Pocket PC installers

[brendan]

Hi all, I'm going to be releasing some new software soon, and I'd like a good installer. I've been using a .CAB creater and EZ installer, but I'd really like something a little "up market", any seggestions ?

[Warren]

.exe, it's the easiest for us!

[Dan East]

The source to EZ Installer is available. I tweaked it to exhibit the behavior I needed. You can easily incorporate flashy images, etc, into the dialogs to get a more professional look. I believe the alternatives (InstallShield CE) cost several hundreds (or thousands?) of dollars.<br><br>Dan East

[Dan East]

The point I'm trying to make is that the Application Manager of ActiveSync actually does the installation of your CAB file. The installer the user sees is just a pretty front end that launches the Application Manager with a few parameters. If you are successfully creating CAB files to install as you desire, then you have done all the real work. Again, just modify the EZInstaller source to produce a custom looking installer.<br><br>You can also provide your .CAB file as a separate download so people downloading directly to their Pocket PC can still install without having to connect to their desktop PC first.<br><br>Dan East

[jongjungbu]

I agree with that latter, Dan East. A lot of folks are using their PocketPC's mobile or just plain internet--landline or not--for whatever reason. And it surely comes in handy when you don't have to depend on that PC as much.

[brendan]

problem 2.... I want to package my .CAB with another .CAB (PocketC). This will ensure that the end user is getting not only my program, but they also have the correct version of pocketc installed. my new release will use some new code / feature not avalibale in older releases of pocketc, thus I have to 100% ensure they have the correct version. If I go down the .CAB way, then it would mean 2 files (installs). The other way is to package the 2 .CABs into a installer ?<br><br>From past feedback, most of the problems I have had (particually with squish, my last game) is they don't read the instructions etc, and I end up getting email's along the lines of "I tried to run your program, but it says somthing about no program being associated with this file type...."<br><br>because pocketc has different version for each CPU (as do most programs), it would be nice for the installer to identify the cpu, and install the correct version of the pocketc runtime......<br><br>ideas ?

[Ian Ferguson]

Nice to see another PocketC fan on the PocketMatrix boards. <br><br>I agree with Dan. Get the source & pretty up the front end. It's what I plan to do. I assume I can do it using my free Borland C++ system as I only have Microsoft EVC.<br><br>I have not tried bundling the PocketC runtime and it does cause a few problems for some people who don't notice the pccertpc.exe file<br><br>Ian