Little Install Builder

Little Install Builder by Pablo Software Solutions Version 1.0 Build 001

Introduction
There are a lot of setup applications available, but I found that their code may add more than 250KB to the total size of the final setup application, and because most of my applications are not much bigger than 100KB, I decided to write my own installation builder.

I didn't need much features, because most of the configuration (such as registry key) is already handled in my applications and I wanted to create a generic 'look' for all my setups so there was no need to make that customizable.
Maybe in the future I will extend the installation builder with more features, but for now I found it good enough for my propose.
Main application features:

Creates one installation output file.  
Project wizard to create new setup programs easy and fast.
Uses standard windows functionality, so there's minimum application overhead.
Uninstall functionality.
Drag and Drop support. Simply drag one or more files onto the files area to add new files to the setup. 

Getting started
The best way to start a new project is to use the New Project Wizard: File->New Project Wizard.
The Project Wizard will guide you through the necessary steps of creating a setup program. 
In the General Information page you can enter some general project settings such as: Product Name, Product Version and Copyright Notice. The next (and final) step will ask you for the folder that contains your application files (executable, documents). 
When you have finished the wizard, you can add, edit or delete more files/shortcuts in the project.

Tab Pages

There are 4 pages available:

General
The General Page is where you can enter the application name, company name and so on.

Files
In the Files Page you can specify all files that need to be distributed. You can use Add to select files from a specific folder or drag and drop files onto the files area.

Shortcuts
Use the Shortcuts Page for specifying shortcuts in the program folder (start menu).

Output
The Output Page is where you enter the output folder/filename. You can also specify that whether or not the 'Show "Run Installed Application" checkbox' will be visible in the final step of the setup program. When you check this box, you also have the enter the executable name of the application.

Menu options

File Menu

New Project
Create a new project. The active project will be closed.
New Project Wizard
Create a new project using the project wizard.
Open Project
Opens an existing project.
Save Project
Save the active project. 
Save Project As 
Save the active project with a new name.
Exit
Quits the application.


Project Menu

General
Show General tab page.
Files
Show Files tab page.
Shortcut
Show Shortcut tab page.
Output
Show Output tab page.


Build Menu

Build Setup
After you entered all the necessary information and added files/shortcuts you can use Build Setup to create the setup program.
It will generate an executable with name you specified in the Output page. The output file contains all the information needed to execute the setup on other computer including all your application files/shortcuts etc.

Test Run Setup
Use this command to test the generated setup program. 

Add/Remove Programs
This is a shortcut to the Control Panel Applet and allows you to install or remove Programs and Windows Components. 
This shortcut makes it easy to remove installed applications, when for example you have executed the Test Run Setup command.


View Menu

Toolbar
Show or hide the toolbar
Statusbar
Show or hide the statusbar


� Copyright 2002 Pablo Software Solutions