Does someone know if there is a way to pack everything-application related into one (single) exe-file?
My product is fully written in C++, has a lot of external plugins (dll) and some external data packages. It should be accessible using the network and without installation (launch in one click).
Are there some tools to make something like virtual filesystem and unpack everything application-related to memory?
Or probably I have to somehow (manually) integrate all the dlls and the data? Is this possible?
Thank you
Try an .msi file, or ClickOnce deployment (assuming Windows, assuming at least VS 2005).
Edit: Based on a comment below, I don't know in general if you can do exactly what you are asking with an arbitary set of DLLs. You can include, say, Microsoft Foundation Classes statically rather than dynamically. But the distributor of a DLL may not want to allow complete incorporation into your code. Even if you could, you might be running against license agreements and the like.
Not sure if that's what you want but UPX is made to generate a single exe from an application made of several ones : http://upx.sourceforge.net/
However if you want a virtual folder system, maybe you just need to use PhysicsFS ? http://icculus.org/physfs/
Anyway your question is not really clear...
Related
I want to intercept ClassLoader's loadClass method. In order to show the process of loading class by ClassLoader. But I don't know the working principle of aspectj. It can modify the source code of the JDK?
You could just use a debugger and step through the process in order to understand it.
AspectJ can weave aspects into existing class files during compilation (CTW, compile-time weaving) or during class-loading (LTW, load-time weaving).
LTW does not work for JDK classes because those classes are always loaded before the weaving agent. So you have a bootstrapping problem there.
What you can do, however, is to apply CTW to the class files in e.g. rt.jar from your JRE/JDK distribution, zip the woven class files into another JAR and replace the original one with it. Then if you start the JVM with aspectjrt.jar on the boot classpath, you see the aspects in action. I have done that before and it works. But really, this is not what AspectJ was designed for. But you asked, so I told you. It is a very advanced topic though, and I doubt that it is the road you should take as a complete AspectJ greenhorn - no offense meant.
Update: Because I have been asked this question so often, I created a little demo project showing how to weave aspects into the JRE/JDK. I still do not think it makes sense to use it under normal circumstances, but what the heck: Why do people climb the Mount Everest? Because it exists. ;-)
Please let me present the idea. I would like to build a Qt app which allows the user to load functionality from a external file (.dll ?) while the app is running. The file could be downloaded from the internet.
I'm planning to build the user interface with QUiLoader and I think the functionality should come from such an external file. Does it make sense?
As an example, to begin with, I'm imagining to provide the user simple functionality like sum and multiplication. And other functionality should be provided afterwards.
Since I have no ideia where to begin (as the question might suggest), I'm here to ask for directions?
Yes, what you need is a plugin mechanism.
For developing a plugin, you should decide how those plugin to be load and to get information from plugin, i.e. you should define a interface first hand, by that interface, your program can communicate with plugins developed by others.
I already did some searching on stackoverflow and as far as I can see there are many ways to use databases in C++. Unfortunately at work my tools are pretty limited. I only get to use visual studio C++ 6 and don't even have boost (although I have learned to cope with that) - I assume that I can only use what is the standard distribution being delivered togather with VS C++ 6.
Now my code generates a lot of data and I would like to store some of it in a simple databse (like an MS Access db). What tools might I be able to use?
My alternative approauch would be to create a database-like object via a struct and vectors/arrays.
I also have office 2010 installed - perhaps I could somehow use Access?
Computation-speed also plays a role - the faster the better.
Another important thing: my PC at work isn't an open client. Thus I can not install any new software. Downloading and moving files works. Basically I must be able to install the tool by just moving the files into a desired folder.
Please let me know if the question is confusing or insufficiently detailed I will do what i can to remedy the situation then.
Thnaks in advance for your help :)
Even though you said 'only standard tools', I'd still say, get SQLite. It ss a public domain software, i.e. no license whatsoever . You can download an 'amalgamation' - one .h file and one .c file and include it into your project. It should compile in VC6 no problem. Very easy to use, you will be up and running in 10 minutes.
It does exactly what you need - a DB in a single file, no servers, zero-setup, etc.
Well, Visual C++ 6 did include MFC which had a suite of classes for the creation and manipulation of databases, I'm fairly certain it would be possible to use these to create a database that is accessible from Access. Unfortunately Microsoft's online help doesn't seem to go back that far, but all the reference material you need should come with the VS 6. (In my opinion VS Help system was better back then anyways.)
On a side note, you could download an old version of boost that would work with VS6. I'm not sure what the last version of boost that supports VS6 is, my guess it's somewhere around 1.3x.
VC6 should work.
Can you use MFC's db objects? (DAO I think back then?).
If your app really generates a lot of data, you might want to look at MySql. I've run into size limitations in older Access tables. Unless it's an extraordinarily simple db, you probably don't want to brew your own (though it might be fun if you have a lot of time).
The key will be finding a driver/db combo that will work. I would install the GA (free) MySql, create a tiny db with 1 table and find the driver ("connector" in MySql terms) that will work. Maybe older ODBC driver?
Also, check out ConnectionStrings.com for info on getting connected to a particular database / driver.
We are developing a rather large project in C++, where many components require configuration parameters. We would like to use a central place to configure everything (like a registry), preferably with a nice and simple GUI (e.g. like Firefox's about:config) and a simple API.
