Alpha Software Mobile Development Tools:   Alpha Anywhere    |   Alpha TransForm subscribe to our YouTube Channel  Follow Us on LinkedIn  Follow Us on Twitter  Follow Us on Facebook

Announcement

Collapse

The Alpha Software Forum Participation Guidelines

The Alpha Software Forum is a free forum created for Alpha Software Developer Community to ask for help, exchange ideas, and share solutions. Alpha Software strives to create an environment where all members of the community can feel safe to participate. In order to ensure the Alpha Software Forum is a place where all feel welcome, forum participants are expected to behave as follows:
  • Be professional in your conduct
  • Be kind to others
  • Be constructive when giving feedback
  • Be open to new ideas and suggestions
  • Stay on topic


Be sure all comments and threads you post are respectful. Posts that contain any of the following content will be considered a violation of your agreement as a member of the Alpha Software Forum Community and will be moderated:
  • Spam.
  • Vulgar language.
  • Quotes from private conversations without permission, including pricing and other sales related discussions.
  • Personal attacks, insults, or subtle put-downs.
  • Harassment, bullying, threatening, mocking, shaming, or deriding anyone.
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
  • Sexually explicit or violent material, links, or language.
  • Pirated, hacked, or copyright-infringing material.
  • Encouraging of others to engage in the above behaviors.


If a thread or post is found to contain any of the content outlined above, a moderator may choose to take one of the following actions:
  • Remove the Post or Thread - the content is removed from the forum.
  • Place the User in Moderation - all posts and new threads must be approved by a moderator before they are posted.
  • Temporarily Ban the User - user is banned from forum for a period of time.
  • Permanently Ban the User - user is permanently banned from the forum.


Moderators may also rename posts and threads if they are too generic or do not property reflect the content.

Moderators may move threads if they have been posted in the incorrect forum.

Threads/Posts questioning specific moderator decisions or actions (such as "why was a user banned?") are not allowed and will be removed.

The owners of Alpha Software Corporation (Forum Owner) reserve the right to remove, edit, move, or close any thread for any reason; or ban any forum member without notice, reason, or explanation.

Community members are encouraged to click the "Report Post" icon in the lower left of a given post if they feel the post is in violation of the rules. This will alert the Moderators to take a look.

Alpha Software Corporation may amend the guidelines from time to time and may also vary the procedures it sets out where appropriate in a particular case. Your agreement to comply with the guidelines will be deemed agreement to any changes to it.



Bonus TIPS for Successful Posting

Try a Search First
It is highly recommended that a Search be done on your topic before posting, as many questions have been answered in prior posts. As with any search engine, the shorter the search term, the more "hits" will be returned, but the more specific the search term is, the greater the relevance of those "hits". Searching for "table" might well return every message on the board while "tablesum" would greatly restrict the number of messages returned.

When you do post
First, make sure you are posting your question in the correct forum. For example, if you post an issue regarding Desktop applications on the Mobile & Browser Applications board , not only will your question not be seen by the appropriate audience, it may also be removed or relocated.

The more detail you provide about your problem or question, the more likely someone is to understand your request and be able to help. A sample database with a minimum of records (and its support files, zipped together) will make it much easier to diagnose issues with your application. Screen shots of error messages are especially helpful.

When explaining how to reproduce your problem, please be as detailed as possible. Describe every step, click-by-click and keypress-by-keypress. Otherwise when others try to duplicate your problem, they may do something slightly different and end up with different results.

A note about attachments
You may only attach one file to each message. Attachment file size is limited to 2MB. If you need to include several files, you may do so by zipping them into a single archive.

If you forgot to attach your files to your post, please do NOT create a new thread. Instead, reply to your original message and attach the file there.

When attaching screen shots, it is best to attach an image file (.BMP, .JPG, .GIF, .PNG, etc.) or a zip file of several images, as opposed to a Word document containing the screen shots. Because Word documents are prone to viruses, many message board users will not open your Word file, therefore limiting their ability to help you.

Similarly, if you are uploading a zipped archive, you should simply create a .ZIP file and not a self-extracting .EXE as many users will not run your EXE file.
See more
See less

Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

    Trying to get our v10 app to run in Win 8 and been told we need to change the properties to "run this program in compatibility mode for: Win 7" and check mark the privilege level to "run program as administrator" in the *.exe and in the shortcut.

    Is there a way to do this programmatically so we don't have to make users do it?

