Create a customized setup program.See Also
You can freely distribute any application that you create with Visual Basic. If you plan to distribute your application to a number of users or plan to sell it commercially, then you'll want to write a setup program that installs your application on the customer's machine.
The Visual Basic Setup Toolkit provides the tools you need to write setup programs using Visual Basic. All the tools you need to use the Setup Toolkit are located in the \SETUPKIT subdirectory of the main Visual Basic directory.
The Setup Toolkit allows you to:
Create a customized setup program.
Compress and expand your application's files to fit the available disk space.
Preinstall files that you specify.
Use the version-stamping resources (VER.DLL) in Microsoft Windows to determine whether a file should be copied to the customer's machine.
Install files in the appropriate Microsoft Windows directories (\WINDOWS, \WINDOWS\SYSTEM) regardless of the actual directory names on your customer's system.
Create Microsoft Windows Program Manager groups and icons for your application.
The Setup Toolkit files include utilities, dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), and a sample setup program written in Visual Basic. The following table describes each file:
File name Description
SETUP.EXE The preinstallation program (sometimes referred to as a bootstrap program) that your customer runs to install your application. SETUP.EXE installs VER.DLL and all the files listed in SETUP.LST. Your custom setup program (SETUP1.EXE or whatever file name you specify) is copied into the customer's \WINDOWS directory and then invoked to install your application.
SETUP1.EXE A Visual Basic application that you customize. This application's source files are located in the \SETUPKIT\SETUP1 subdirectory of the main Visual Basic directory. Use these source files as a template for creating your own setup program.
SETUP.LST A text file that lists all the files SETUP.EXE preinstalls on your customer's machine. The first line of this file must be the name of your setup program (SETUP1.EXE or whatever file name you specify).
SETUP1.BAS A collection of Visual Basic functions used in SETUP1.MAK to perform the tasks required by the setup program.
VER.DLL A DLL that contains functions for copying and decompressing files.
VER.DLL can also detect the version of a file that has a Microsoft Windows version stamp. You cannot compile version information in your Visual Basic .EXE file; however, some files do contain this version stamp. If a file does not have a Microsoft Windows version stamp, VER.DLL uses the file date and time to determine the file version.
SETUPKIT.DLL A DLL that contains various functions used in SETUP1.BAS.