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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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