HOWTO: Distributing RDS Client with Visual Basic Setup Wizard

• Remote Data Service for ADO version 1.5

SUMMARY

This article describes the steps to distribute the Remote Data Service (RDS) client files with a Visual Basic 5.0 application. You need to have a thorough understanding of how RDS and Visual Basic work before you attempt to distribute your application. There are other RDS Microsoft Knowledge Base articles available that you can use to learn more about RDS before distributing your application.

In order to distribute an RDS client application using Visual Basic you will need to include the following files with your setup program:

   msadce.dll*   - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\msadc
   msadco.dll*   - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\msadc
   msador15.dll* - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\ado
   msdadc.dll*   - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\ole db
   msdaps.dll*   - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\ole db
   msdaer.dll*   - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\ole db
   msr2c.dll*    - installed to \system

   msadcer.dll   - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\msadc
   msadcor.dll   - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\msadc
   msader15.dll  - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\ado
   msdaerr.dll   - installed to \Program Files\Common Files\system\ole db
   msr2cenu.dll  - installed to \system
   msdatsrc.tlb  - installed to \system
   wininet.dll   - installed to \system

   * indicates an ActiveX component that needs to be registered.

• Individually select each file when you are prompted for "Add Local" and "Add Files" by the Setup Wizard.

  -or-

• Include the file list we have provided below that you can insert into the .swt file the Setup Wizard creates. The steps in the MORE INFORMATION section will guide you through this process.

MORE INFORMATION

Step One

Build the Test Visual Basic application. Assume that you are building this application on a computer that already has the proper RDS client files installed.

1. Start a new Standard EXE project. Form1 is created by default.

2. From the Project menu, select References, and select Microsoft Remote Data Services 1.5 Library.

3. Add two CommandButtons to Form1, named Command1, and Command2 by default.

4. Paste the following code into the General Declarations section of Form1:

         Private Sub Command1_Click()
         'DataControl
         MousePointer = vbArrowHourglass
         Dim dc As New RDS.DataControl
         dc.Connect = "dsn=pubs;uid=sa;pwd=;"
         dc.SQL = "select * from authors"
         dc.Server = "http://ServerXXXX"
         dc.ExecuteOptions = adcExecAsync
         dc.Refresh
   

         While dc.ReadyState = 2
          DoEvents 'user has control during async query
         Wend
         MousePointer = vbDefault
         MsgBox dc.Recordset.Fields(0).Value
         End Sub
   

         Private Sub Command2_Click()
         'DataSpace, DataFactory
         MousePointer = vbArrowHourglass
         Dim ds As New RDS.DataSpace
         Dim df, rs
         Set df = ds.CreateObject("RDSServer.DataFactory",
         "http://ServerXXXX")
         Set rs = df.Query("dsn=pubs;uid=sa;pwd=;", "select * from authors")
         MsgBox rs.Fields(0).Value
         MousePointer = vbDefault
         End Sub
   

5. Change the Server, SQL, and Connect strings to match actual servers you will be testing against.

6. Save the project.

7. Run the project and test its functionality against your server to verify that it works. If it does not work at this time, do not continue to Step Two below until you have figured out what is wrong. The RDS documentation, Readme.txt, and other Microsoft Knowledge Base articles will help you debug RDS configuration problems.

Step Two

Build the distributable application using the Visual Basic Application Setup Wizard.

1. Start the Visual Basic 5.0 Application Setup Wizard.

2. On step 1 select your project, select "Rebuild the Project," then click "Create Setup Program".

3. On step 2 ignore the dependency information by clicking Next.

4. On step 3 click Single directory.

5. On step 4 select your target setup directory.

6. On step 5 clear the reference to Msadco.dll; this will be added manually later.

7. On step 6 you should have only the required Visual Basic system files and your actual project files listed.

8. On step 7 click Save Template so you can edit the .swt file later. Next, click Cancel because you do not want to create the entire setup program just yet.

9. Find the .swt file you just saved and open it using Notepad or any ASCII text editor. Go to the bottom of the section named [File Summary] and paste in the following entries for RDS files:

         File9="C:\Program Files\Common Files\SYSTEM\MSADC\msadco.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\SYSTEM\MSADC",$(DLLSelfRegister),True
         File10="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSADC\msadce.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\SYSTEM\MSADC",$(DLLSelfRegister),True
         File11="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSADC\msadcer.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSADC",,True
         File12="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSADC\msadcor.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSADC",,True
         File13="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\ADO\msador15.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\ADO",$(DLLSelfRegister),True
         File14="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\ADO\msader15.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\ADO",,True
         File15="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OLE DB\msdadc.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OLE DB",$(DLLSelfRegister),True
         File16="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OLE DB\msdaps.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OLE DB",$(DLLSelfRegister),True
         File17="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OLE
         DB\msdaerr.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OLE DB",,True
         File18="C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OLE DB\msdaer.dll",True,
         "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OLE DB",$(DLLSelfRegister),True
         File19="C:\WINNT\system32\msdatsrc.tlb",True,
         "$(WinSysPath)",$(TLBRegister),True
         File20="C:\WINNT\system32\MSR2CENU.DLL",True,
         "$(WinSysPath)",,True
         File21="C:\WINNT\system32\MSR2C.DLL",True,
         "$(WinSysPath)",$(DLLSelfRegister),True
   

10. Remove the hard returns we put in for formatting this article so each

        FileXX= entry is on only one line. Now, adjust the numbers for each
        added FileXX= entry so they are ordered correctly from 1 to the total
        number of included files. Save the .swt file and you are ready to
        rebuild the project.
    

11. Start the Visual Basic 5.0 Application Setup Wizard and select the .swt

        file as your project. Step through to the final step and click Finish
        to create the distribution files. You should now have all the needed
        RDS client files for distribution of your application.
    

12. On a computer that has not ever had any RDS files installed, test the

        functionality of your example program by running the Setup.exe file
        that the Application Setup Wizard created. If it does not work
        correctly, review the steps in this article to make sure you followed
        them correctly, and refer to Step 1, item 7.
    

Version           : WINDOWS:1.5
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto