SX Manual - software? & Editor/IDE (Un)install issue
CounterRotatingProps
Posts: 1,132
It would be very helpful to include a small explainer sheet with the tech kit, or better, just in the SX-key Dev. Sys. Manual that says which version of the software you really need to get the USB key to work. I had to jump through more hoops than is reasonable to get this working on a laptop... which had an older version, 3.2.3, in place.
Ether the 3.2.3 uninstaller, or the 3.2.92h Beta installer, didn't clean up well,· leaving the .SXB file extension associations totally Bjorked ... the normal user-level dialogs for changing file associations would not stick to the new editor --- even if you manually typed in the exact path ... sign of a registry problem? ... I had to manually edit the registry to fix it, by removing all references to the old editor (which were still in there after uninstalling it and installing the newer).
Despite that, thanks for all the hardwork !
cheers,
Howard in Florida
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No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
Ether the 3.2.3 uninstaller, or the 3.2.92h Beta installer, didn't clean up well,· leaving the .SXB file extension associations totally Bjorked ... the normal user-level dialogs for changing file associations would not stick to the new editor --- even if you manually typed in the exact path ... sign of a registry problem? ... I had to manually edit the registry to fix it, by removing all references to the old editor (which were still in there after uninstalling it and installing the newer).
Despite that, thanks for all the hardwork !
cheers,
Howard in Florida
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
Comments
Weird. It's possible that the installer/uninstaller had some issue. I find most uninstallers don't clean up the registry. However, file extension issues are OS related, since it's the OS that handles the association. Not sure why manually telling it what program to use wouldn't get Windows to use the new version.
Sorry to hear you had problems, but glad to know you dug in and got it working.
Thanks,
PeterM
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=784697
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-Paul
how the (un)installer does this depends on how it's scripted. These are all configurable options. One of the most common things to do in software distribution is cleaning up old registry settings from previous versions or installs.
>However, file extension issues are OS related, since it's the OS that handles the association.
Unless the (un)installer has not informed the OS that the associations have changed.
Take close look at Paul's link - he nailed it *precisely* Note that other's have had this issue. And Thank You Paul for the clear write up. This is exactly what I had to do in XP. (XP and Vista aren't all that different in *some* of the reg. settings.)
Peter here's what's happening and how you can fix it... from Paul's post, notice that the old SX-Key is still there, in shell open (what happens when you double click an icon):
"C:\Program Files\Parallax Inc\SX-Key v3.2.3\SXKey.exe"
After 3.2.92 installs, the path and file names are *still the same* even though the new install creates a different directory, namely, ..\SX-Key v3.2.92\ There are then duplicate entries in the registry --- it usually just picks the first it finds.
There is then a secondary, and more difficult, problem for the user who wishes to have correct file associations. If you just try telling windows to re-associate the .SXB files --- (try to do Paul's Step Two *before* his Step One, as I did) --- Windows can only set it to the same (OLD) SKKey.exe! Even, and this is stupid, even if you browse directly to the correct (new) SXKey.exe as his step two describes. The reason is that the executable has the *same* file name. When you browse to it, nothing changes, or, worse, it might not even show the editor in its dialog box list, because the registry overrides the user. But if the registry is Bjorked, so is the user's Shell interface. It gets even more messy if you uninstall the old *after* the new. The old registry settings are in there, but no program exe, but all the new is, following the OLD in the reg.
Windows gets really confused with this. On my machine, it assigned .SXB files to Photoshop. [noparse]:)[/noparse] but it could have been set to anything.
As an old Win developer, I'd have to say this *is* decidedly the programmer's responsibility. Just like Paul, I, and others did by hand, you need to remove the old registry entry, then put in the new one in both the uninstall and install. If you want to have multiple versions of the editor/software on a machine, you'll have to decide which one gets the cake and eats it too. (Or perhaps just NUKE the old editor and reg's ... but that's a tad dicey.)
However, please give the user the option *where* to install the root of your sub-directories, not just plop it in where you think it makes sense. Please don't forget to script the UNinstall routine as well. This makes the (un)install scripts a bit more complicated because you have to track where they choose to put it.
The installers allow you to run regedit files, which are very simple. ... But the better way, really the *correct* way, is to embed this into the install script itself so that you don't have to send along a registry file. All this is well-documented on MSDN. And as you've used the registry extensively for state maintenance, understanding the installer syntax won't be worse than reading SX assembly (in binary, of course) :-P
You all have done a wonderful job, even with Window's idosyncracies.
Kudos!
HTH
- Howard
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No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
Post Edited (CounterRotatingProps) : 6/1/2009 11:51:05 PM GMT
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Shawn Lowe
When all else fails.....procrastinate!
Unfortunately, Parallax creates and maintains the installer. I simply provide them the executable, and they do all the rest. So, while it is up to the programmer, it's not up to this programmer, but rather the person at Parallax who handles this issue. I'll point out this post to him when we do another release, and hopefully it will be handled.
Thanks,
PeterM
We can always count on you all and Parallax taking our input seriously.
Just one of the many things that make this place great.
cheers,
- Howard
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No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.