Irritating Deployment Problems

[bennyboy2]

Hi, guys, I run a little English school in Korea and I've written some software to allow students send homework files to my website, to allow parents to track essay scores, etc.

I've now tried 2 attempts at deployment, with 90% success rate-- and on those 90% the prog works thrillingly well. However I really need to get it up to 100%. I'm going crazy. If I can't get things working soon, I'm going to have to go back to pen and paper, and killing about 1000 trees a year. :-(

So far I've:
1) Made a setup project. That worked great for 90%, but about 10% couldn't run the installer, and some functions using "temp" and "program files" directories didn't work.
-So I cleaned up all routines to avoid any temp files in possibly-protected folders, and tried:

2) A standalone prog. The students should run this from my website. Of course, some cannot-- so I've told them how to save to the desktop first and then run the file from there. This method works on my wife's computer-- she can't run direct, but CAN run it from the desktop.

Again, 10% failure rate.

I'd imagine there are 3 possible issues: 1) insufficient permissions; 2) no .NET 2.0 (gasp) installed, or 3) need vcredist to be installed first.

I've re-written a lot of code to avoid the first problem. Can anyone tell me 1) what I can do to reduce extra installers like vcredist, and/or 2) What a sensible person with more experience would do in my situation?


Please help me, I'm really pulling my hair out here.

[olivthill2]

Yes, there are still many computers who don't have .NET 2.0., e.g. mine. I am not sure it can be installed because it is an old computer an old operating system. So instead of struggling to install it, I think I'd prefer to borrow a computer for just the time when your software is needed.

[OReubens]

2) .NET is by no means a required part of windows. While default, it's not even required in a Vista or Win7 install as you can leave it out. If you have a .NET based application. You either will need to provide for a .NET installation, or require this has been installed before. .NET 2.0 won't work on Win95.

If the users aren't administrators, and UAC is enabled, they won't be able to install anything unless they get elevation privileges.

You can avoid stuff like VCRedist by linking with the static runtime instead of the dynamic (DLL) runtime. This will make your exe bigger though.


Since you say you have a website... It depend show much control you have over what's running on there, but I would make it entirely webbased and not require anything to be installed. With some care you can even make the whole homework assignment and grading system web based.
I know of several teachers over here that have set up their course work like this. Students get told they have an assignment in class, they also get an email . Students log in and get their assignments, and fill in/complete their assignments via the webpages too. Their grades, class scores are available as well. Parents are given login credentials also and can track their children's grades and progress.

[bennyboy2]

Thanks OReubens.

So basically, my plan is to provide links to vcredist and .Net 2.0 and hope a) they work and b) they don't over-write or otherwise bugger up the customers' computers.

More questions if you can answer them (your first answer was very helpful because it confirmed what I already thought):
1) Some users are reporting a "this program is not configured properly" type error (it's in Korean so I don't know the exact message). But it's not saying "-------.dll couldn't be found." Can I assume that this is more likely a .NET issue than vcredist or a linking issue?

2) I've downloaded the .NET 2.0 redist, and I'm considering putting it online. Is 3.5 inclusive of 2.0, and should I just have them install that instead? Or should I stick to 2.0?

3) What are the chances of the .NET 2.0 redist not screwing up at least one customer's comp? Can I trust MS not to do that to me?




re: pure online

I considered it very seriously and I do have a php-driven database system for checking scores and stuff (actually the prog runs IE internally and navigates to that site).

However, I also do some sound recording as well, so MCI sendstring for recording and .NET for easy FTP is a winner for me so far. (except of course for the deployment issue)

Sometimes I wonder if I should just go 100% Java and leave Windows behind-- but I really don't want to!

[OReubens]

1) hard to say without an actual error message (and I'm afraid a korean one wouldn't help me). The only thing I can think of that wouldn't mention an actual DLL missing is
'Error: The Side-by-Side configuration information in “MyExe.exe” contains errors.'
If this is the case:
See here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235342.aspx
and here http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/For...f-3aade9b188ac
for possible quick fixes, the actual issue could be a lot harder to solve however :s

2) 3.5 contains all previous versions.
Do note that 3.5 only works/installs on XP and up.

It's good practice to aim as low as you can afford to. If you don't need features specific of 3.5, then why lock yourself to 3.5, use 2.0 and get a broader range of supported computers.

3) Hard to say. The install is good, but it screws up frequently as well.
It isn't the installers fault, but virusses, anti virusses and all other kinds of nasties are out to get you (yes, YOU personally and nobody else in the world ).


Web would solve some issues. Java is just as nasty however. it's not supported by default from IE, and getting a working VM installed can be just as hard if not harder than getting .NET installed.
There are solutions for recording sound via web, although they do require server side stuff to be installed.

[bennyboy2]

Well, it turns out I got an error saying the program was not configured properly, which means vcredist.exe wasn't installed. I talked my father into installing vcredist and uninstalling .NET 2.0 and got a very different error, which none of the customers had reported. I'm a little disappointed, as I thought I had set my project to static link-- but that's a different post.

It also turns out to be a version problem. One customer who had .NET 2.0 installed vcredist and it still didn't work. She ran the old installer for the program, which forced an upgrade to the higher version, and it worked. I'm hoping if I downgrade the required version, that problem will disappear, but I doubt there are too many customers who have .NET 2.0 but haven't upgraded it.


@OReubens:
a) Thanks very much for your time. Your comments helped me steer my inquiries in the right direction and probably saved me a lot of time.

b)re: version
I totally agree. I'm sticking with .NET 2.0, which is the minimum that had all the classes I was using. I can't see myself going beyond 2.0 until 4.0 comes out (assuming it offers really big improvements), as 3.5 doesn't do much for me.

re: JAVA
hehe, who was I kidding, anyway?