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The following is code that can be used with the autoexec script for copying over the aliases set up in the development application so that they are available in a runtime distribution. Because a user can install your application virtually anywhere, it becomes essential to employ the use of aliases so that your application always knows where to find any data files that are saved outside of the Alpha5 tables databases.
Because Vista doesn't allow writing to the program directory, Alpha5 changed the way it saves the aliases you assign under development. Alpha5 used to save the aliases in a file in its program (.exe) directory. They no longer do that which means that the aliases file is no longer bundled into the built in Install Utility. Since a developer can employ serveral aliases in their application it is handier and easier to have one file that Alpha5 handles internally than several registry entries to write to and read from in a script.
In order to do this simply and easily requires two scripts. One script looks for and copies over the aliases file where it is stored on your system and places a copy in your application folder (not your program or runtime folder). The new place, in your distributed application, where Alpha5's runtime stores the aliases file will vary based upon the system user name. However, the general location will be:
"C:\Documents and Settings\[SYSTEM USER NAME]\Application Data\Alpha Software\Alpha Five Version 9\a_aliases.aliases"
The idea is to copy over the "a_aliases.aliases" file from this location to your application folder. You must then make sure that you included "a_aliases.aliases" with all your development files when you bundle your install package so that the second script can copy that file to the correct location where Alpha5 will internally be looking for it.
The first Alpha5 script with a name of say 'transalias' would included the following code:
dim fn1 as c
dim fn2 as c
fn1 = A5_GetApplicationDataFilename("a_aliases.aliases")
fn2 = A5.Get_Path()+"\\"+"a_aliases.aliases"
if fn2=""
file.copy(fn1,fn2)
end if
The above script is to be run only once prior to bundling your application for distriibution.
The second Alpha5 script with a name of say 'aliases' would be called or executed from within the autoexec script (a scriot called/executed from within another script). The autoexec script is any Alpha5 script with a name of "autoexec".
The following code in the second script will do the following procedures. Three variables are defined and assigned values. The fn1 variable points to a text file called "FirstTimeTest.txt" located in the application data folder. The fn2 variable points to the internal "a_aliases.aliases" file stored in the application's assigned datapath. The fn3 variable points to the the copied version of the "a_aliases.aliases" file located in the application data folder. This is the copy that was originally made by the 'transalias' script above that was then bundled and placed in the users runtime application folder upon distribution.
After defining and assigning values to the variables, the script first tests to see if the "FirstTimeTest.txt" data file defined by fn1exists or not. If it doesn't exist then it copies the distributed "a_aliases.aliases" file defined in variable fn3 over to the internal "a_aliases.aliases" file defined in variable fn2. It then saves a new file called "FirstTimeTest.txt" with a character value of "done" in the application data folder. Finally, a recalculation of the new internal aliases addin is executed so that the aliases will be up todate to correctly locate all the application data.
When the script is run again in subsequent application loads, it will see the file called "FirstTimeTest.txt" defined by fn1 and ignore the remainder of the script. Selwyn says that you really don't want the file to be written over once it exists. For this reason he suggests that the "FirstTimeTest.txt" file will serve as a flag after the first time the application is loaded. The second script code follows:
dim fn1 as c
dim fn2 as c
dim fn3 as c
fn1 = A5_GetApplicationDataFolder() + chr(92) + "FirstTimeTest.txt"
fn2 = A5_GetApplicationDataFilename("a_aliases.aliases")
fn3 = A5.Get_Path()+"\\"+"a_aliases.aliases"
if file.exists(fn1) = .f. then
file.copy(fn3,fn2)
save_to_file("done",fn1)
end if
addin.run("recalc_aliases")
I have tested both these scripts without issue and use them myself. Both these scripts can be called from within the autoexec script. In order to speed up execution of the autoexec script it is better to make these two scripts conditional. In this way, if the files are already in place after the first time they are run, the scipts will be skipped.
I trust this posting will prove to be helpful to those seeking help in effectively distributing their application when employing the use of aliases.
