How To Distribute an eMbedded Visual Basic Application (307595)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft eMbedded Visual Basic 3.0
This article was previously published under Q307595 SUMMARY After you complete the development and testing of an
eMbedded Visual Basic (eVB) application, you need to properly compile,
distribute, and install the application on target devices. The purpose of this
article is to guide you through the steps necessary to complete this process by
using the Application Install Wizard, which is included with the eMbedded
Visual Tools (eVT), and to provide information on some of the issues that may
come up during the distribution process. MORE INFORMATION The Application Install Wizard handles the creation of the
installation package for your application (including the project and all of the
necessary supporting files) and takes care of downloading the required
components to Microsoft Windows CE-based devices. This article
assumes that your application has been fully tested for use on the targeted
Windows CE devices and that the project has been compiled into a .vb file
before you create the installation package for your project by using the
Application Install Wizard. Note that, unlike the Package and Deployment Wizard
in Microsoft Visual Basic, the eVB Application Install Wizard does not give you
the option of recompiling the program. By default, the folder in
which compiled eVB applications are placed is:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft eMbedded Tools\EVB
Of course, you can compile the application to the location of
your choice. The Application Install Wizard can be accessed by
selecting it from the Remote Tools submenu under the Tools menu in the eVB design
environment. Creating the Installation Program- Start the Application Install Wizard. An introduction
screen will appear. Click Next to begin.
- The step 2 page of the Application Install Wizard appears.
It prompts you for the full path to the .ebp project file. Click
Browse to go to the correct location. Click
Next to continue.
- In step 3, you are prompted for the full path to the
compiled .vb file. Click Browse to go to the correct location.
eVB will save the .vb file to the location you specified when the .vb file was
compiled. Click Next to continue.
Note If you have not yet compiled the .vb file, when you click
Next, you receive the following error message:
The build file is invalid or does not exist. It is
required that the eMbedded Basic Project file be compiled before installation
wizard runs. - In step 4, you are prompted for the full path to where the
Setup folder is to be created. The Application Install Wizard outputs all
components that will be distributed to this folder. (Specific information on
the files generated and output to this folder is provided later in this
article.) Provide an appropriate path, and then click Next to
continue.
Note If the following error occurs, the VBCE.ini file may be damaged,
missing, or incomplete: Unable to find list of available
processors from the SDK specified by this project. Please verify that the most
recent version of this platform SDK has been installed on your system.
The VBCE.ini file should include processor information
for each of the installed Platform SDKs. The format of a platform section
should look something like this:
[{0B7D1301-289F-11D2-974F-00A0240918F0}]
SH 3 (1K) v2.0=4,3,2,0,1024,10003
Mips 3000 (4K) v2.0=1,3,2,0,4096,4000
Mips 4000 (1K) v2.0=1,4,2,0,1024,4000
If the VBCE.ini file is not present or the necessary information is not
present, reinstall the appropriate Platform SDK. - In step 5, you are prompted to select the target
processors. You must select at least one processor. Although your application
is the same across all processors, the run-time components and ActiveX controls
that are to be distributed with your project are processor-specific. This step
in the process tells the Wizard which processor-specific files are to be
included with the distribution package. Click Next to
continue.
- In step 6, you choose the ActiveX controls that must be
distributed and installed with your application. If an ActiveX control is not
supported for a processor you selected in step 5, it will not appear on the
list of available controls. Click Next to continue.
Note If no ActiveX controls are listed in step 6, the VBCE.ini file
may be damaged, missing, or incomplete. - In step 7, you can include any additional files that you
want to distribute with your program. This could include data, text, or any
other files. Once a file has been selected, the wizard will ask whether the
file selected is a system file. All system files are installed to the \Windows
folder. All other files are installed to the application folder. If you decide
to include the device run-time in the .cab file, the following files will be
included:
- pvbform2.dll
- pvbhost2.dll
- pvbload.exe
- vbscript.dll
- vbsen.dll (for Windows CE 2.11-based platforms
only)
If the device you are targeting already has the eVB
run-time files installed (either in ROM or in RAM), you can clear this check
box to minimize the size of the installation package. Click
Next to continue. - In step 8, you specify the following:
- Default install directory
- Application name
- Description
- Company name
Each field must be filled in. The default install directory
will include "Program Files\" plus whatever folder name that you provide. For
example, if you specify "MyApp" as the install directory, the Application
Install Wizard will install the program to the "Program Files\MyApp" folder.
This information can be modified in the .inf file after the package is created
if a different install path is preferred.
The application name that
you provide will be the name that your application is given on the Windows CE
device. Click Next to continue. - In step 9, you have one last chance to cancel the process.
Click Create Install to begin the process of generating the
installation package. Click Finish when the process has
completed.
The Application Install Wizard creates the following
directories, based on the processors you specified in step 7, in the location
that you specified in step 4. For Windows CE HPC Pro projects:- \App
- \Arm 1100 (4K) v2.10
- \Cd1
- \Mips 4000 (1k) v2.10
- \SH 3 (1k) v2.10
- \SH 4 (4K) v2.10
For Windows CE Palm-size PC projects:- \App
- \Cd1
- \Mips 3000 (4k) v2.11
- \Mips 4000 (1k) v2.11
- \SH 3 (1k) v2.11
For PocketPC projects:- \App
- \Arm 1100 (4K) v3.00
- \Arm 720T (4K) v3.00
- \Cd1
- \Mips 4000 (4k) v3.00
- \SH 3 (1k) v3.00
For Handheld PC 2000 projects:- \App
- \Arm 1100 (4K) v3.00
- \CD1
- \I486 (4K) v3.00
- \Mips 3000 (4k) v3.00
- \Mips 4000 (4k) v3.00
The "App" directory includes the compiled .vb file as well as
any additional files that were specified in step 7 above. The "CD1"
directory includes the Setup.exe file that will be started from the desktop to
install the application on a remote device. Also in this directory are the .cab
files for the appropriate processors and the initialization file for the Setup
program. The remaining directories include the processor-specific eVB
run-time and ActiveX Control files that were specified during the Wizard
process. For more information, see the "References" section of this
article. Distributing and Installing the Application Only the contents of the Cd1 directory need to be distributed in
order to install the application on the device. To install your
application, run the Setup.exe program on your desktop computer. The first
dialog box that appears allows the user to select the location on the desktop
to which the application's .cab and .ini files will be copied. If the handheld
device is connected to the desktop, the program will be downloaded and
installed. Otherwise, this will occur on the next connection. To
remove a program from the handheld device, run the Remove Programs tool. To
access it, from the Start menu on the device, click
Settings.
REFERENCESFor additional information, click the article
numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 194837 How To Distribute a Visual Basic Windows CE Application
185223 How To Manually Uninstall Visual Basic CE Programs
240435 PATCH: WCELoad.exe Fixes ActiveX Control Hanging Problem on Palm-size PC
242312 How To Distribute an ADOCE 2.0 Application to a PsPC Device
For more information concerning how to customize
the installation to handle additional nondefault preferences, see the following
MSDN topic:
Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 1/16/2006 |
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Keywords: | kbhowto KB307595 kbAudDeveloper |
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