We are in the process of releasing our first app for mass distribution and so am looking at the Deployment process. I have a few questions ..

1) During creation of definition I d-click all entities and the click the ]] button. Then the error message 'too many items .. ' comes up. Will this effect what is extracted OR is this just an example of bad design (giving the user a message like this) but all items are processed.

2) During extraction process everything seems to be working then I get an error description box with ..

'c:\ssearch\date\ss7 volume has same label as the "RTnnnnnn" (where "nnnnn" is not displayed .. scroll box doesn't scroll all the way over).

  Then I am given the option to start,cancel or radio button to delete all files ..   No matter what I do here data is not all there.  Why would I get this message .. 

3) I guess the best question is HOW DO I create an image of the application? I looking through the help file (and in talking to Kurt Baker) it seems that info in the Help file is not all true .. SO ..

I do not yet have Install Shield and so want an image which can simply be cut from one system to another.

Thanks in advance ..

Dsig

David Tod Sigafoos ~ SigSolutions

dsig@teleport.com

Dsig,

You have obviously stumbled onto some residual problems with the RDK. I'm pretty sure the first problem is due to a resource limitation with the listbox control. I honestly don't know if that affects the actual deployment although I'm pretty sure it would.

I don't know about your second problem. Never saw it before.

With regards to offering you advice on the best way to go, can you give a little bit more detail on how you plan on distributing your app to your clients/customers and what kind of update process you intend to have in place?

While I wait for that, here are some general tips:

1. If you can't create a full install successfully, then simply copy your entire OI directory to a "deployment" directory. Then login and remove everything you don't want to be there (e.g. source, sample data records, etc.) Then delete the executables that should not be delivered as well (e.g. table builder, form designer, etc.) Then replace your Oengine.exe and Reporter.exe files with the .Run versions and rename them to .Exe. You now have a deployment copy of your application. Some work is involved but it works everytime .

2. If your updates are relatively small, I've found the RDK Update/Module feature to work quite nicely. One nice feature of the RDK is the ability to save these definitions and then use them as a means for documenting what components have been changed. If one "update" is similar to a new one, then simply copy the deployment record and make whatever changes to it that are necessary.

3. No matter how you produce your deployment copy, you then need to determine how you plan on distributing it and allowing the consumer to install it. Full (first time) installations work best with installation packages (i.e. InstallShield). Updates work well as a built in process of the application (using the RDKInstall function) but if you really want to provide a slick update feature then you can have InstallShield do that as well. But you first need to learn how to launch OEngine through InstallShield and run programs through DLL calls. This requires a bit more experience and knowledge but I believe the next Works release will provide some examples.

Hopefully this will give you some direction.

dbakke@srpcs.com

SRP Computer Solutions

]]You have obviously stumbled onto some residual problems with the RDK. I'm pretty sure the first problem is due to a resource limitation with the listbox control. I honestly don't know if that affects the actual deployment although I'm pretty sure it would.

I am not sure what you mean by residual unless you mean all the upgrades not being completed? As for the listbox problem I would 'guess' that it would cause problems I hope to get a response from RTI.

]I don't know about your second problem. Never saw it before.

Doesn't surprise me .. I hear this a lot

]With regards to offering you advice on the best way to go, can you give a little bit more detail …

The two ways I plan to go are very similar to what you have mentioned .. 1) using Install Shield for a new install and 2) using rdkinstall for updates. The big problem is getting the deployment to work.

]1. If you can't create a full install successfully, then simply copy your entire OI directory to a "deployment" directory.

This will probably be the way I will go for all 'fresh' installs since the deployment doesn't like to work (for me)

]2. If your updates are relatively small, I've found the RDK Update/Module feature to work quite nicely.

This is how we have been upgrading the 'alpha' (read bleeding edge) users with updates .. seems to work so will probably go with this.

]3. No matter how you produce your deployment copy, you then need to determine how you plan on distributing it and allowing the consumer to install it. Full (first time) installations work best with installation packages (i.e. InstallShield). Updates work well as a built in process of the application (using the RDKInstall function) but if you really want to provide a slick update feature then you can have InstallShield do that as well. But you first need to learn how to launch OEngine through InstallShield and run programs through DLL calls. This requires a bit more experience and knowledge but I believe the next Works release will provide some examples.

I do have scripts to make the building through install shield work well .. trick is to get the deployment to work correctly (for me).

Thanks for the thoughts .. hopefully the next WORKS release (whenever that is .. ) will have the examples you mention.

dsig

David Tod Sigafoos ~ SigSolutions

dsig@teleport.com

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