Code Project - Custom Dialogs to Visual Studio Setup Projects
"The Visual Studio setup projects that come installed as part of Visual Studio are handy for knocking out quick-and-easy installers, but they are a bit limited in scope. Two main drawbacks are:
- You have only a limited number of dialogs to choose from, which can easily run out on a relatively simple install. Say, for example, that you have a need for a further set of textboxes for a piece of information that contextually belongs on its own and does not look correct if tagged onto one of the other dialogs.
- The information you can enter is limited. Have you ever needed a dialog with 5 radio buttons? What about a pick-list of options?
...
Okay, some installer zealots would say that the use of scripts and .NET Installer-classes is bad ju-ju and should be avoided. Instead we should all use proper custom actions, i.e. native DLLs. However, we live in the real world, folks, and we do what we can in the limited time given to us. The problem in going with point 4 is that it is usually at the end of the project when we discover we need that extra customisation. By then, it is too late to buy new tools and get to grips with them before the product is shipped.
That leaves us with a problem: how do we create that extra dialog?..."
In a perfect world I'd be using WiX, or like, to create my setups, but then again in a perfect world I would be a lotto winner and only develop the stuff I want to develop... ;) VS Setup Projects may not be uber, but they get the job done for me in many cases.
I see the above Project helping me when I need "just a little more" setup juju...
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