Windows-Based Application Installation Sample Code

 Last reviewed: February 15, 1996
Article ID: Q66395
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows versions 3.0 and 3.1

SUMMARY

WINSET2 is a file in the Microsoft Software Library that contains the source code necessary to create a Windows-based application installation program. This program does the following:

  1. Prompts the user for a directory into which to install the application.

  2. Checks for available disk space.

  3. Creates directories as needed.

  4. Copies the files from the installation source (the program will expand compressed files during the copy process, if necessary).

  5. Adds icons to a Program Manager group if the Program Manager is the current shell program.

This program does not detect system hardware, and is designed to install applications on an already existing Windows system.

Download WINSET2.EXE, a self-extracting file, from the Microsoft Software Library (MSL) on the following services:

  • Microsoft Download Service (MSDL) 

          Dial (206) 936-6735 to connect to MSDL
      Download WINSET2.EXE (size: 78276 bytes)
  • Internet (anonymous FTP) 

          ftp ftp.microsoft.com
      Change to the \SOFTLIB\MSLFILES directory
      Get WINSET2.EXE (size: 78276 bytes)

MORE INFORMATION

The WINSET2 file contains an internal directory structure. The PKware file extraction utility has a -D option switch that creates the corresponding directory structure on the destination disk.

The following files are part of WINSET2:

BINCODE Directory 

    BINCODE     : Debug build NMAKE file (Microsoft C version 6.0)
    BINCODE.C   : BINXZ main code
    BINCODE.DEF : DEF file for BINXZ
    BINCODE.DLG : Dialog templates
    BINCODE.H   : BINXZ header file
    BINCODE.ICO : Setup icon
    BINCODE.MAK : Debug build MAKE file (Microsoft C version 5.1)
    BINCODE.RC  : Resource template
    BINCODE1.H  : BINXZ header file (describes resources)
    BINRET      : Retail build NMAKE file (Microsoft C version 6.0)
    BINRET.MAK  : Retail build MAKE file (Microsoft C version 5.1)
    DIALOGS.C   : Dialog box routines
    DOS.ASM     : Low-level MS-DOS routines in ASM
    EXPAND.LRG  : File decompression module, large model
    EXPAND.MED  : File decompression module, medium model
    EXPAND.SML  : File decompression module, small model
    GASGAUGE.C  : Gas gauge code file
    GASGAUGE.H  : Gas gauge header file
    IO.C        : Low-level MS-DOS routines in C
    PARSE.C     : INF file parser
    PROGDDE.C   : Program Manager dynamic-data exchange (DDE) routines
    SETUP.INF   : Sample SETUP.INF file
NOTE: Due to U.S. Government rules regarding the exporting of encryption technologies, EXPAND.C cannot be distributed.

COMPEPND Directory 

    COMPRESS.EXE: MS-DOS-based file compressor
    EXPAND.EXE  : MS-DOS-based file uncompressor
NOTE: It is a good idea to provide the EXPAND utility with the installed application. This allows users to access the files on the distribution disks.

SETUP Directory 

    SETUP       : NMAKE file (Microsoft C version 6.0)
    SETUP.C     : Setup stub loader source
    SETUP.DEF   : DEF file
    SETUP.MAK   : MAKE file (Microsoft C version 5.1)
The following tools are required to build and use WINSET2:

- Windows Software Development Kit version 3.0 or later - Windows version 3.0 or later - Microsoft C version 6.0 or later - Microsoft Macro Assembler version 5.1 or later - MS-DOS version 3.1 or later

The Contents of a Release Setup Disk

The Setup program has two components, SETUP.EXE and BINXZ.EXE. Setup spawns BINXZ, which actually performs the installation. If Setup determines that it is running from a floppy disk, it will copy BINXZ to the Windows directory on the user's hard disk. BINXZ will run itself from the hard disk and delete itself when done. (BINXZ deletes itself only if it is copied by Setup. If the file is already on the hard disk, it will remain.)

Because Setup copies BINXZ to the hard disk, the program can use traditional Windows programming methods (using movable, discardable segments) and still allow the user to change disks in Drive A without disrupting the process.

The first disk must contain files as follows: 

   A:\SETUP.EXE
   A:\SETUP.INF
   A:\BIN\BINXZ.EXE
If Setup will be run from a hard disk or from a network, preserve the contents of the BIN directory. Setup will run from a network or a hard disk.

All files involved with the installation must be in subdirectories of the "root" installation directory. This is done to prevent the user from running the application(s) directly from the Setup disk.

The Contents of an Example Sample Disk

   A:\SETUP.EXE
   A:\SETUP.INF
   A:\BIN\BINXZ.EXE
   A:\BIN\SOL.EXE
   A:\BIN\REVERSI.EXE
   A:\DLL\SOL.DLL
   A:\DLL\REVERSI.DLL
   A:\HLP\SOL.HLP
   A:\HLP\README.TXT
The SOL.* files comprise one application. The user has the option to install these files. The REVERSI.* files comprise a second application. The user has the option to install these files. The README.TXT file is required; the user does not have the option to omit installing this file.

