Category : Miscellaneous Language Source Code
Archive   : GIPV301.ZIP
Filename : INSTALL.DOC

Generic Install Program Mar. 20, 1992

ver 3.00a

by

Kenneth E. Sandquist Jr.

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Generic Install Program (GIP) is a "programmers' tool" to allow you to
install your software packages with a professional look! After all, isn't
the installation of your package the first thing people see?

GIP has several nice features that can alleviate the hassle and extra
code in your programs. It allows for minimum memory amount checking,
available disk drive space, 32-bit CRC checking, and existing file and
directory checks! All this is done in a nice, professional 3-D type screen.

To use GIP, a file is required (INSTALL.LST) to tell GIP what files to
install, where to install them, and file CRC's and sizes.

To create the INSTALL.LST file, a program is included in this package
appropriately named: CREATE.EXE. If you are using this version for the first
time, just type

C:\GINSTALL> CREATE

CREATE will proceed to ask you several questions:

1) Enter the name of your software package:
Type in the name of the software you are planning to install
with GIP. If no name is desired, hit enter.

2) Enter INSTALL directory name:
The name you type in here should be the directory you would prefer
your package to be installed to.

3) Enter the executable name:
You should type the name of the main executable (the program that
starts your software) of your package. The default is NONE.

4) Copy files to what floppy/hard drive?
Enter the disk drive you wish to transfer your package to.
A list of valid drives is provided.

5) Enter minimum memory required:
This value should be the least amount of memory required for your
program to run. The default is 384 kbytes.

You are then given the opportunity to verify your answers and to
make any changes.

6) Which disk size is your program going to be installed from?
You are given 5 choices here:
a) 360k
b) 1.2M
c) 720k
d) 1.44M
e) UNLIMITED
Choose the format you are copying your files to (see question #3).
If you have less than this amount available on the disk, CREATE will
adjust the maximum space available accordingly.




CREATE will now proceed to provide you with a file menu system to tag and
copy files to the destination and create the INSTALL.LST file. If you ever
need help, just press F1. A help window will pop up telling you what keys do
what. Pressing ESC any time during CREATE will abort!

Use the space bar to tag files individually or use the ALT-T to "batch"
tag files, ALT-U to "batch" un-tag files, or ALT-R to reverse all tags -
files that were tagged are now cleared and files that were clear are now
tagged! CREATE will keep track of the tagged byte count and warn you when
you have exceeded the amount of space available on the drive you are copying
files to!

**NOTE:

The "Bytes tagged" and the "Adj. file size" are the amount of bytes
that the file(s) will take up once transferred to disk and not the
ACTUAL bytes!

You can change directories and/or drives by tabbing over to the
directory window, selecting the drive/directory to change to and hitting
RETURN! CREATE will read all of the files in that directory and display them
for tagging! (By the way, CREATE will keep track of the files tagged for the
disk number you are working on!)

Once you have tagged all the files you want on the first disk, press
ALT-S to copy the files to the drive you specified. You do this until you
have copied all files to all disks. To complete the CREATE process, hit F10
and CREATE will make the INSTALL.LST file on disk 1 (CREATE will prompt you
to insert disk 1 in the specified drive!)!

***NOTE:

CREATE will reserve 10240 bytes on disk 1 for the INSTALL.LST file plus
51200 bytes for INSTALL.EXE. This is mandatory to insure that there is
enough room to complete the CREATE process and cannot be changed!

When you hit F10, a message may come up and tell you that you have not
yet copied the program INSTALL.EXE over to the specified drive. This is
quite normal if you do not want to include this program with your install
set. (If you use CREATE to copy INSTALL.EXE to the drive you specified, it
will be included in the install. Otherwise, copy it over manually and it will
not be included!)

That's it!

The CREATE process is now complete! After you have become familiar with
the CREATE process, you can type:

C:\GINSTALL> CREATE /NOH

The /NOH stands for "no help"...When CREATE displays the file system, it no
longer displays the help screen first. F1 will still display the help
window during the process!

Once you have distributed your software with the INSTALL...

Have the user type INSTALL at the DOS prompt and INSTALL will take over
with little or no help from the user. INSTALL will ask the user to enter the
drive to install onto (default = C:). Then it will ask them to enter the



directory name where they would like to install your package (your preferred
directory name is shown as the default...they can either hit ENTER or type in
their own directory!). If the specified directory already exists on the
drive, the installer is warned that it exists and is prompted to either quit
or continue to use that directory. The next, and in most cases the last,
step is to hit any key to start the install. That's it! If INSTALL comes
across a filename that already exists in the path specified, the user is
prompted to overwrite the file. They can enter 1 of 3 answers:

1) Y - yes, I want to overwrite this file!
2) N - no, skip this file and go on!
3) A - yes, I want to overwrite this file and all others that may exist!

At any time during the install, the user can hit the ESC key to stop the
program and prompt them to abort.

On multiple disk install sets:

In the cases where your package spans more than one floppy, INSTALL will
prompt the user to insert disk #? into disk ?:...The disks created by the
CREATE process are coded as to which disk number each one is. So the disk
labels should include sequential numbers to correlate to each disk!

ERRORS:

There is only one message that, under normal circumstances, should appear
in the MESSAGES window and that is XXXXXXXX.XXX Bad CRC! This is not a
serious error; However, it is advisable to have the installer inform you of
this error and what file it occurred on. What this error means is that the
file in error no longer matches the CRC value in the INSTALL.LST file. There
could be several reasons for this: bad disk, old CRC value in the list, or the
file has been altered. It's up to you, the programmer, to decide what the
user should do when this error occurs...INSTALL will still install the file
with just a warning to the user!

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Who is Vision Software?

Vision Software was created by the author Kenneth E. Sandquist Jr.

3187A Aqueduct Drive
Lexington, KY 40517

The author can be reached at three major boards in the US:

Vern Beurg's Motherboard.......1-707-778-8944
or 1-707-778-8841

Ken Prevo's dBasic's Toolkit...1-219-696-3415

Don Bodley's Professional BBS..1-606-269-1565
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Disclaimer

INSTALL is distributed as-is. The author disclaims all
warranties, expressed or implied. The author will assume
no liability for damages either from the direct use of this
product or as a consequence of the use of this product.

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