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  1. #1
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    Deployment (install) project built with VC2008 fails to replace DLLs

    I have a few VC2008 projects whose solutions also includes deployment projects, in which the primary output of several DLLs are included along with the primary apps EXE file. These DLLs are all part of the solution. Now because of the way I do my DLLs, which for lack of better phrase I'll call a true DYNAMIC link (the .LIB file can be discarded), and because I'm careful to ensure full backward compatibility in any new DLL versions, I would like to tell my deployment project to ALWAYS replace existing DLLS with the new versions, or at least offer a choice if it shouldn't be done unconditionally. Unfortunately it never seems to do that!

    I'm being careful to create new overall project versions within the deployment project itself, as well as keeping my version resources, attached to each DLL up to date, and always do a full rebuild of everything in the solution (including the DLLs) prior to building the deployment project. But time and again the old DLLs stay un-updated after the install, and the person running it would have no way to know that without examining the target directories and examining file dates and/or versions. A customer shouldn't have to go through all that. I've gotten into the habit of instructing installers to fully un-install old versions before installing a new one, but as you probably know uninstalling from the control panel won't remove shared DLLs.

    I was starting to think maybe the latest DLLs weren't being included in the deployment project at all. But if I manually delete those DLLS and do the install, the latest greatest are then always placed.

    If I can't find a setting in the deployment project to change this behavior, I'll have to write a separate little console app to force delete (or at least archive) all the relevant DLLs as a pre-installation step. Or maybe supply a BATCH file to do all that, and run the install last. But it seems like a reasonable thing that a setting to make a deployment (MSI) file unconditionally overwrite DLLS, whose version or creation date is newer, ought to be an obvious feature. But if such an option exists, I've missed it completely.

  2. #2
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    Re: Deployment (install) project built with VC2008 fails to replace DLLs

    Please do not double-post.
    Best regards,
    Igor

  3. #3
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    Re: Deployment (install) project built with VC2008 fails to replace DLLs

    Quote Originally Posted by Igor Vartanov View Post
    Please do not double-post.
    Please explain what you mean. This is the only instance of this question I've posed at codeguru.com. The only other place I've posted it is on slashdot. Unless these two sites share forum space, I've not double posted anything.

  4. #4
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    VictorN is offline Super Moderator Power Poster
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    Re: Deployment (install) project built with VC2008 fails to replace DLLs

    Quote Originally Posted by Randy C View Post
    Please explain what you mean. This is the only instance of this question I've posed at codeguru.com. The only other place I've posted it is on slashdot. Unless these two sites share forum space, I've not double posted anything.
    What else do you need to be explained?
    Igor posted a link (named post)to your previous thread from October 11, 2013 with exactly the same question!
    Victor Nijegorodov

  5. #5
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    Re: Deployment (install) project built with VC2008 fails to replace DLLs

    Quote Originally Posted by Randy C View Post
    Please explain what you mean.
    Your today's post is a full replica of your post from October 11, "problem controlling the behavior of a deployment project", with a slight rewording in a couple of places.

    If nobody replies to your original question, this most probably means nobody has an experience in the subject. So another post of the same question hardly could help.
    Best regards,
    Igor

  6. #6
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    Re: Deployment (install) project built with VC2008 fails to replace DLLs

    I must be losing my mind, and I do apologize... I'd never intentionally repost the same question to the same group. Please feel free to delete this or the other thread.

    I think what happens here sometimes is I'll post something, look a day or so later and see the thread never made it to the forum. Since my browser remembers previous screens if I use the back button, I'll do so and maybe edit some, and then try again. then suddenly both posts will appear!

    Again I apologize.

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