Setup shields the user from manually selecting SOL.EXE, SOL.DLL, and SOL.HLP. Instead, the user chooses "Solitaire Game" and the system does the necessary mapping to install the following three files: 

   \BIN\SOL.EXE
   \DLL\SOL.DLL
   \HLP\SOL.HLP
The "nn" field in the [apps] section of SETUP.INF provides the mechanism to do this. Arbitrarily choose one of the three files, for example SOL.EXE, to be the "main" file. The other two files are marked to depend on the main file. When the user chooses to install the main file, Setup copies all three files to the hard disk. In this example, the "nn" field for SOL.EXE would be 02, to indicate that the next two files depend on SOL. These files must be listed sequentially in the SETUP.INF file.

When the Solitaire application is installed, Setup can create an icon for it in the Program Manager. Each icon must reside in a group. Because an application cannot request the list of active groups from the Program Manager using dynamic-data exchange (DDE), the Setup program always creates a new group. The following lines in SETUP.INF define a group called "A": 

    [progman]
       "A","Solitaire Application","SOL.GRP"
The "Ic" field in the [apps] section specifies the group where the icon will be placed. "IA" places the SOL.EXE icon into group "A."

Because the user has the option to install SOL.EXE, the "D" flag in the [apps] section is also specified. In the "complex" version of Setup, this flag adds the application to the Select list box and allows the user to choose to install the application.

Each file must be associated with three of strings: the icon title, the application's description (often the same as the icon title), and a comment string (approximately 70 characters long). These fields are appended to the description of SOL.EXE in the [apps] section. Finally, the sizes of SOL.EXE, SOL.DLL, and SOL.HLP sum to 70 kilobytes. This is indicated by the "70" size field at the end of the description.

The Solitaire entry in [apps] section of SETUP.INF will resemble the following: 

   "0","02DIA","0","BIN","SOL.EXE","Solitaire","Solitaire","The most
tested application ever!","70" 
   "0","",     "0","DLL","SOL.DLL"
   "0","",     "0","HLP","SOL.HLP"
For an uncompressed file, the line in the [apps] section is as follows: 

    X   flags   Y    Z   filename  icon title app title
    v  /     \  v  /   \ /       \ /       \  /        \
   "0","02DIA","0","BIN","SOL.EXE","Solitaire","Solitaire","The most
tested application ever!","70" 
                          \  /
                          size

   The "X" field contains the source disk number.
   The "Y" field contains the destination directory number.
   The "Z" field contains the source and destination directory names.
A compressed file is very similar, adding a "C" to the flags field, as follows: 

   "0","C02DIA","0","BIN","SOL.EXE","Solitaire","Solitaire","The most
tested application ever!","70"

The information for REVERSI.EXE is similar to that used above. However, because REVERSI does not receive a Program Manager icon, the "IA" flag is not specified.

Because the README.TXT file is required, its line resembles the following: 

   "0","R","0","HLP","README.TXT","Read Me","Read Me","","1"

The Remainder of the SETUP.INF File

There are three other sections in the INF file: [setup], [disks], and [directories]. The following sections provide some tips regarding these sections.

The [setup] section provides additional information about the Setup program.

"PACKAGENAME","Solitaire" 

   SETUP refers to the application it is installing by using the
   PACKAGENAME variable. This variable should contain the name of the
   product as it is listed on the packaging.
"CAPTIONNAME","Solitaire Setup" 
   This caption is used by the Setup program in all of its dialogs.
   This variable usually contains the PACKAGENAME followed by "Setup."
The [disks] section provides information about the Setup source disks.

"0","A:\","SOL Setup Disk #1" 

   This line indicates that disk #0 is called "SOL Setup Disk #1," and
   that it will be located in Drive A, by default. If Setup cannot
   find any files, it will also check the directory from which Setup
   was run (a network drive, a hard disk, or Drive B, as
   appropriate). After searching this drive, if Setup is still unable
   to find the file, it will prompt the user to insert "SOL Setup Disk
   #1."
The [directories] section provides information about the destination directories.

"0","C:\SOL","Solitaire App Dir" 

   This line specifies the "main" directory. This line must be present
   in the SETUP.INF file. This directory is presented as the default
   when Setup prompts the user where files should be installed. This
   must be directory "0."
"A","\CHILD1","Solitaire Directory Child 1" 
   Setup builds child directories from the "main" directory. Valid
   child directory names are "A"-"Z."

Comments about the Source Code

The Setup program is designed to provide the maximum flexibility with minimum modifications to the source code. However, many applications require special functionality and some features that this code does not provide. Some useful features that this code does not provide include the following:

- Modifying the AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, or profile (INI) files. The 

  code to implement this functionality can be modeled on the code in
  PARSE.C, which retrieves information from the SETUP.INF file. The
  process of adding a new data structure to the SETUP.INF file for
  this additional data should be quite straightforward.
- Determining system hardware. Setup is meant to be run on an 
  installed copy of Windows. It does not install Windows. Therefore,
  standard Windows calls such as the GetSystemMetrics function should
  be used to determine the system hardware.

Additional reference words: 3.00 3.10 softlib WINSET2.EXE setup
installation share invalid media
KBCategory: kbtool kbfile
KBSubcategory: TlsMss

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Last reviewed: February 15, 1996
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