VB/VBA Developer's Guide to the Windows Installer [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

For those old enough to remember pre-Windows, the whole idea of writing an application to install an application seems bizarrely recursive. Nevertheless, Windows applications, such as the 1GB Office suite, need installers. Windows application installation has been a problem for years, and Microsoft's new installer is supposed to address and overcome existing installation problems. The new installer supports an installation database (in part to fix problems the Registry failed to solve), rollback support, application maintenance, advertisement (which makes features look installed but only actually installs them if the user asks for them), better administrative control over installation and--best of all--a cure for DLL Hell.

Naturally, VB/VBA Developers Guide to the Windows Installer starts with installing the new installation SDK. After this it gets more complex. The new installer is supposed to cope with Win95/98/NT4/2000 and the dozen or so major versions of these--which vary considerably under the skin. This is all controlled from the installer database, which is incompatible with all other Microsoft databases. Using the new installer is non-trivial. Indeed, Gunderloy reaches page 200 before he feels you've learned enough to consider creating an installation routine--and then it's by modifying an existing one. What comes across most strongly in this book is the Byzantine complexity of Microsoft's new installer. If you're a Windows developer you probably have little choice but to gain at least a basic understanding of the system--and Gunderloy's book does the job. --Steve Patient

For those old enough to remember pre-Windows times, the whole idea of writing an application to install an application seems bizarrely recursive. Nevertheless, Windows apps such as the 1-GB Microsoft Office suite need installers.

Windows-application installation has been a problem for years, and Microsoft's new installer is supposed to address and overcome existing installation problems. The new installer supports an installation database (in part to fix problems the Registry failed to solve), rollback support, application maintenance, advertisement (which makes features look installed but only actually installs them if the user asks for them), better administrative control over installation, and--best of all--a cure for DLL hell.

Naturally, VB/VBA Developer's Guide to the Windows Installer starts by installing the new installation SDK. Then it gets more complex. The new installer is supposed to cope with Windows 95, 98, NT 4, 2000, and the dozen or so major versions of these--which vary considerably under the surface. These adjustments are all controlled from the installer database, which is incompatible with all other Microsoft databases.

Using the new installer isn't trivial. Indeed, you'll reach page 200 before you'll feel you've learned enough to consider creating an installation routine--and then it's only by modifying an existing one. What comes across most in this book is the Byzantine complexity of Microsoft's new installer. If you're a Windows developer, however, you probably have little choice but to gain at least a basic understanding of the system--and this book does the job. --Steve Patient, Amazon.co.uk

The Windows Installer is included with Windows 2000, Office 2000 and Visual Studio. It allows programmers to customize corporate network installations of Windows and Office applications. This text shows how Windows Installer can be used to improve installation of new software.

The Windows Installer is included with Windows 2000, Office 2000 and Visual Studio. It allows programmers to customize corporate network installations of Windows and Office applications. This text shows how Windows Installer can be used to improve installation of new software.