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Integrating InstallPad features


floele
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Needless to say that you can do virtually anything with a custom script.

You can manage files, access the registry, send web requests or even show dialogs.

 

The advantage of C# is that - apart from the fact that it is well documented and you'll find examples all over the place - I know it very well, as opposed to some weird scripting language like LUA and I could actually give you some advice :)

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Hi Flo,

 

That looks awesome as well :) but i'm not sure if i understand what it does. As per alpha #1 feedback, i can tell you i miss some sort of built-in function that scans database for existing install strings (in command field) and updates, or proposes to update, the new setup field with those existing strings. This is relevant to me since i have +150 predefined commands and i don't wish to update them one-by-one...

Edited by josh
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What do you mean? Do you want to add setup instructions to all applications at once? But if so, how can you know that all apps need the same commands?

 

Hi Flo,

 

I want to use the same commands as before so IMO it would be interesting for Ketarin to update new setup field with those pre-existing commands. What i'm saying is Ketarin could offer 2 ways to define new setup instructions:

 

1 - from scratch (like you are doing);

 

2 - from pre-existing commands (this way avoiding the fastidious work of having to update manually and per-application, a large pre-populated database)

Edited by josh
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But those are not quite C# commands, nor am I sure that they are meant for setup.

I don't quite understand how you'd like to have these batch scripts converted to C#.

 

Ah now i understand your questions. I had assumed, that since you were using {file} variable in screenie, that all other variables would be supported as well. My mistake.

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Variables are supported, somehow, but the semantics are different. A C# script which you can use to directly access Ketarin's objects conveniently is not the same as the batch scripts that have been available so far.

 

If you've previously copied files with

 

copy C:\Performance.txt to c:\\server\\test.txt

 

you can do it in a C# setup script using

 

File.Copy("C:\\Performance.txt", "c:\\server\\test.txt")

 

So there is not a conversion taking place.

 

The question would be: Do you prefer C# scripts over batch scripts? That is, should the other places for commands be C# as well? Or would you rather always have the choice between C# and batch?

I didn't get feedback on the C# stuff yet, so I can't tell what you might or might not need.

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While the introduction of C# scripting would be nice i'm not sure if it can achieve anything more than current batch scripting. Every single program that I run has been automated via batch script and only 3 programs require that I make 'special' commands for them. The rest of the programs have the exact same batch copy n' pasted into it and it runs like a charm. Those other 3 only have one extra line in them because they are packaged funny.

 

I feel like the ketarin variables achieve what we would've loved to have from C#, installing via C# doesn't seem like a massive difference. Perhaps C# would be useful for automating installs that can't be automated? But out of my list the only thing I can think of is portableapps.com installers. Which I currently use AHK for. Hm, Daemon Tools also. Some Nokia products.

 

My point is more that batch script currently solves 90% of problems, combined with 7zip and universal extractor. C# May add the extra 10% so having it as an option may be nice (i'd probably never use it) for those that know what to do with it. If it isn't that hard to add the feature i'd say sure why not.

 

For reference sake I made a feature request of extra user-defined columns which I actually wanted for THIS specific purpose i.e. the InstallPad Features. A column to go "This is an NSIS/INNO/Zip" that I entered manually.

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The question would be: Do you prefer C# scripts over batch scripts? That is, should the other places for commands be C# as well? Or would you rather always have the choice between C# and batch?

I didn't get feedback on the C# stuff yet, so I can't tell what you might or might not need.

I need BOTH Flo until I can hone my C# skills as I have been 'batch scripting' a looooonnnnngggg time and much stronger at it. What I would love to see is the the ability to customize the population of the right-click drop-down over the pre and post download windows with pre-defined user batch scripts. They could be under a single cascading entry such as 'Custom' for example. This would be the best of both worlds IMHO.

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While I'm thrilled and excited about the C# scripting, I agree with CybTekSol - I really would prefer to have both. While powerful, 99% of the time I doubt I'd need more than a single command to execute. And when I do, I know batch so well compared to C#, that I don't have to even think about it to compose scripts there, while I'm sure I'll spend days investigating C# scripting to get everything I want out of it.

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