newbie - hey walter, improvement potentials for installer

[Brad Anderson]

On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 7:07 PM, Brad Anderson <eco at gnuk.net> wrote:

> On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 5:02 PM, Alf P. Steinbach <
> alf.p.steinbach+usenet at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> I just installed D 2.x.
>>
>>
>>   * Improvement potential #1  --  installer description.
>>
>> It was not clear to me that the first download is a full offline
>> installer. In ignorance I used the one that downloads from web. The web
>> page can possibly be mucho improved! :-)
>>
>>
>>   * Improvement potential #2  --  Start menu link to help file.
>>
>> It didn't work. Sorry I didn't check where it pointed, but it started
>> searching for some [index.html]. I found that file by manual searching,
>> plugged it in manual in the search that the link brought up, and all's well
>> that ends well, but this is DEFINITELY an improvement opportunity!
>>
>>
> I'll look into this one and make a pull request.
>

https://github.com/D-Programming-Language/installer/pull/6

The Start Menu "Documentation" link was to the D1 documentation.  If you
didn't install D1 the link was broken.


I have two other pull requests for the installer:
https://github.com/D-Programming-Language/installer/pull/5 : Replace
default NSIS welcome/finish graphic with custom D graphics
https://github.com/D-Programming-Language/installer/pull/4 : Make D1
unchecked by default

It'd be nice if all three of these could get merged before 2.058.

Regards,
Brad Anderson


>
>
>>
>>   * Improvement potential #3  --  Linker executable name.
>>
>> The name [link.exe] conflicts with Microsoft's linker. Please name it
>> [optlink.exe]. I just renamed it and fixed the options file, but this is
>> not just an improvement opportunity, it's more on the MUST end of the
>> scale: it is very impractical to have such a needless name clash.
>>
>>
>>   * Improvement potential #4  --  Standard options for tools.
>>
>> Why have "-quiet" for the compiler and "-nologo" for the linker?
>> Standardizing options across the toolset is a very nice improvement
>> opportunity. Also, it would be nice if the linker refrained from reporting
>> all about itself when it encounters an error.
>>
>>
>>  * Improvement potential #5  --  The description of Windows prog.
>>
>> Following main site's links to [http://d-programming-**
>> language.org/windows.html<http://d-programming-language.org/windows.html>],
>> I found a real monstrosity as an example of purportedly simplest possible
>> Windows GUI program. It's almost funny. Here is mine:
>>
>> <code>
>>    import std.c.windows.windows;
>>
>>    void main()
>>    {
>>        MessageBoxW( null, "Text", "Caption", MB_OK | MB_ICONINFORMATION );
>>    }
>> </code>
>>
>>
>> And here is how I built it:
>>
>>
>> <example>
>> [d:\dev\test\d]
>> > dmd minimal_gui.d -L-subsystem:windows
>>
>> [d:\dev\test\d]
>> > dumpbin /headers minimal_gui.exe | find /i "sub"
>>            3.10 subsystem version
>>               2 subsystem (Windows GUI)
>>
>> [d:\dev\test\d]
>> > minimal.d
>> </example>
>>
>>
>> Maybe with DMD tools something potentially bad happens here. However,
>> with extant C++ compilers (and even old Borland C++ 5.5) this way of doing
>> things works splendidly. So here is a definite improvement potential for
>> the web site page with the monstrous code, and if the current tools don't
>> handle it well, also for the the toolset. :-)
>>
>>
>> Cheers & hth.,
>>
>> - Alf (at very beginning of checking out the D language)
>>
>
> Regards,
> Brad Anderson
>
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