Any new ways to sidestep VB.NET 2003 30mb overhead...?

[Timothy Casey]

The vast majority of my customers (PC/Windows Users) do not want to wait six
weeks for the mail to clear customs, anti-terror inspections, etc. Most have
no access to broadband, and given that broadband and cable are
infrastructure dependent technologies, it is unlikely that the bulk of my
customers will be able to use this form of internet access for a very long
time. Given the 30Mb overhead of .NET programs due to the shipping of the
..NET framework with every program, and the expense of having to pay for
3-5Gb of bandwidth per sale of .NET developed applications, I fail to see
any benefit in "meta-languages" such as .NET. - Yet...

Enthusiasts are keen to point out that the customer can be given the option
to download the .NET framework only if they need it; but this only serves to
make the process more confusing. When in doubt, the customers will download
the .NET framework anyway; if the sheer size of the package, and the
diversion from their intended product (to what amounts to a giant patch)
doesn't put them off altogether!

In other words, it is way too much to ask consumers to know whether they
have the .NET Framework in place on their system or on any intended system.
This is why I still use VB6 even though I purchased VB7 .NET 2003 some time
ago.

So, as I am keen to share in the benefits of this bleeding edge technology,
I am not quite ready to slash the wrists of my business with it just yet!
:^)
My question then, is whether there has emerged any new way to adapt .NET to
the needs of software developers who directly service private consumers
without confusing or discouraging the clientele or blowing out the bandwidth
budget...? IE is there some way of compiling applications for Windows PCs so
that the complete download of the application doesn't take hours on a dialup
connection...? Does the ".NET Compact Framework" come with VB .NET 2003
(Standard) and will applications written and bundled with this framework
function in a PC environment...?

Alternatively, should I kiss the money I spent goodbye, and just use the
..NET 2003 CD as a coaster?

Thanks in Advance for any suggestions...

 

[Cor Ligthert]

Timothy,

We have seen the first part of your message so often. And it seems forever
that it is only to start an advertising campain for products that creates
runtimers from the Net framework.

Maybe can you search the dotnet newsgroups for your problem. It is not
impossible that you are number 10001 who starts this forever endless full of
trolling threads.

For your second part I advice you to ask this in the newsgroup
microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.compactframework

There are (more) specialist who know everything about that problem.

I hope this helps,

Cor

 

[Chef Groovy]

I'm pretty sure you can use the deployment tools in .net2003 and create a
type of "setup.exe" package like in vb6, which will include only the
imports and dlls that the user will need to run the application.

I could be completly wrong. But if its true, would probly make the
download considerably smaller.

 

[james]

I'm pretty sure you can use the deployment tools in .net2003 and create a
type of "setup.exe" package like in vb6, which will include only the
imports and dlls that the user will need to run the application.

I could be completly wrong. But if its true, would probly make the
download considerably smaller.

Yes, you are wrong. The only way to bypass the need for the DotNet Framework is to have it already on the client's computer.
Otherwise, your end-user will have to download and install the framework first before the installer in VS.NET 2003 will install
your application. (that has been my experience........YMMV)
There is a tool (not free) called Thinstall, that will extract needed portions of the Framework for an application and add them
to it's install program.
james

 

[Timothy Casey]

Yes, you are wrong. The only way to bypass the need for the DotNet

Framework is to have it already on the client's computer.

Otherwise, your end-user will have to download and install the framework

first before the installer in VS.NET 2003 will install

your application. (that has been my experience........YMMV)
There is a tool (not free) called Thinstall, that will extract needed

portions of the Framework for an application and add them

to it's install program.
james

For users with the Framework (all XPsp2+ & Server 2003 users), are there any
other dependencies I need to bundle with the application or does the
Framework cover everything?

Thanks in Advance...

 

[james]

"james" <jjames700ReMoVeMe at earthlink dot net> wrote in message

For users with the Framework (all XPsp2+ & Server 2003 users), are there any
other dependencies I need to bundle with the application or does the
Framework cover everything?

Thanks in Advance...

Only dependencies that you specify that are not normally a part of the Framework. For example , custom controls and any
graphics that your application needs. Also, if your application is a database application, you need to be sure that any drivers
specific to the database is present. I am sure there are other situations that will require you to include files that are not
normally part of the Framework or Windows itself.
Just remember that even though it (your application) works fine on your computer, it may not on your end-user's system. I make
a checklist of things I know my application needs that may not be on the clients system so that I can build a working install.
Then, I install my application on a test system to see how well the installation goes. I also keep a Ghost image of the Test
computer with nothing but a bare install of Windows XP on it. After the first test or two, I wipe the drive and re-install from
the Ghost image.
That way, I can have a fairly good idea how well my application will install. I also , keep a second hard drive & image with
Win98SE on them. Same thing there. Makes for some extra work, but, it beats having people calling and emailing over install
issues. (not that it covers every situation, but, helps most of the time)
Good luck.
james