>>I want to install an application developed in VFP 5 onto a network server, and enable users to be able to install the application anytime in the future, from the network installation, so that they are using the application and database off the network. This is acheived with MS-Access by running SETUP with the Administrators option (/A) to install it on the network drive, then a user could install the application by running SETUP from the network drive and selecting Workstation installation, which would install the DLLs, OCXs, icon, etc, to run the application off the network.
>>VFP does not seem to provide this facility. When I try to do SETUP /A it says SETUP does not support this option. An invalid option reveals all options available (/A is listed) as well as a /Y which "installs without copying files".
>>Does anyone know how I can acheive the network installation I'm after, perhaps by getting /A to work, or does anyone know just what the /Y option does?
>>
>>Alistair McIntosh
>
>You can make a special version of Setup by means of the same setup
>wizard. Just indicate some "garbage" app to be installed in temp
>folder and include in setup or runtime support needed.
>I'm doing it all the time. Of course from the position of perfomance
>it's better to have a local application with access to shareble
>data. But it's for you to decide how the application has to be run.
>
>I'm using such approch to simplify my work especialy when applications
>installed are supposed to be modified in near future.
>
>Hope it will give you any ideas.
>Any question E-mail me.

Alistair-
setup Wizard does provide for from-the-network installs, but the program will install the program on the workstation. Creating a 'hello world' program as a dummy as Vladimir suggested is what I have found works for me. This causes all of the necessary runtime stuff to be installed and leaves it up to you to create the link to the actual app. OTOH, If the only reason that you want the app to be run from the server is that the program will be updated frequently and you don't want to reinstall every time, don't worry, you don't need to reinstall the whole thing every time, just replace the .exe. Here's my strategy for making this painless: all of my users have a program in their startup folders that checks the modified date for the .exe on their drive and compares it to the date on the file on the server that I update when I recompile. If the updated version is newer, the program copies the new executable onto the local drive. This way, every time the user boots up, he has the latest version of the exe. HTH.

Erik