I am pretty sure this that many applications have this kind of problem, but could not find any libraries available that can be readily used for this. Does anyone know of a good (preferably free) library to use for this?
This should work cross platform in Windows and Linux.
boost::program_options provides unified (and cross platform) support for configuration from command line, environment variables and configuration files. It seems like it ought to scale to multiple bits of a large software system registering an interest in various parameters (e.g option groups). Not much help with the GUI or persistence side of things though (but then what's wrong with editing a config file with a text editor ?).
I've used libconfig before, works well easy and LGPL.
http://www.hyperrealm.com/libconfig/
I've used a modified version of John Torjo code from TechRepublic/DDJ (source)
The multi platform ACE library has a configuration class that uses config files that have the Windows .ini format.
I've often used a simple wrapper around pugxml. I find that creating a configuration class with parameter validation for enumerated types and so on makes the rest of the code much cleaner. If you are just dealing with key/value pairs you will have to validate the data all throughout your code. By writing a custom class for each application you can put all that in one place.
Try Configurator. There is no GUI, but it's easy-to-use and flexible C++ library for configuration file parsing (from simplest INI to complex files with arbitrary nesting and semantic checking). Header-only and cross-platform. Uses Boost C++ libraries.
See: http://opensource.dshevchenko.biz/configurator
Can anyone list the steps needed to programatically install an application on Windows. Aside from copying the files where they need to be, what are the additional steps needed so that your app will be a first-class citizen in Windows (i.e. show up in the programs list, uninstall list...etc.)
I tried to google this, but had no luck.
BTW: This is for an unmanaged c++ application (developed in Qt), so I'd rather not involve the .net framework if I don't have to.
I highly recommend NSIS. Open Source, very active development, and it's hard to match/beat its extensibility.
To add your program to the Add/Remove Programs (or Programs and Features) list, add the following reg keys:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\PROGRAM_NAME]
"DisplayName"="PROGRAM_NAME"
"Publisher"="COMPANY_NAME"
"UninstallString"="PATH_TO_UNINSTALL_PROGRAM"
"DisplayIcon"="PATH_TO_ICON_FILE"
"DisplayVersion"="VERSION"
"InstallLocation"="PATH_TO_INSTALLATION_LOCATION"
I think the theme to the answers you'll see here is that you should use an installation program and that you should not write the installer yourself. Use one of the many installer-makers, such as Inno Setup, InstallSheild, or anything else someone recommends.
If you try to write the installer yourself, you'll probably do it wrong. This isn't a slight against you personally. It's just that there are a lot of little details that an installer should consider, and a lot of things that can go wrong, and if you want to write the installer yourself, you're just going to have to get all those things right. That means lots of research and lots of testing on your part. Save yourself the trouble.
Besides copying files, installation tasks vary quite a bit depending on what your program needs. Maybe you need to put an icon on the Start menu; an installer tool should have a way to make that happen very easily, automatically filling in the install location that the customer chose earlier in the installation, and maybe even choosing the right local language for the shortcut's label.
You might need to create registry entries, such as for file associations or licensing. Your installer tool should already have an easy way to specify what keys and values to create or modify.
You might need to register a COM server. That's a common enough action that your installer tool probably has a way of specifying that as part of the post-file-copy operation.
If there are some actions that your chosen installer tool doesn't already provide for, the tool will probably offer a way to add custom actions, perhaps through a scripting language, or perhaps through linking external code from a DLL you would write that gets included with your installer. Custom actions might include downloading an update from a specific Web site, sending e-mail, or taking an inventory of what other products from your company are already installed.
A couple of final things that an installer tool should provide are ways to apply upgrades to an existing installation, and a way to uninstall the program, undoing all those installation tasks (deleting files, restoring backups, unregistering COM servers, etc.).
I've used Inno Setup to package my software for C++. It's very simple compared to heavy duty solutions such at InstallShield. Everything can be contained in a single setup.exe without creating all these crazy batch scripts and so on.
Check it out here: http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php
It sounds like you need to check out the Windows Installer system. If you need the nitty-gritty, see the official documentation. For news, read the installer team's blog. Finally, since you're a programmer, you probably want to build the installer as a programmer would. WiX 3.0 is my tool of choice - open source code, from Microsoft to boot. Start with this tutorial on WiX. It's good.
The GUI for innosetup (highly recommended) is Istool
You can also use the MSI installer built into Visual Studio, it's a steeper learning curve (ie is a pain) but is useful if you are installing software in a corporate environment.
To have your program show up in the Start program menu,
You would need to create folder
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs
and added a short cut to the program you want to launch.
(If you want your application be listed
directly in the Start menu, or in the programs submenu,
you would put your short cut in the respective directory)
To programically create a short cut you can use IShellLink
(See MSDN article).
Since you want to uninstall, that gets a lot more involved because you don't want to simply go deleting DLLs or other common files without checking dependencies.
I would recommend using a setup/installation generator, especially nowadays with Vista being so persnickety, it is getting rather complicated to roll your own installation
if you need anything more than a single executable and a start menu shortcut.
I have been using Paquet Builder setup generator for several years now.
(The registered version includes uninstall).
You've already got the main steps. One you left out is to install on the Start Menu and provide an option to create a desktop and/or quick launch icon.
I would encourage you to look into using a setup program, as suggested by Jeremy.