With Peter Zilahy Ingerman

In the middle ages, before there was any real knowledge of what was actually over the horizon, mapmakers would draw fantastic things in the corners of their maps and simply say, "Monsters Be Here!" A message was posted recently in the About Visual Basic Forum about the VB 6 Packaging and Deployment Wizard. Although we were able to answer the question, the answer wasn't everything that was wanted, so we kept looking for better ways to install Visual Basic systems. After searching the web, it seems like most of what you find can be summarized, "Problems Be Here!" As a result we have collaborated to create this summary about the best ways to do this part of the job.

We were able to find several different ways to package and install the applications that have been recommended by Microsoft. This does a lot to explain why there is often confusion about the 'recommended' method. In this article, we'll tell you what those methods are and show you how to get started using them. Along the way, we'll give you our opinions. We would appreciate hearing about your opinions and experiences in the Forum.

To illustrate the systems, we're going to use the basic "Two Button Form" that we have used in all of our About Visual Basic "learning" articles.

One of the most widely used Microsoft systems can be found in the Package and Deployment Wizard, often called the PDW. To use PDW, you first have to "Add" it to your VB 6 development system using the Add-In Manager. Double-click the PDW Add-In and the status will change to Loaded.

Peter Zilahy Ingerman points out that it's entirely possible to run PDW standalone. Just launch PDCMDLN.EXE in the \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\Wizards\PDWizard directory and proceed the same way.

After that, using the system is just a matter of selecting your project, clicking the Package option, and clicking Next on a series of dialogs. You might also want to read the About Visual Basic FAQ on the topic.

The end result is a fully scripted install that adds systems to the "Start" menu and can be managed through Control Panel "Add/Remove Programs".