Install 2 variants of the same prog

[gdargaud]

Hello all,

I have a project B, branched from a project A. They are both with ongoing development. Both in different directories, all code duplicated in each directories (and verified that there isn't any criss-crossing). Projects and target executables have different names.

Now I create a distributions for each. I install B first. Then I try to install A on the same machine, but it refuses, saying that there's already a newer version. It's not completely wrong, but since the names and directories (as well as target directories) are different, how come it believes that the two installers are for the same program ?!?

In [Target settings] the version numbers for A are lower than for B, as it should be.

In [Edit installer][General] the version number is set to auto-increment and B is higher than A but why should it matter if both names and output dirs are different ?!?

If I install A, then B, A disapears from C:\Program Files\. Why is that ?

I grepped the .prj and .cds files and see no dir or target names in common.

[RobertoBozzolo · Accepted solution]

You may have problems derived from both projects sharing the same GUID (Globally Unique Identifier): this number is created when you define a distribution, so if you happen to have copied the whole project to a different folder including the .cds file, you are having the same GUID for both projects. If this is true, for the installer you are really installing two copies of the same application and so you cannot downgrade it and installing a newer one will delete the previous one.

I've never found myself in the same situation as you, but I suppose you can create a new GUID for one application of yours by deleting the .cds file and creating a new distribution, since GUID is stored inside the .cds file.

Another alternative can be to go to the General tab of your distributions and select Side-by-Side option.

This is the guide for creating a distribution which you can also find in CVI help: it is the basic reference when studying the distribution features.

[gdargaud]

I didn't want to configure a new distribution because it took long enough to get that one right !

And I didn't want to use side-by-side because there should be only one install of either version, and they receive constant updates.

So I just changed the GUID in the .cds and the .prj file (same number, just search for it), and it installed separately from the other instance. Now either one can evolve separately.

Thanks, that was a great help.

[RobertoBozzolo]

The process of creating a distribution can be accelerated in that you can create  a new one deriving settings from an existing distribution. I just did a fast test and the new distribution got a completely different GUID noy only with different projects bu even with two distributions created on the same exact project.