INF: VB .DEP Files Not Available for SQL Server Redistributable Components (228940)

SUMMARY

Currently there are no dependency (.dep) files shipped with SQL Server for the redistributable components (for example, Dtspkg.dll, Dtspump.dll, and so forth). If a customer is building and deploying Visual Basic applications using SQL Server redistributable components, the dependency files have to be determined using utilities such as Dependency Walker. These files must then be added manually in the Visual Basic deployment wizard.

The file, Redist.txt, in the root directory of the SQL Server installation CD has more information on the redistributable components that ship with SQL Server.

MORE INFORMATION

A dependency (.dep) file contains information about the run-time requirements of an application or component. For example, the .dep file contains which files are needed, how they are to be registered, and where on the user's computer they should be installed. The Package and Deployment Wizard uses .dep files when it packages applications.

REFERENCES

Visual Basic Online Help, "Dependency Files"

For additional information on dependency files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

178354 INFO: How Setup Wizard and PDW Uses Dependency Files

If you have the stand-alone Visual Basic 6.0 product, you can find Dependency Walker in the Common\Tools\Vb\Unsupprt\Depend folder on Disk 1. If you do not have Visual Studio 6.0 or Visual Basic 6.0, you can obtain Dependency Walker by downloading the Microsoft Platform SDK.

The Dependency Walker, among other tools, is included with the Platform SDK under the Tools\Platform SDK Tools in the installer. After installing the needed portions of the SDK, you can find Depends.exe on the Start menu under Microsoft Platform SDK\Tools\Depends. (The utility works on Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows NT, and Microsoft Windows 2000.) The documentation for the utility is in Depends.hlp, which can be found in \Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\Bin folder.