Installation Files
We will now add one more file before moving on to customizing
the installation. First, create a new word document in your example VB projects
folder, convert it to RTF format, and name it readme.rtf. Then, in VSI, click
Project|Add File(s) and select the readme file.
Now that the file has been added, double click on the File System
item in the Project Explorer. You can control from here where all the files
and shortcuts in the project are installed.
Click on the Application Folder to see the files that will be
copied to where your application is installed (ie C:Program FilesMyTestApp).
You will notice that the example EXE program and the readme.rtf file has already
been added here. If you want to add any further files, simply right click and
select Add File(s)... Likewise, you can remove a file by right clicking on it
and selecting Delete. To specify a default installation folder (for example,
C:Program FilesMicrosoft Office), click Project|Properties... (at the bottom
of the menu). You can then go to the Installation Folder tab and specify the
default location (ie Program Files, Common Files etc), and the name of the folder
(ie Microsoft Office). In this project properties dialog, you can also specify
a company name, application name etc. When you have finished, click OK, and
return to the File System window.
The File System area also allows you to control where shortcuts
to your application are created, either on the Desktop or on the users Start
Menu. If you click on User's Start Menu you will see that a shortcut has already
been added to the example application. You can rename, delete or add another
shortcut by right clicking. If you want a folder to be added to the start menu
(usually when you have more than one shortcut to be created), simply right click,
and choose Add Folder. You can then add the icons to there.
If there is another location where you want files to be installed
other than in the Application Folder, you can right click, and select Add Special
Folder. You can then choose from a large number of other locations such as the
Windows directory and font folder. We won't use any of these for this installation.