Real sample to realize a software update

[alphomega]

Hi,

I'm searching for a real example to explain update service with InstallSHield X.

Is it necessary to write code ?
If yes, where the code are placed ? In install or software ?
When update manager display updates, how indicate where download update.exe ...

etc...

There's no example which explain this on InstallShield site 😞

Regards,

Jean-Luc

[Brad_Peterson]

I completely sympathize with you. I feel the same way. The documentation isn't the greatest concerning Update Service. I followed some documentation examples word for word, and there were still major design problems that the documenation wasn't aware of. It's one of those things that you have to stumble your way through it for a few weeks until you figure out what you need.

alphomega wrote:


I'm searching for a real example to explain update service with InstallSHield X.

Is it necessary to write code ?
If yes, where the code are placed ? In install or software ?
When update manager display updates, how indicate where download update.exe ...

There are roughly 3 distinct ways of handling updates. The ifrst way is that you can handle them through the extra add on program called Update Manager. This is good if you don't necessarily ever need to release critical updates that must get out right away, and you don't want to worry about lots of overhead yourself. Update Manager simply pools together a list of all InstallShield products that support their updating method, and then lets the user click on them to check for updates. It can also delivers message to customers, but I've never liked their messaging system, and instead am writing my own. Update Manager can also check for updates every X days (whatever you specify that X to be in InstallShield). It can be a quick, easy solution if you product is simple. But read up in the forums, many of us absolutely hate the Update Manager and how it integrates and messes up our update scenarios.

A second way of handling them is through a web page list. It's similar to the Windows Update list, where the web page will list all the updates available, and you can click and select which ones you need, and then download and install them manually. Good for users who know how to download and install their own updates, and it's very lightweight.

A third way of handling updates is directly through the code. Lets say you have an menu that has an entry "Check For Updates". When that is called, some local code runs in your app that checks if updates are available. If so, other code can describe how to download that update. I personally use this local code scenario. When our program starts up, it runs this code to check for updates, and if it finds something, it prompts the user in a dialog box. If they choose to update, I kill our program and the update window takes over the downloading and installing. I chose this scenario with code directly out of the documentation, so if you hunt around, you should find the code you need. The problem with this scenario is that the Update Manager window (see first scenario) really gets in the way and messes everything up. So I've had to install a special package on peoples computers which does not install the Update Manager on their machines.

I may be wrong about this, but I believe the Starter edition is very limited in which scenarios you can work with...so if you choose the starter edition, you'll need to study what you can and cannot do.

Anyways, my best recommendation is to be patient and really study out what scenario you want. It really helps to get it right the first time and thoroughly test it. If you have more specific questions about how to implement a particular scenario you choose, I'm sure one of us can help out.

[CChong]

This link might be of some assistance.
http://www.installshield.com/downloads/isus/whitepapers/us3_checklist_str.pdf