Windows DMD installer

Robert Clipsham robert at octarineparrot.com
Sun Jun 28 04:26:44 PDT 2009


On 28/6/09 01:43, Vladimir Panteleev wrote:
> As recently posted by WB, we should get a Windows installer project
> going. I think we should first discuss what this installer would
> contain, which installer framework to use, etc.
>
> In my opinion, the Windows installer's goal is somewhat different than a
> Linux installer. I've heard many people say that they'd love a simple
> installer that installs them everything including a build tool, IDE,
> debugger, etc., so perhaps it should allow installing more than just the
> barebones DMD. However, we don't want to include things that many people
> won't use either. Therefore, I was thinking that the installer could
> download and install components (libraries, text editors/IDEs or plugins
> for them, build tools) from the web if the user ticks some corresponding
> checkboxes.
>
> Further ideas:
> * support Windows' "change" option in Add/Remove Programs to allow
> removing, reinstalling and updating components
> * when installing an editor, associate .d files with it
> * adjust PATH to include DMD and any selected build tools
> * adjust DMD search paths to point to any additional libraries (Tango,
> DSSS etc.)
> * DSSS "net install" integration? (show a checkbox list of libraries)
>
> Going further with this idea, we could remove DMD itself from the
> installer and allow the user to install DMD1/DMD2 as a component, thus
> creating a "meta-installer" to manage the D toolchain.
>
> As for the installer system: I'm familiar with NSIS and InnoSetup, both
> are open-source. NSIS is extensible and can thus download files from the
> Internet, but AFAIK InnoSetup can't (even though it has a more flexible
> scripting language). Windows Installer is also used by some open-source
> software like TortoiseSVN.
>

I guess if we want to do this properly, a full install wizard should be 
there, allowing you to simply click 'Next' to get a full working 
toolchain: Compiler (probably dmd), Build tool (one of bu[il]d, rebuild, 
xfbuild), and a base set of libraries. There should also be an advanced 
option to pick between D1/2, pick compiler, build tool, libraries, 
phobos/tango etc. There could also be an option to install an 
ide/debugger which a lot of people will find useful.



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