Files from CD

[Chris C]

I am trying to create a .exe that will install files from a CD ROM. The files will not have the same name but will be in the same folder all the time. Is there a way to do this with Setup Factory? I have done it with Installer Vise...

Here is what I am doing. We have a CD ROM that contains PDF files for a quote. They are in a folder called Quote. In this Quote folder, there is a PDF labeled Quote. There is another folder labeled Equipment which contains PDF's of all the equipment. I am using a CD Demo (like Auto Play) to open the PDF quote.

What I want the .exe to do in install the whole quote folder. Since the PDF's are always changing, the .exe will have to pull the contents from the CD and it can't look for names. It must install everything that is in the quote folder reguardless of it's name. Hope this makes sense...

Can this be done and how?

Thanks,
Chris

[gena]

Re: Files from CD

Hi!
You may try this.
Create batch file (say, copy.bat) like:

REM *****
mkdir %2\Quote
copy %1\Quote\*.* %2\Quote\
REM *****

Place it in the root of CD and run it with Shell execute:
Command: Execute program
Target: %SrcDrv%\copy.bat
Command line arguments: %SrcDrv% %AppDir%

It would be better to create folder also with Shell operations, but I'm not sure, if the sequence of operations will be as expected.
I'm too fresh SF user and haven't use yet all it's features, but in your case this scenario would be the first I'd try.
Regards,
Gennady


[This message has been edited by gena (edited 01-17-2001).]

[Chris C]

Re: Files from CD

Gennady,

Thanks for the reply. Your suggestion would work but I need to be able to allow the user to select where they want to install the file. What I have now is working fine, I guess I need not create a problem when there is not one. I just wanted to use Set Up Factory... :-(

Chris

[Mark]

Re: Files from CD

Hi,
Actually you can do this in Setup Factory, what you have to do is create a SHELL OPERATION -> FILE OPERATION. Make the action COPY and use the Wildcards “*.*” to copy all the files from a certain directory.
So in your situation, lets say that your have the following CD-ROM Path: ROOT\QUOTES, and in the QUOTES directory all your Quote PDF files exist. Now you file operation would be:
OPERATION: Copy
SOURCE: %SrcDrv%\QUOTES\*.*
DESTINATION: %AppDir%\QUOTES
Now what this action would do is copy everything from ROOT\QUOTES to %AppDir%\QUOTES. %SrcDrv% is a built-in variable that gets set to the ROOT of the drive that your installation is being ran from and %AppDir% is the installation path that the user chose. Since you use %AppDir% you must make sure that this action is performed "After Installing" (set this in the FILE OPERATIONS PROPERTIES -> ADVANCED Tab) so that %AppDir% is set properly.
Hopefully this explains how to accomplish this, if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

mark.

[Chris C]

Re: Files from CD

Got it! Thanks so much for the help.

Chris

[gena]

Re: Files from CD

Hi, Mark!
This means that Setup will create subfolder, if it doesn't exist. I've found the indirect confirmation only in the examples, not in the main text of help. May be it has sense to make accent on this feature in the operation description ?
Regards,
Gennady

[Chris C]

Re: Files from CD

I could not get it to create a subfolder without telling it to. I had to create the main folder, then create subfolders...

OPERATION: Copy
SOURCE: %SrcDrv%\QUOTES\*.*
DESTINATION: %AppDir%\QUOTES

SOURCE: %SrcDrv%\QUOTES\Equipment\*.*
DESTINATION: %AppDir%\QUOTES\Equipment

It sure would be nice if Setup would copy subfolders without having to tell it to. This is one thing that I am doing that would make it nice...

We have 60 PC's that are connected to a network. When they log on, a .exe runs that contains a folder with a list of all the favorites our company uses. This list contains subfolders A-Z. It would be nice to tell Setup to copy Favorites to Favorites. Is this possible of do I need to create a copy step for each subfolder (A-Z)?

Chris

[Mark]

Re: Files from CD

Hi Gena,
I guess we should make a note of this feature somewhere if users are confused, or don't know that it exists.
Thanks for the info.

mark.

[Mark]

Re: Files from CD

Hi Chris,
Sorry but currently you have to copy each sub-folder over manually. Right now using the "*.*" wildcards only picks up all the files but not the subfolders. I will talk to the developers and see what, if anything, can be done about this. It would be a nice feature if subfolders could be picked up.

mark.

[Chris C]

Re: Files from CD

Hello,

I have a new question about this. How do I go about creating an uninstaller for this?

Chris C.

[Mark]

Re: Files from CD

Hi,
If you want to uninstall then you have to create UNINSTALL FILE OPERATIONS, SETTINGS -> UNINSTALL -> FILE OPERATIONS TAB, that are the exact opposite of the file operations you use to create the folders and files.
So you would use a DELETE action to delete your files with the "*.*" wildcard. Then once the directory is empty you would use a REMOVE DIRECTORY to delete the directory.

mark.

[Chris C]

Re: Files from CD

Thanks for all the help!

Chris

[bbrenner]

Re: Files from CD

This is a serious drawback. I just downloaded the software and am testing it on a CD product with several folders and sub folders.

Ideally, it should just duplicate the entire structure of the staging arena so the files are brought to the CD exactly the same way as they are laid out on the harde drive.

I doubt I'd want to purchase software if it requires you to recreate all your subfolders.

This should be a drag and drop operation, depositing folders with all their subfolders and files intact.

Originally posted by Mark:
Hi Chris,
Sorry but currently you have to copy each sub-folder over manually. Right now using the "*.*" wildcards only picks up all the files but not the subfolders. I will talk to the developers and see what, if anything, can be done about this. It would be a nice feature if subfolders could be picked up.

mark.