Visual Basic Concepts

Packaging Features

See Also

Using the Package and Deployment Wizard, you can easily create a professional setup program for your application or deploy an Internet application to the Web. The wizard performs these steps during the packaging process:

• Automatic inclusion of your application's main setup program (setup1.exe). The wizard adds the Setup Toolkit application, Setup1.exe, to the package. This file is the main installation program for your application.
  
  
• Automatic creation of your application's .cab files. The Package and Deployment Wizard can create a single .cab file or multiple .cab files for your application.
  
  
• Script-based sessions. You can select a script from another packaging session with the same project if you want to use the same or very similar settings as you move through the wizard. This can save you significant time. In addition, you can use a previously saved script to package a project in silent mode. This is especially useful as part of a batch compilation process.
  
  
• Optional creation of dependency files. Dependency files identify the run-time files that must be included with your application when it is distributed.
  
  
• Automatic support for data access, Remote Automation, and DCOM features. The wizard automatically determines whether your project includes functionality that changes the setup process. For example, if you include certain types of data access, Remote Automation, or DCOM features, you may need to include drivers or other files in your package. The wizard checks your projects and displays screens that allow you to specify the appropriate options in these cases.
  
  
• Shared file capability. The wizard allows you to install some files as shared files. This means that the files will not be removed from the system during an uninstall if other applications are using them.
  
  
• Alternate file locations for Internet packages. In Internet packages, the wizard allows you to specify whether dependency files should be included in the setup program or downloaded from an alternate Web site.
  
  
• Automatically inclusion of files from the Redist directory.  If your application depends on a system file for which a shared and a stand-alone version of the file are available, you can place the standalone version in the Redist directory. The wizard will automatically pick up this version instead of the version that has other dependencies.
  
  
• Safety settings for Internet packages. If you do not use the IObjectSafety interface in your project, the Package and Deployment Wizard lets you mark components in your application as safe.
  
  
• Custom destination locations for each file in the project. Most files have a default location to which they are installed, depending on whether they are project files or system files. You can change these locations if you want to install the files to a different location.

For More Information   See "Deployment Features" later in this chapter for more information on features of the Package and Deployment Wizard.