will have to make sure that users who install your application has permission to run programs in the directory.

8. Under your [application] section, add the UninstallCmd parameter with the actual quoted text required to remove your application from the client computer in unattended mode. Do not use a value from the [String] section.
9. Under your [application] section, add the DiskSpaceEstimate parameter with the number of megabytes your setup application needs on the client computer during installation. This includes temporary directories.
10. Under the [Strings] section, add the string parameters for optional messages you need.

Example INF File

The following example depicts the INF provided by the developer of the fictional Bob's Time Card Application.

;
; timecard.inf
;
; Component INF for installing Bob's Time Card Application
;
; Note the use of the variable $SAMSERVERNAME$ in the 
;  InstallCmd parameter value, which is substituted by SCW
;
; Required section for all INF files. See the SDK for 
;  other legal values
[Version]
Signature = "$Windows NT$"
;
; You add this section and the name of the section that 
;  contains your application setup information
[Optional Components]
timecard
;
; Here's the actual application section
[timecard]
; Optional 'application description' and 'tip' section. 
;  The timecard_desc string is defined in the [Strings] section.
OptionDesc = %timecard_desc%
Tip = %timecard_tip%
;
; Required icon definition for the application Setup program
;  (This is NOT your application's icon)
IconIndex = 0
;
; Required value for the command-prompt unattended installation.
;  The %SBSServer% variable is the location of the Small Business Server
;  software.
InstallCmd = "\\%SBSServer%\clients\timecard\setup /auto $SAMSERVERNAME$"
;
; Required value to run an unattended program from the command prompt 
;  to remove your application from the client computer
UninstallCmd = "\\%SBSServer%\clients\timecard\setup /uninstall"
;
; This application requires 7 megabytes of disk space on the client
;  computer during installation.
DiskSpaceEstimate = 7
;
; Standard section. Required when you use string parameters.
[Strings]
; This value is used in the OptionDesc parameter
timecard_desc = "Bob's Time Card Application"
;
; This value is used in the Tip parameter
timecard_tip = "Lets users log their hours"