Hi folks,

another not-quite-beta in our series of "let's not test POV-Ray itself, 
but all the stuff that surrounds its compilation, deployment and 
installation":

https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/releases/tag/v3.8.0-beta.x.cmedit.669

This time, we would like you to test-drive an update to the editor DLL 
mechanism:


(0) Make sure you have an existing POV-Ray v3.7 installation.

(1) Make sure to _uninstall_ any of the previous technical verification 
builds. Most notably, make sure there are no editor DLLs left in the 
`.../POV-Ray/v3.8-beta/bin` directory that might have somehow found 
their way there.

(2) Install the version published at the URL above, _declining_ the 
installer's offer to download the editor DLLs.

(3) Run the newly installed POV-Ray version, verifying that it offers 
you to download the editor DLLs (_decline_ again), and that you can't 
use the editor.

(4) Copy `povcmax32.dll` and `povcmax64.dll` (but _no_ other DLLs, not 
even `povcmax32-sse2.dll`) from the `.../POV-Ray/v3.7/bin` directory of 
your existing v3.7 installation into the corresponding directory of the 
new installation.

(5) Run the newly installed POV-Ray version, verifying that it does 
_not_ offer you to download the editor DLLs anymore, and that its editor 
is now fully functional.


We would like your feedback...

- whether you do indeed see the expected behavior (and if not, what 
divergent behavior you are seeing)
- what version of Windows you are using
- which of the three POV-Ray binaries is actually being run on your 
system (32-bit, 32-bit SSE2 or 64-bit; see version information in the 
Message Window)


Background:

Due to licensing issues, we previously distributed both the 
`cmedit*.dll` and `povcmax*.dll` in an installer package separate form 
the POV-Ray installer. However, this required us to provide new editor 
installers for each new "generation" of POV-Ray that installed in a new 
spearate directory (`v3.7-beta` vs. `v3.7` vs. `v3.8-beta`, and so on), 
even though each time we only need to update `cmedit*.dll`, and even 
though only `povcmax*.dll` is subject to those licensing issues.

There were reasons to do it this way, but we think we have managed to 
find a way around those reasons. We now like to enlist your help to 
confirm that this approach works for all versions of Windows that the 
binaries are intended to support.

If it does indeed work as intended, we will distribute the `cmedit` 
module in the main POV-Ray installer, and package only `povcmax*.dll` in 
the separate editor installer, which can subsequently be left unchanged 
for future versions. Furthermore, our plan is to have the POV-Ray 
installer try to automatically "steal" those DLLs from an existing older 
POV-Ray installation.


Happy testing!
Christoph

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