>I'm working on a project where the client will want to make future updates available to users from the web. With the way the software will be distributed initially, I should be able to count on the fact that all necessary runtime files have already been loaded on the users machine, & I'm thinking future updates via download should be a no brainer. Is there anything else I need to consider now, to make future download releases/updates simple?

Using SDT to update the database? An auto-detect routine in the setup phase of your app to alert the user that an update is underway.

The way I handle database updates, is to zip up all the needed files [SDT files, DBC, DCX, DCT, etc.]. This zip file goes into a sub-directory in my data tree called DBCUpdts. The file name is called database.zip. If my app at startup detects the existence of this file, it alerts the user to perform the Database Update function [I have to do this to warn the user that ALL other users must be completely out of the app because of exclusivity requirements.

I then try to open a common file exclusively. If successful, I can then safely use DynaZip to unzip the file into the Data folder. I then use the SDT Update() function to update the database.

In my Launcher EXE, I also look for new versions of the APP that is called from LAUNCHER.EXE with a DO ("MyApp") command. These updates are placed in a folder called AppUpdts also located in the Data tree. If the Date/Time stamp of the APP [or Classes, etc.] is newer than what is installed on the user's machine, I copy the new files over. Then the DO ["myApp"] command comes last and runs the new stuff.

On the data server the tree looks something like:

+ Apps
   + MyApp
      + AppUpdts
      + Data
      + DBCUpdts
      + Reports