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Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:08:20 +0100
From: Johannes Schaefer <johannes.schaefer@uidesign.de>
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To: dev@forrest.apache.org
Subject: Re: Windows-Installer for Forrest
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Ferdinand Soethe schrieb:
> Great. I think this is a great idea and long overdue.
> 
> Where can I look up the documentation for the nsi-language?

Download and install it, then press F1 ;-)
It comes with an extensive user manual and heaps of examples.
I didn't have a clue of NSIS and put the installer in about
two hours together, so it's fairly easy.

>> - Copies forrest 0.8 to the program directory (C:\Program
>>   Files)
> 
> As far as I gather that name of the program-directory is
> language specific and becomes C:\pogramme in german Windows?

Right, NSIS will handle this.

>> The installation is based on the zip-file for forrest-0.8
>> and results in a total size of 23.088.307 Bytes (slightly
>> *smaller* than the original zip file).
> 
> Does it have to become a compiled exe or could it simply
> work with the Forrest zip?

No. It contains everything in a single .exe file (as far as
I see). But this is the whole point of it: Make it easier.
One download, one double-click and you're done.

> Some first comments:
> 
> - I'd rather not set FORREST_HOME as a permanent
>   environment variable but rather set it in the batch-file
>   that starts forrest. That also makes it possible to have
>   separate versions of forrest installed.

I was thinking about this, since Forrest actually does not
need it. In the installer the user may choose not to set
the variable. All parts are optional (even the Forrest one,
labelled "required").

> - To simplify working with projects I can contribute a
>   solution that created a context menu item for directories
>   in the windows explorer. That way you simply right-click
>   any project directory and select menu items such as
>   "forrest 0.8 run", "forrest 0.8 compile" etc.

Hey, this sounds good.
Maybe we can integrate such things into the installer.
But I wonder how many *users* would work with more than
one installed forrest?! This sounds like a dev task to
me...

I can only encourage you to download NSIS and create the
installer yourself to see how it works. This will be easier
than up/downloading it just for you to see.

It's here
 >> [1] http://nsis.sourceforge.net/   plus plugin:
 >> [2] http://nsis.sourceforge.net/ShellLink_plug-in

Cheers,
Johannes


> Best regards,
> Ferdinand Soethe
>

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