>The thing that aggrevates me about this whole registry thing is that I would rather not be the one that screws up the clients network. I prefer to leave that to the experts like AOL. Most of my clients can't spell intstall let alone registery. Therefore we are forced to develop a fool proof installation routine that registers everything we need on every computer on the network. I'm also pretty sure whatever we do it will have to be slightly different for 95 vs 98 vs NT vs 2000. I'm not bitchin' mind you but when one is paying the cost of development out of one's very small pockets, one gets very annoyed. I guess if I had $90 billion dollars to spend on development I wouldn't give a hoot.
You have an option here - don't use any Windows tools. You're woefully unaware of the wealth of tools available to mange the installation process; installing in the Windows environment, while not a matter of of just copying files, is no more difficult or convoluted than proper installation on other operating environment of similar complexity - the various Unix environments are far more difficult for the application developer who's completely, blissfully ignorant of the requirements of the operating environment or the services available within that environment.
Setup Wizard comes with VFP, and will perform the minimal tasks required to install the necessary files for the VFP runtime environment. It performs the set of tasks required for installation of the common support files on each operating platform, without your having to write a line of code or take any action beyond indicating the common components need by your application. It'll even perform some limited installation tasks for delivering and registering ActiveX components to the workstation - you must be aware of the requirements of any ActiveX or COM components that don't ship as a part of VFP, but that's expecting no more than you'd have to do if you wanted to add a non-COM based product; you have to know what files are needed, and what directory they go in. In fact, because most such add-ins don't have the advantages of the ubiquitous reference resolution services available to COM through the registry, you have to be more cognizant of exactly where files must be placed, versioning, providing a means of saving any initialization values, etc. With COM and registration, the overwhelming burden you face is just triggering the registration routine that's built into the component. Makes its own sauce, on a cross-platform basis; the registry API encapsulated much of the behavioral differences in the Win32 family operating system behaviors.
If you find Setup Wizard is inadequate to what you need to do to install your application and the needed support files, another tool, the Visual Studio Installer, is available for download from Microsoft's MSDN web site for VFP support, msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro. VSI is a transactional installer; it is more capable than Setup Wizard as far as the range of tasks that it can perform (at the cost of some minor expenditure of neurochemical energy), but doesn't accomodate the creation of a post-VSI autotriggered custom process similar to the Setup Wizard's Post-Setup executable.
There is a wealth of third-party products that offer other degrees of functionality and developer control of the installation process. InstallShield Express is a relatively inexpensive installation tool (less the $250 when I last looked) that handles installing apps very well, has a powerful set of wizards to assist in constructing your install and performing such onerous tasks as registration (if you get the impression that I think that registration is no big deal for the application developer, you're right; it's painless compared to the processes that a Linux developer must go through to create an installation package for an application no matter how simple the app.) Other packages are available as well; I use InstallShield Pro, InstallShield Express' big brother, which offers considerable customization via a very powerful scripting language. It is not cheap, but it is very capable. Another tool that is in the same category is Wise; there's a scaled-down version similar in fiunctionality and price to InstallShield Express. And this barely scratches the surface of what's out there.
If you weren't Windows-phobic, I'd also suggest investigating operating system tools such as the Windows Script Host and new WMI as tools for developing sophisticated installers. I make certain to install the WSH on every system that one of my apps goes on; in addition to scripting capabilities that are far more flexible than the older linear batch languages available as a part of the console command processor inherited from the DOS environment. It also offers a unique set of (uh-oh, it's that C word again) COM components that make it very easy to exploit features of the Windows Shell and Networking APIs from inside of scripts, or VFP for that matter. But damn, there's that horrendously burdensome task of registering the component before it can be used - better give up on that idea!
If you feel that only you, with much gnashing of teeth and beating of your breastplate, can possibly figure out what needs to be done rather than using these horrific native Windows tools, or the two installers available as a part of the VFP product, or the third-party tools, Win32 has several SDK APIs related to installation tasks. You can roll yer own using C or VB or another language with infinitesimally fine granular control of details. Of course, if you use a Windows development tool to write your install, the install app may need some components registered...damn, guess you'd better hand-code machine instructions. Real men write their aps using COPY /b CON: MyApp.EXE, though so they don't have to
shudder register anything.
IOW, you've got tools available to you that can handle the things you think are tough. If you don't like either product that's supplied with VFP, buy one that does what you want done. It will not relieve you of the burden of knowing what the consequences and requirements of using third-party controls and the like, but then, that burden exists regardless of platform. And if nothing meets your requirements, you can always write your own installer from the ground up, using COPY /B CON ...
And if VFP's reliance on native Windows facilities makes it an unattractive development tool, I don't see anyone holding a gun to your head, or making threatening phone calls at 2AM, saying 'You must use VFP and register things or your third cousin Candy's pet poodle Muffy will be joining Jimmy Hoffa..."
If VFP is forcing unacceptable practices on you,
use something else that's more to your liking. There are competing products, just realize that every Windows development tool that uses the common Windows features is going to impose similar requirements. If WIndows is an unacceptable burden and the root of all evil, develop for other platforms - Linux, BeOS ifd it ever shipps, and a few others. Maybe you'd like the Mac environment better. Find something you like, us that, and stop bitching about the evil empire implanting mind-control devices in Pez dispensers.
