How To Force App Setup to Use the Default Directory

 Last reviewed: November 21, 1996
Article ID: Q159412
The information in this article applies to:
  • Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions of Microsoft Visual Basic, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

SUMMARY

Although it is not recommended, the Visual Basic 4.0 Setup Kit provides a means to disable the user interface for changing the default installation directory of your application's setup routine. This forces the installation process to use the default directory as the destination for the application's files.

MORE INFORMATION

It is recommended that you allow the user to choose the destination directory for Windows applications setup processes. However, a Visual Basic 4.0 application that has a setup process created by the Visual Basic 4.0 Setup Wizard does provide an option that allows the programmer to force the user to use a specific destination directory.

The Setup.lst file is a standard Windows initialization file. It informs the Setup.exe and Setup1.exe programs of the distribution set how to perform setup. To force a user to use a specific destination directory, you must provide the default directory name and add the keyword "ForceUseDefDir" to the Setup.lst file.

Step-by-Step Example

  1. Run the Application Setup Wizard to create a distribution set for your application.

  2. Open the Setup.lst file (found on disk #1 of the distribution set) in a text editor, such as Notepad.

  3. Specify the default installation directory by modifying the "DefaultDir" key in the "Setup" section of the Setup.lst file. For example:

    DefaultDir=C:\MyProgramDir

    NOTE: Setup allows relative paths. However, this may cause unpredictable results. Destination directory macros can also be used on this line. (See the Visual Basic 4.0 Programmer's Guide, p.734.)

  4. Insert the following line immediately after the "DefaultDir" line:

    ForceUseDefDir=1

  5. Save the Setup.lst file. Note that the Setup Wizard makes maximum usage of each disk. If you cannot save the file due to insufficient space on the diskette, delete one or more of the "; XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" lines from the Setup.lst file.

REFERENCES

"Visual Basic Programmer's Guide", Chapter 30

KBCategory: kbtool kbsetup kbhowto
KBSubcategory: TlsSetWiz
Additional reference words: 4.00 vb4win vb4all



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Last reviewed: November 21, 1996
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