Regards,
Gordon MacCarthy
SCS
The following is code that can be used with the autoexec script for copying over the aliases set up in the development application so that they are available in a runtime distribution. Because a user can install your application virtually anywhere, it becomes essential to employ the use of aliases so that your application always knows where to find any data files that are saved outside of the Alpha5 tables databases.
Because Vista doesn't allow writing to the program directory, Alpha5 changed the way it saves the aliases you assign under development. Alpha5 used to save the aliases in a file in its program (.exe) directory. They no longer do that which means that the aliases file is no longer bundled into the built in Install Utility. Since a developer can employ serveral aliases in their application it is handier and easier to have one file that Alpha5 handles internally than several registry entries to write to and read from in a script.
In order to do this simply and easily requires two scripts. One script looks for and copies over the aliases file where it is stored on your system and places a copy in your application folder (not your program or runtime folder). The new place, in your distributed application, where Alpha5's runtime stores the aliases file will vary based upon the system user name. However, the general location will be:
"C:\Documents and Settings\[SYSTEM USER NAME]\Application Data\Alpha Software\Alpha Five Version 9\a_aliases.aliases"
The idea is to copy over the "a_aliases.aliases" file from this location to your application folder. You must then make sure that you included "a_aliases.aliases" with all your development files when you bundle your install package so that the second script can copy that file to the correct location where Alpha5 will internally be looking for it.
The first Alpha5 script with a name of say 'transalias' would included the following code:
dim fn1 as c
dim fn2 as c
fn1 = A5_GetApplicationDataFilename("a_aliases.aliases")
fn2 = A5.Get_Path()+"\\"+"a_aliases.aliases"
if fn2=""
file.copy(fn1,fn2)
end if
The above script is to be run only once prior to bundling your application for distriibution.
The second Alpha5 script with a name of say 'aliases' would be called or executed from within the autoexec script (a scriot called/executed from within another script). The autoexec script is any Alpha5 script with a name of "autoexec".
The following code in the second script will do the following procedures. Three variables are defined and assigned values. The fn1 variable points to a text file called "FirstTimeTest.txt" located in the application data folder. The fn2 variable points to the internal "a_aliases.aliases" file stored in the application's assigned datapath. The fn3 variable points to the the copied version of the "a_aliases.aliases" file located in the application data folder. This is the copy that was originally made by the 'transalias' script above that was then bundled and placed in the users runtime application folder upon distribution.
After defining and assigning values to the variables, the script first tests to see if the "FirstTimeTest.txt" data file defined by fn1exists or not. If it doesn't exist then it copies the distributed "a_aliases.aliases" file defined in variable fn3 over to the internal "a_aliases.aliases" file defined in variable fn2. It then saves a new file called "FirstTimeTest.txt" with a character value of "done" in the application data folder. Finally, a recalculation of the new internal aliases addin is executed so that the aliases will be up todate to correctly locate all the application data.
When the script is run again in subsequent application loads, it will see the file called "FirstTimeTest.txt" defined by fn1 and ignore the remainder of the script. Selwyn says that you really don't want the file to be written over once it exists. For this reason he suggests that the "FirstTimeTest.txt" file will serve as a flag after the first time the application is loaded. The second script code follows:
dim fn1 as c
dim fn2 as c
dim fn3 as c
fn1 = A5_GetApplicationDataFolder() + chr(92) + "FirstTimeTest.txt"
fn2 = A5_GetApplicationDataFilename("a_aliases.aliases")
fn3 = A5.Get_Path()+"\\"+"a_aliases.aliases"
if file.exists(fn1) = .f. then
file.copy(fn3,fn2)
save_to_file("done",fn1)
end if
addin.run("recalc_aliases")
I have tested both these scripts without issue and use them myself. Both these scripts can be called from within the autoexec script. In order to speed up execution of the autoexec script it is better to make these two scripts conditional. In this way, if the files are already in place after the first time they are run, the scipts will be skipped.
I trust this posting will prove to be helpful to those seeking help in effectively distributing their application when employing the use of aliases.
Regards,
Gordon MacCarthy
SCS