Modify Shorcut properties in Distribution Kit

[hopeula]

I am trying to change properties of the shorcut created in kit distribution.
In fact the "Start in" property is set to "." and my shorcut doesn't work. To work properly it must be set to "C:\Program Files\My Application".
Is it possible to set this property when creating distributioin kit ?

[Mert_A.]

Hello,

Are you using CVI version 6.x?  In these versions there was a bug in that "." did not get expanded to the actual installation directory of the application.  This problem is fixed in 7.0 and newer versions of CVI, but if you cannot upgrade, the common fix was to add a call to SetDir to the start of your application to ensure that your working directory is always the directory of the executable. See this thread for details.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Mert A.
National Instruments

[daijoubu]

My fix  to this problem was to use a tool distributed by Microsoft called Orca.  I put the following note in my projects with a screenshot of Orca editing the field (details removed to protect the innocent).

LabWindows CVI version 6 has a bug in it’s Create Distribution Kit.  It does not set the Start In Directory (the working directory) correctly when it creates the shortcut for the installed program.  This will cause the application to not be able to find it’s data and initialization files.  To correct this, you need a tool distributed by Microsoft called Orca.  It’s available in the Platform SDK.

Once you have created the distribution kit, start Orca and use it to open the .msi file.  This is the main installer database for the application. 

The value you want to change is in the Shortcut table.  Change the value in WkDir to show INSTALLDIR.  This will cause the installer to set the Start In Directory to be the same as the installed directory.  This value will also reflect any changes the user might make when they install the application, such as selecting a different drive or directory structure.