Deploying your ASNA Visual RPG^® Windows Application for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008^®

This document is specific to deploying Visual RPG 9.0 for Visual Studio 2008 Windows applications, not AVR for Visual Studio 2008 Web applications. For information on deploying Web applications, please refer to "Deploying Web Applications".

Preparation

Currently, Visual RPG for Visual Studio 2008 Windows deployment is supported on Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows 2000 Server SP4, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Professional SP4 and Windows Vista Business Edition.

There are four steps to prepare for when deploying.

1. Create your application "setup".

2. Install the Microsoft .NET framework.

3. Install the AVR for Visual Studio 2008 Windows Distribution.

4. Install your Windows application setup.

1. Application Setup

To make deployment of your application easier, you can have Visual Studio 2008 build the application setup for you. Once your setup is complete, you are ready to follow steps 2 thru 4 to deploy your AVR for Visual Studio 2008 Windows application.

1. In Visual Studio 2008, start a New Setup and Deployment Project:

2. Be sure to select "Setup Project". Enter the Project name and location. Click OK to create the deployment solution. You will see the following screen.

3. Add the project you wish to deploy. Right-click on the Solution ‘setup’ in the Solution Explorer and select Add - Existing Project (as shown below).

4. Navigate to your application’s folder, and select the application's "vrproj" file – then click Open.

5. The deployment solution will now reflect your project.

6. Now add the output from your application by right clicking on the application folder in the File System tab as shown:

7. In the “Add Project Output Group” dialog that appears, choose the ‘Built’ option from your project, and Click OK. (Note: if there are no such options for your application, you have not “built”, or “compiled” your project. You will have to “build” your application before you can proceed).

8. Now you can add any other files that the end user will need in the necessary folder(s).

For instance, if you have a DLL that needs to go into the System Folder, right-click on the File System on Target machine, click on Add Special Folder - - System Folder as shown. An option titled “System Folder” will now appear as a deployment option.

Adding a DLL will also add any dependency files it may need. Be sure to set the properties of any DLLs that need to be registered by the operating system. Right-click on a DLL name and refer to the Register property to set this option.

Similarly, you can also add files and folders to the Common Files folder, Fonts folder, Program Files folder, System Folder, User Application Data Folder, Desktop, Favorites folder, Personal Data folder, and several other options.

9. Once you have all of your solution files correctly configured, click on Build - Build Solution.

10. Your installation files will be created in the path specified by your setup project properties. Copy these files to the appropriate media. You are now ready to begin deploying your application.

2. Microsoft .NET Framework Redistributable

The latest version of the Microsoft .NET framework must exist on the target machine prior to your installation. If it is already installed on the target machine, you can bypass this step.

You can confirm that the .NET framework exists on a machine by going to the Add/Remove programs screen from the control panel.

If Microsoft .NET framework does not appear, you can get the .NET framework from Microsoft. Use this link for information on downloading the .NET framework re-distributable and/or ordering a CD from Microsoft. http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/downloads/howtoget.aspx

Once the .NET framework is installed, the AVR for Visual Studio 2008 Windows Deployment installation can be run on the machine.

3. ASNA AVR for Visual Studio 2008 Distributable

The installation can be installed from the ASNA Product Installation CD, or from http://devnet.asna.com.

To Install from ASNA .NET Product Suite CD

1. Insert the ASNA .NET Product Suite CD into your CD drive.

· If your CD drive has AutoPlay, a screen will automatically appear.

· If you do not have AutoPlay installed on your CD drive, start Microsoft Windows and from the Start Menu, select Run, and enter the path: E:\INSTALL.EXE, where ‘E’ is the CD-Rom drive. Then select the options below to install Windows Deployment 9.0.

2. Click on the Product Menu button in the lower left corner.

3. Click on ASNA Windows Deployment.

4. Click on Install Windows Deployment 9.0.

5. The Welcome dialog will display. Select Next > to continue.

6. TheLicense Agreement dialog will display. Click on “I accept the terms of the license agreement” and select the Next> button (which will be available after you click the “I accept….” option).

7. The Customer Information dialog will display. Enter your computer’s user name and company name will display. You can change either as desired.

8. When finished, press Next > to continue.

9. Select the desired setup type. Complete is recommended, but requires the most disk space. Select Next > to continue.

To review any of the previous settings, select < Back.

10. At this point, ASNA for .NET Windows Deployment 9.0 is ready to be installed. Select Install to continue.

The installation process will begin, and the component being installed will display in the title bar. When the installation has completed, the final dialog will display.

Select Yes to restart your computer now, or No to restart later.

11. Select the Finish button to continue.

The installation is now complete. Select Finish to close the installation.

4. Application Setup.exe

Finally, you are ready to run your setup.exe file that you created in the beginning of this document. This will install your application files on the end user’s machine.