Use .exe file generated in LabView without installing it

[PaulieQ]

Hi,

I have a LabView application (build -> .exe) deployed on several computers. At the beginning it was simple to make updates because it was installed on 2 PCs. Now there are more than 10 (and still increasing) and I want to write a programm that does the update automatically.

For the moment, I build the labview application, make an installer and install the new version on the computer.

My question is:Can I simply delete the files (data\lv....dll,  myapp.exe, myapp.aliases, myapp.ini) of the old version and copy the new ones? I mean without using an installer.

I've tried it and it worked. But, is there something else that I must know?

Thanks,

Paul

[Gak]

Hi Paul,

I have an Idea, You can make a code,a folder.

A folder called updates where you will put new exe files.

A code (say update.exe) which will look for updates in that folder, if new files are there it will replace them with old files.

So whenever you update your current exe, just send files to 10 PC's. Run this update.exe once. That's it.

I may be thinking a lot and this may not be feasible. But just shared one idea.

[jcarmody]

One extra thing you need to know is that you'll need a new installer if you add any modules not included in your last install.

I often did what you described, but more recently I've begun to include a one-click-build-and-install vi in my projects so I can be sure that an installer will work.  You'll need this if you deploy to a new computer.  "Build early and build often."

[PaulieQ]

Hi Jim,

The link you've sent to me is very interesting. I can further improve and speed up my work.

I have a huge list of improvements for my software but I always postpone them because it takes me more time to install the new version than to correct bugs or add features.

Thanks to your link, I'm thinking to build a completely automatic update. Automatic build (I have !!5 different versions!! for my software), automatic update on the working stations. This could help me to save hours for every update.

I don't have to install any modules. They are already installed on all the PCs. Also now, I make installers without any labview modules. When uninstalling the old version, I uninstall only the application and not the LabView (runtime, daqmx, visa, etc) packages.

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Gaurav,

I will go with this idea: copying exe, alias, dll files directly. I also cannot see any other solution.

Thanks,

Paul