    The app currently installs fine and creates and places a shortcut on the desktop. So I'm thinking (to quote Sgt Schultz from Hogan's Heroes: "I know nuthsing") maybe something in the autoexec that detects the machine's OS is Win 8 and makes changes to the properties in those files?

    A different approach?

    To any and all respondents, please speak slowly. Asking these questions is already way beyond my pay grade

    Thanks

    #2
    Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

    These changes only need to be done once. The changes are made to the properties of the shortcut.
    Alpha 5 Version 11
    AA Build 2999, Build 4269, Current Build
    DBF's and MySql
    Desktop, Web on the Desktop and WEB

    Ron Anusiewicz

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

      huh?

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

        Bill,

        I send apps all over. Ron told it right. You can download a free v7 app that I made a long time ago and run it on win8 do as below.

        I use an installer and make the shortcuts in advance on my own machine, copy them to be placed on the clients machine with the compatibility mode already set. I don't install runtime on the client machine, but copy runtime to their machine with compatibility already set.

        It would be rather hard to set compatibility from within alpha if it doesn't start? Maybe a batch file if one wish to make it?
        Dave Mason
        [email protected]
        Skype is dave.mason46

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

          a picture is worth what??

          2015-04-25_1117.png
          Dave Mason
          [email protected]
          Skype is dave.mason46

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

            Originally posted by DaveM View Post
            I use an installer and make the shortcuts in advance on my own machine, copy them to be placed on the clients machine with the compatibility mode already set. I don't install runtime on the client machine, but copy runtime to their machine with compatibility already set.
            I didn't think that was possible Dave, I must have another look at Astrum.
            When runtime is installed on each terminal it also goes off to load Java, Dotnet and assorted other support programs and probably makes some registry entries, so I wonder how it gets around all that.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

              Thanks guys.

              We use Astrum also but I'm as intellectually challenged there as I am with Alpha. I did some reading in the Astrum help files and it looks like it can be set up to parse out elements of installations. So, for instance (if I understood it correctly), if you have 2 exe files and 2 shortcuts for an app (one for Win 8 machines and one for prior Win OS's) it seems you can pause the installation to ask users a question ("Are you installing on Win 8 or other?") and have their answer determine which files are installed.

              I'll need to get more clarity on how to set up these exe's and shortcuts with those properties in place but it appears this might be more do-able than I first thought.

              Thanks again

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

                Installing on xp, win7, win8, win8.1

                My newer installations have no problems since I am using v12, but I have a v7 installation that seems to install and run on win8 machines.

                It has been copying the shortcuts from my windows desktop and placing it fine so far, I hope you guys do not jinx me.

                I have not used the ask questions feature. Astrum can read the windows version, memory, disk space, etc. I did export the proper settings from the registry and astrum installs that in the computer as well. Understand, the user has to have admin priviledges.

                My installs on my for sale apps all have an exe setup to run alpha, so the shortcut is to my exe, nor to alpha. The other shortcuts above are for a client I am working for to set their app up.

                You can add a server install and a runtime install to one single install and the user can tell the installer which to run, but I have never used it. I believe there is a forum still active for astrum.
                This may help:
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP1-Z8pVz6I
                Dave Mason
                [email protected]
                Skype is dave.mason46

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

                  Bill and I did some research and discovered that the compatibility mode is stored in the registry. This allows you to set the compatibility in Astrum by adding a registry entry as shown in the attached screen shot. (Note that the compatibility mode is only included in the registry - the file itself does not carry any compatibility info with it.)

                  The registry entry is in the following key:

                  HKey_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompFlags\Layers

                  Then add a new string value where the Name of the value is the path to the .exe file.

                  The "Data" for that registry entry will, at least for Alpha5, typically be: WINXPSP3 RUNASADMIN

                  You can also use any one of these other compatibility settings but I don't see any need for them with Alpha: 256COLOR 640X480 DISABLETHEMES DISABLEDWM HIGHDPIAWARE

                  Do NOT set the compatibility mode of the .lnk file itself. When you set the compatibility of the .lnk file manually, Windows recognizes it's an lnk file and just sets the compatibility of the file the .lnk points to. I verified this by (A) setting the .lnk file then checking the .exe file and (B) checking the registry settings - which did not show any .lnk files even though I have a few links that show compatibility settings. Only those files linked to have compatibility settings.

                  The attached screen shots shows how it would be set in Astrum and what the registry entry looks like.

