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[Dermot]

Well I'm a master at putting clunky projects together that purists frown on but which work.

I have done this myself in the past by hard-coding a number into my application and then using HTTP.Download to fetch a very small text file from my web space containing nothing but the current version number. Having got the file I then just compared the numbers and if necessary continued with a further HTTP.Download to fetch the new application.

Like I said, it's clunky and perhaps one of the 'Master Coders' on here will come up with something far better - but it did work perfectly.

I did of course put in some checking to make sure that the process didn't cause problems if it couldn't find the checkfile etc. etc.

I have used this method many times and it works very well. Its easy to implement. I wouldn't call it clunky though. Something so simple and easy to do can't be clunky.

[longedge]

Well I'm a master at putting clunky projects together that purists frown on but which work.

I have done this myself in the past by hard-coding a number into my application and then using HTTP.Download to fetch a very small text file from my web space containing nothing but the current version number. Having got the file I then just compared the numbers and if necessary continued with a further HTTP.Download to fetch the new application.

Like I said, it's clunky and perhaps one of the 'Master Coders' on here will come up with something far better - but it did work perfectly.

I did of course put in some checking to make sure that the process didn't cause problems if it couldn't find the checkfile etc. etc.

[ComputerNerd]

Thanks longedge for that.

What you are doing is close to what I am asking. The users will be over the internet so no way to map networks or configure for the same domain. Here is a step-by-step of what I want it to do...

1. User wants to know if the version they are using is the most recent. There is a button on the main page that says "Check here for version check." The user clicks the button.
2. Once the button is clicked my project contacts a website, a dedicated server or some type of something that is always connected to the internet all the time to check versions. Most likely it will be a website.
3. I will have some type of data file that my project locates on my website and will compare it to the one my project has. If it is the same data file then my project returns a message something like "You have the most recent version."
4. If the data file is a higher version then the one in the project, another message pops up that says "You have version 0.1, version 0.2 is the most current. Download it here."

The method of "checking" and "comparing" different versions is not something I understand yet. I am not sure how this process works however I would like to learn.

Thanks

[longedge]

You say "contact a server". Are your users on a network? I manage distribution of updated MS Access front ends to all our users by using File.GetAttributes and comparing the .WriteDateISO of local and network files then just overwriting local files when necessary. It works a treat. All my users are on the same domain and all have access to the same network drives. Drives are mapped by the AD logon scripts but I use fully qualified UNC's to avoid problems.

The only thing they see is a brief "Please wait - updating" now and again.

[ComputerNerd]

What I am trying to do is this...

Say my project has been handed out to several users and they would like to know if that copy is the most recent version. They could click on a button that would contact a server in the background and check to see if it is the most recent version. If it is, return a message stating "You have the most current version." If it is not the most recent another message pops up.

I have no idea where to begin on this as this is out of my comfort zone. Any advise, direction or code will surely be of some help. Thank you