package and deploy VISUAL C++ 6 app with MFC - I AM SO DESPERATE!!!

[Guest]

I am trying DESPERATELY to package and deploy a visual c++ 6 application which uses MFC. My application runs without problem on the developer's (my) machine -windows xp. But I can't figure out how to make the app run on other people's machines which are also running XP!!!!

SHORT QUESTION:
How do I package a visual c++ 6 app? Do I need different versions for different OS's?


EXPLANATION:
First I tried to copy my app's .exe file to the other computer, run it, watched which DLL's it complained about, found them on the developer machine, and copied them to the target machine. That lame idea worked for awhile, and now my app just crashes.

So then I tried to do what I thought was the right way. I used depends.exe and redistrib.txt (or something) to figure out which DLL's I can (need?) to include (according to M$'s documentation). GULP! Does this mean I have to look at every single DLL and check to see if it's on the list!?!? There's over 50 DLL's for my SIMPLE project!! I used a free packaging tool to do this and it didn't seem like it was going to figure out which DLL's I need. There's gotta be a packager that figures out what stuff you need and puts them in a single MSI or exe file. If this exists, what is the cheapest one and what is it's name?

W.L. Gardner
WWWSoftware
Fargo, ND

 

[Jan Roelof de Pijper]

I am trying DESPERATELY to package and deploy a visual c++ 6 application which uses MFC. My application runs without problem on the developer's (my) machine -windows xp. But I can't figure out how to make the app run on other people's machines which are also running XP!!!!

SHORT QUESTION:
How do I package a visual c++ 6 app? Do I need different versions for different OS's?


EXPLANATION:
First I tried to copy my app's .exe file to the other computer, run it, watched which DLL's it complained about, found them on the developer machine, and copied them to the target machine. That lame idea worked for awhile, and now my app just crashes.

So then I tried to do what I thought was the right way. I used depends.exe and redistrib.txt (or something) to figure out which DLL's I can (need?) to include (according to M$'s documentation). GULP! Does this mean I have to look at every single DLL and check to see if it's on the list!?!? There's over 50 DLL's for my SIMPLE project!! I used a free packaging tool to do this and it didn't seem like it was going to figure out which DLL's I need. There's gotta be a packager that figures out what stuff you need and puts them in a single MSI or exe file. If this exists, what is the cheapest one and what is it's name?

W.L. Gardner
WWWSoftware
Fargo, ND

I think that if in step 5 of the MFC AppWizard you say that want the
MFC library linked statically rather than as a shared DLL you should
have no problems. Your exe will be substantially bigger, though ...

Hope this helps,
Jan Roelof