                  Addendum: If you are not installing A5 as part of your installation program, you can let Astrum (and most other good installers) get the path to Alpha5.exe from the registry. The path for A5v10 is "HKey_Current_User\Software\Alpha Software\Alpha Five 10.0\RTExeLocation" and the Value Name is "RTExeLocation". (Yes, the value name is the same as the last part of the path in this case.) The variable created from this (<A5v10Exe> in the screen shot example) can be used in place of the "<InstallDir>" variable. Of course, this means the A5 runtime would have to be installed before installing the application. I don't think it's necessary but the runtime might even have to be run once to create the registry entry - I'd have to uninstall one of my A5 programs to test it and don't feel like doing that right now.
                  NOTE: It may seem odd but the runtime location is under the "Alpha Five 10.0" key as shown above - not the "Alpha Five 10.0 Runtime" key.
                  Attached Files
                  Last edited by CALocklin; 04-27-2015, 02:51 PM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

                    Another comment for those interested:

                    Yes, you can create a shortcut on your own computer and copy it as part of the installation program IF YOU FORCE YOUR USERS TO ALWAYS INSTALL TO A FIXED FOLDER.

                    If you allow your users to install to whatever folder they want (as I always do because I HATE IT when someone forces me to install something to my C drive), you can easily tell Astrum to create the shortcut for you as shown in the attached screenshot.

                    The full Command Line can't be read in the screenshot so here it is:
                    <InstallDir>\Trak_It\Trak_It.adb -nosplash -title="Trak-It SP" -icon="<InstallDir>\Trak_It\Trak-It.ico"

                    Note that the Command Line uses the <InstallDir> variable which allows the user to install the application to any directory. On the other hand, if you use Alpha to create a shortcut, that shortcut will point to a specific folder and a specific .startup file which may contain paths to specific folders - thus the need to force the use to install to a specific folder.

                    If you aren't sure what to put in the Command Line, create the shortcut in alpha and copy each line of the resulting .startup file to the Command Line field. BUT, change any path names to appropriate Astrum variable - typically <InstallDir> or, if you install the runtime along with the application, <InstallDir>\[whatever subfolder your application is in].

                    Of course, you also remove the -include info that points to the .startup file because you are no longer using that file.

                    Note that I install both the A5 runtime and my application with one install routine. Thus the <InstallDir> points to the folder where A5 is installed and my application is in a subfolder; in this case, the Trak_It subfolder.

                    The .shortcut file for the command line shown above would be:
                    (the order on the command line is not important)
                    -TITLE="Trak-It SP"
                    -NOSPLASH
                    -ICON="E:\A5v10\Trak-It_SP\App\Trak-It.ico"

                    and I would have to change the -ICON info to: "<InstallDir>\Trak_It\Trak-It.ico" so it would point to the right folder when installed.
                    Attached Files

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

                      Note that I install both the A5 runtime and my application with one install routine. Thus the <InstallDir> points to the folder where A5 is installed and my application is in a subfolder; in this case, the Trak_It subfolder.
                      Same as I do.

                      Nice information Cal.

                      I always use a .exe file to start alpha where the command line is included there. One app is upslog.exe that starts the alpha5.exe with the parameters. Maybe that is why it always works?? my exe works as long as it is in the install folder, wherever that may be.

                      Probably, you already know you can create an export from the registry and import that to astrum if it helps you.
                      Last edited by DaveM; 04-28-2015, 12:23 AM.
                      Dave Mason
                      [email protected]
                      Skype is dave.mason46

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

                        Originally posted by CALocklin View Post
                        Bill and I did some research and discovered that the compatibility mode is stored in the registry...
                        No. Cal did some research while I watched through Teamviewer and picked my nose.

                        In any case, we're making progress. I haven't been able to test how this works in an actual installation on Win 8 because I went into the client's machine and physically changed the properties of the shortcut. But it at least worked.

                        Now we're having issues with our reports (PDFs) not saving properly and causing machine to hang.

                        If it ain't one thing, it's another.

                        But my thanks to Cal for his hands-on help (and everyone here for the board's-on help)

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Can shortcuts (with property changes) be included in an installation setup?

                          I am fighting some of the same issues with pdf files right. Print report to pdf and send at same time. Just got another one done

                          The save pdf's(my customer likes to see the printed pdf, slx, csv on desktop) and I have them all going into separate folders on c: drive. When trying to run an export to desktop, it seems to be hit or miss, so I made the folders and copied the shortcuts to the destop with astrum.

                          The registry gets written to win8.1 just like it did with XP to the best of my knowledge.

                          Best way to get it into astrum is to find it in the registry, export it to file and import to astrum.
                          Dave Mason
                          [email protected]
                          Skype is dave.mason46

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X