Walter Bright wrote:
> Ary Borenszweig wrote:
>> Walter Bright wrote:
>>> Thanks. But I am totally unfamiliar with nsi files, etc. Is there a makefile or build.bat file?
>>
>> Even if there were one, you'd need to install NSIS to compile them. It's a language by itself.
>>
>> Why do you need to compile it? There's an exe there. :)
> 
> Yeah, well, it needs to be rebuilt for every new release.
> 
> Why does it need to set registry keys?

To make uninstall available from the add/remove programs in Windows.

Also to remember the installation language (just for the UI of the installer), although English is the only language for now, but it's easy to add another ones (supporting multiple languages in the installer makes it look more professional also).

Reply to Ary,

> BCS wrote:
> 
>> Reply to Ary,
>> 
>>> Walter Bright wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Ary Borenszweig wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Walter Bright wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> For the initial version, I'd be happy if it downloaded the zip
>>>>>> file, unzipped it, and set the path.
>>>>>> 
>>>>> Here:
>>>>> 
>>>>> http://downloads.dsource.org/projects/descent/dinstaller/
>>>>> 
>>>>> (I just put it there because I didn't know where else)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Maybe this can be used as the initial source code for the
>>>>> project...
>>>>> 
>>>> Thanks. But I am totally unfamiliar with nsi files, etc. Is there a
>>>> makefile or build.bat file?
>>>> 
>>> Even if there were one, you'd need to install NSIS to compile them.
>>> It's a language by itself.
>>> 
>>> Why do you need to compile it? There's an exe there. :)
>>> 
>> So he can make generateing new versions part of the build process.
>> 
> But for that the only thing he need to do is to tell us URLs for the
> latests zip files to download.

Oh, it's one of the kind of installer I have no use for. Sorry missed that bit.

Given that this is just good enought "for the initial version", maybe he's thinking it as a base for an installer that actually has the needed data in it.

Vladimir Panteleev wrote:
<snip>
> Since this is a community project, it's important not to make any component dependent on a single party. I was thinking of something like DSSS's system, where package maintainers can register and maintain installation/uninstallation "recipes" (not unlike GoboLinux).

I guess I'll just have to look into this DSSS thing sometime.

<snip>
>> Why not install all third-party libraries under a common base path?
> 
> Some libraries are packaged with documentation, examples, etc. with the actual source in a subdirectory. On my system I resolve this with a "packages" directory (containing library packages with the directory structure intact) and an "import" directory, which contains symlinks to the libraries' source directories. We can't do this since some users still use FAT32.

That begs the question of whether keeping the directory structure intact at all costs is something we really want to do.  ISTM part of the process of installing something is putting the parts of a package in their respective right places.

Is there a plan for how to deal with modules that are duplicated between library packages?

Stewart.

BCS wrote:
> Reply to Ary,
> 
>> BCS wrote:
>>
>>> Reply to Ary,
>>>
>>>> Walter Bright wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Ary Borenszweig wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Walter Bright wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For the initial version, I'd be happy if it downloaded the zip
>>>>>>> file, unzipped it, and set the path.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://downloads.dsource.org/projects/descent/dinstaller/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> (I just put it there because I didn't know where else)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Maybe this can be used as the initial source code for the
>>>>>> project...
>>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks. But I am totally unfamiliar with nsi files, etc. Is there a
>>>>> makefile or build.bat file?
>>>>>
>>>> Even if there were one, you'd need to install NSIS to compile them.
>>>> It's a language by itself.
>>>>
>>>> Why do you need to compile it? There's an exe there. :)
>>>>
>>> So he can make generateing new versions part of the build process.
>>>
>> But for that the only thing he need to do is to tell us URLs for the
>> latests zip files to download.
> 
> Oh, it's one of the kind of installer I have no use for. Sorry missed that bit.

Why not?

> Given that this is just good enought "for the initial version", maybe he's thinking it as a base for an installer that actually has the needed data in it.

Ah, ok. In that case the scripts needs to be modified to include the zips in it instead of downloading them. But in either case he'll need to run the nsis compiler.

Reply to Ary,

>>> But for that the only thing he need to do is to tell us URLs for the
>>> latests zip files to download.
>>> 
>> Oh, it's one of the kind of installer I have no use for. Sorry missed
>> that bit.
>> 
> Why not?
>

I have no like for installers that don't contain (in the installer I download) the data they are supposed to install (I'll use them if there is no other way to install the program). I've already stated my reasons several times in this thread, but in short: I want an installer that has no dependencies (particularly no net dependencies) other than things like Windows (tm). I want to be able to archive it and know it will install the same version later, no matter what the rest of the world does. Most of the other uses being tossed about for an installer I would rather do via something else (like SVN).

Ary Borenszweig wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
>> Why does it need to set registry keys?
> 
> To make uninstall available from the add/remove programs in Windows.
> 
> Also to remember the installation language (just for the UI of the installer), although English is the only language for now, but it's easy to add another ones (supporting multiple languages in the installer makes it look more professional also).

Makes sense. Can you email me the makefile or build.bat? I'd say check it in, but the project still hasn't been created.

Walter Bright wrote:
> Ary Borenszweig wrote:
>> Walter Bright wrote:
>>> Why does it need to set registry keys?
>>
>> To make uninstall available from the add/remove programs in Windows.
>>
>> Also to remember the installation language (just for the UI of the installer), although English is the only language for now, but it's easy to add another ones (supporting multiple languages in the installer makes it look more professional also).
> 
> Makes sense. Can you email me the makefile or build.bat? I'd say check it in, but the project still hasn't been created.

I've updated the installer:

http://downloads.dsource.org/projects/descent/dinstaller/

I've uploaded the make_dinstaller.bat file, which just contains:

makensis dinstaller.nsi

You'll need NSIS for this, and it must be in your path (or change the bat to include the absolute path, and that's it).

When generating the installer you can choose whether it will download the zip files (and where from), or whether it will contain the zip files in it. If you open the dinstaller.nsi you'll see this:

;--------------------------------------------------------
; Defines
;--------------------------------------------------------

; Download zip from website, or include the compressed zip?
!define Download

; If Download, the urls of the dmd.zip and dmc.zip
!define DownloadDmdZipUrl "http://ftp.digitalmars.com/dmd.1.030.zip"
!define DownloadDmcZipUrl "http://ftp.digitalmars.com/dmc.zip"

; If not Download, the paths of dmd.zip and dmc.zip
!define DmdZipPath "dmd.1.030.zip"
!define DmcZipPath "dmc.zip"

---

I think that's pretty self explanatory. :)

Both DmdZipPath and DmcZipPath may be absolute.

You can also declare these defines when invoking makensis, like:

makensis /DDownloadDmdZipUrl=whatever

but you'll need to remove the defines from the nsi file.

I hope that helps. :)

Thanks. Brad's setting up the project, so I hope to get these checked in soon.

Oh, one more thing! I need a statement from you that you are releasing these files to the public domain.

Walter Bright escribió:
> Oh, one more thing! I need a statement from you that you are releasing these files to the public domain.

I'm releasing those files to the public domain.