>>>I've got a better idea, drop the Setup Wizard in VFP7 all together, and have
>>>VS7 ship with a version of InstallShield Express that inlcudes VC++, VB, and
>>>VFP setup types.
>>
>>An even better idea: use the Visual Studio Installer. Click here for the white paper on using it with VFP.
>
>No pix yet, Mike?< g >
>
>As Dave mentioned, need a post setup executable option. BTW, now that I have your attention and completely off-topic, I think we need a KB article on how to install the Shell.Application object and some files to do it so that Win95 users who went straight to IE 5.0, don't have to uninstall it, install IE 4.01, then re-install it. It's a PITA. Gotta be an easier way.

Psst. VSI, being a transactional installer, is not going to be able to support a post-setup executable directly, because in the event that the post-setup executable fails, it has to be able to tell VSI about this, and more importantly, it must provide hooks to a mechanism that would reverse all modifications it might have made to the system before it failed. Equally important, you have to give VSI a mechanism to undo the work performed by the post-setup executable in the event that the application is uninstalled at a later date. Being able to incorporate a mechanism for these things is one reason that I won't move away from IS Pro; I can customize the uninstall routines generated by IS Pro in a number of ways, and can make it relatively forgiving of end-users who go out and blow away a few folders before thinking of running the uninstall from the control panel applet or uninstall shortcut I provide for the application.

Unless we're given a mechanism to customize the uninstall process for VSI, post-setup (and pre-setup) custom code will present a real problem for the installation tool. Provision of strong hooks for this purpose are a great deal of the difference in cost between the low-end install products, and high-end, professional-grade products like Wise and IS Pro 2000.

IMO, the real difference between a professional-quality install and a minimally-adequate rollout shows up in things like the uninstall consideration and the ability to comply with the Win32 rules for managing deployment. I'm sure lots of people think this is harse criticism, but face it, if most apps had to be handled as delicately as the average VFP app under deployment, they'd never make it in the marketplace.