I want my setup program to copy some files into the Windows ProgramData directory, I see that most Windows directories have pre-defined constants already defined in the Inno Setup documentation, however I can't see one for ProgramData.
Therefore I am planning to use something like:
{sd}\ProgramData\MyCompany\MyApp
Is this the correct/best way to deploy to this directory using Inno Setup? It just seems odd to me that there is no constant for the ProgramData directory.
It's the {commonappdata} constant.
It's named so, because historically (Windows XP) the path used to be C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data (now that's a symbolic link to the C:\ProgramData).
And for the same reason, using the {sd}\ProgramData is not the correct way.
Related
I made a program in QT c++ that creates some files and i want them to be saved in a specific directory, i created a directory and i moved all the program there so i can use that same directory to save them, but when i write the path to save the files i have to write:
/home/"the name of my computer"/my_program/file.txt
and i want to use this same program in different computers. I also tried just writing:
my_program/file.txt
but it doesn't work.
Your relative path approach was already good, but a relative path is treated as relative to the working directory of the process and that depends on how the program is started.
E.g. if you start it from a shell, then the shell's current working directory will be the program's, if you start it from a launcher menu, it is often the user's home directory, but could be the location of the binary, etc.
So it is better to create a path based on well known base paths. such as the user's home directory, see QDir::home() or the a common location depending on type of data, see QStandardPaths
Did you try home directory path with "~/", many applications save their settings in ~/.applicationName directory
I am making an inno setup script. My setup really needs the user to choose to two customized install locations.
But there is only one {app} variable in inno.
Our software is an audio plugin software, the common way in this field is to choose one location for the program and the other location for audio sample/data (which is very large so users usually want to install at a dedicated place for storage and also performance purpose).
Is there any way to get around this condition?
Thanks a lot!
There are many other variables (Directory Constants) which you can use, most common ones:
{app} - The application directory (user chooses this derectory in Wizard dialog)
You can create subdirectories like {app}\Data
{win}
The system's Windows directory.
{sys}
The system's System32 directory.
{pf}
Program Files.
{cf}
Common Files.
And many, many others.
The modern installers store application in one directory - {app} and user's files in every user's custom directory - e.g. {localappdata}.
And if this is still not enough you can create your own dialog (wizard page) that contains edit boxes and Browse buttons for selecting directories.
Use function CreateInputDirPage() for this purpose.
See manual - Pascal Scripting: CreateInputDirPage for more info.
Take a look at the included CodeDlg.iss example that shows how to add an extra page for a data directory and hwo to use that value in [Code].
I know I can use ResHacker to change a resource from windows and I know I can use ResourceUpdate function to do the same problematically (again in windows). My problem is that I have to update the icon of a windows exe file in linux, without using wine.
(the reason for not using wine is that this process should run on an automation server that change the files and sign them).
I don't know even where to start from.
You can change a files metadata like this:
gvfs-set-attribute '/path/to/file' -t stringv metadata::custom-icon "/path/to/image.png"
There's a program called windres that should suit your needs
Whoops, that's just a resource compiler, sorry.
However there is pefile a python module for working with PE executables, perhaps you could write a script with it that does what you want
I would like to control a subset of files and only allow some of them to be installed if run with a command line switch for instance.
Is this possible?
For example
if (some condition)
install full set of files
else
Install other set of files
Alternatively I can just run another installer but then I have to pass the file/path location to that second installer. There is also the issue of bundling that second installer with the first one. I think that part is not that difficult though
Yes, it is even rather easy. There are several ways to do this, all of which depend on Pascal scripting.
Method 1
You can use the GetCmdTail, ParamCount, and ParamStr functions to obtain the entire or parts of the command-line.
Then you can use the Check parameter on separate files. Hence, each file will be installed if and only if the called function returns true.
I'm having trouble using macros in my .inf file that I'm using to create my cab, specifically when setting the InstallDir string. If I do something like this:
InstallDir=\<PathToProgramFiles>\MyAppName
then everything works fine. However, if I do this:
InstallDir=%CE1%\MyAppName
then I get the following error when trying to install the cab (double tapping it on my device): "MyAppName was not installed successfully. Please run Setup again."
This only seems to apply to the built-in macro strings. I can use %AppName% without any problems. Maybe there is some registry setting that isn't properly set that would normally resolve the %CE1% macro?
Any ideas about what is going on?
Edit: My device doesn't have a \Program Files directory. It seems the %CE1% macro always resolves to that path and if the InstallDir specified in the inf file doesn't exist (with the exception of the last directory portion then the install fails. Manually creating \Program Files fixed the issue. Since a lot of the devices I'm working with have different paths for their Program Files directory, is there a generic way to get the installer to default to the actual Program Files dir? I guess my only other option is to not specify a path and force the user to choose one?
First, in this link you can find the shortcuts and their meaning (the %C..%), goto appendix B. The Windows CE5 MSDN link.
You can add a Setup Dll to your CAB installaer that will check the directory structure and will create a folder in case it does not exist. You may find this SO question useful.
A warning: If you are targeting regular Windows CE devices, beware where you place the files as it can be to a RAM based file system and then the files will disappear after reboot.