scott wrote:

>> Heh, there are IDEs that can do *that*?
> 
> I don't know anything about the detail of installers or how they work, I 
> just click "Publish" in Visual Studio and tell it where to put the 
> installer.  You can also tick boxes for which prerequisites your 
> installer also checks for and installs (eg the .net framework, a certain 
> version of Windows Installer, XNA framework, various SQL servers, etc) - 
> this seems to be intelligently correct by default though...

OK, that's kinda cool. What does it make? An executable package? Or an 
MSI file?

I wonder if I can convince VS to build an installer for something that 
wasn't compiled using VS... (Or, for that matter, whether the free 
edition even has this functionallity in the first place!)

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> OK, that's kinda cool. What does it make? An executable package? Or an MSI 
> file?

I have the free MS Express C#, if you point it to a folder to publish to, it 
makes a "setup.exe", a "<name>.application" file and a "Application Files" 
folder (that contains any data/content files your application needs).

> I wonder if I can convince VS to build an installer for something that 
> wasn't compiled using VS...

I think in the non-free VS you have vastly more options for installers, I 
would be surprised if what you ask wasn't possible.

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scott wrote:
>> OK, that's kinda cool. What does it make? An executable package? Or an 
>> MSI file?
> 
> I have the free MS Express C#, if you point it to a folder to publish 
> to, it makes a "setup.exe", a "<name>.application" file and a 
> "Application Files" folder (that contains any data/content files your 
> application needs).

Right. So it's an executable rather than an MSI file.

(While on the surface there's little obvious difference, apparently MSI 
files have certain advantages - like being able to remotely deploy them 
and stuff.)

>> I wonder if I can convince VS to build an installer for something that 
>> wasn't compiled using VS...
> 
> I think in the non-free VS you have vastly more options for installers, 
> I would be surprised if what you ask wasn't possible.

Wouldn't surprise me if the free version has fewer options. (Why would 
you buy the expensive one otherwise? And deployment is the kind of thing 
that only commercial people are likely to care particularly about.) I do 
wonder if any version of VS can build arbitrary installers though...

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Invisible wrote:

> I wonder if I can convince VS to build an installer for something that 
> wasn't compiled using VS... (Or, for that matter, whether the free 
> edition even has this functionallity in the first place!)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/zcbsd3cz%28VS.80%29.aspx

Well, that seems quite clear.

(Oddly, the same table doesn't seem to exist for 2008, only 2005.)

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Invisible wrote:
> Right. So it's an executable rather than an MSI file.

It depends what you ask for and what version of the IDE you use.

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Yes, we're traveling togeher,
   but to different destinations.

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