Release, Debug and Application Title question

[Ian.W]

I need some help to understand the items in the title of this post, because I'm having trouble getting two different versions of my app to co-exist (installed from a distribution kit).

1. A distribution kit can only be made for the Release version, not the Debug. True or False?

2. In the Target Settings panel, if I change from Debug to Release, are all settings common to the Debug & Release versions, except the Application Name? Does that include all the "Version Info" accessed via that button?

3. I have changed my Application Title in an attempt to have a slightly different stand-alone version installed on a PC. But it wants to uninstall the other one! What needs to be different for them to co-exist? (The difference
between them is not release-vs-debug, by the way.)

3. Must the application file name be different for the release & debug versions?

Thanks for your help!

[Chris Matthews]

1) True. Only release executables can be put in the dist kit from the Wizard.

2) All the target settings are common to both modes EXCEPT the application file name.

3) Installers don't work that way. The installer know the application by an ID called a GUID (globally unique identifier). As long as your installer has the same GUID, it thinks that it is the same application and will try to uninstall the old version. If you want to have two copies of your app installed that are different, you need to change the GUID for the second version of the installer. NOTE: I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND BACKING UP YOUR APPLICATION BEFORE CHANGING THE GUID. That way you would have copies of both GUIDs to do update installers. To change the GUID for your install
er, go to the Advanced tab in the Create Dist Kit dialog and click Generate New GUID.

4) No, but that would mean you couldn't tell from the EXE if it was a debuggable EXE (had all the debug info available in it and the debug files). I wouldn't recommend naming them the same.

Best Regards,

Chris Matthews
National Instruments

[Ian.W]

Great answer - thanks!

Since I do not see "Generate New GUID" in my CVI 6.0, I assume that it is a CVI version 7 feature.

At what point during development will my app end up with a new GUID in version 6? What (how much) needs to be changed?

Is there a way to query the GUID of an app?

Thanks again!

[Chris Matthews]

Your right, that feature was added in CVI 7.0. In CVI 6.0, you would have to manually edit the project file to remove the GUID and generate a new one. Just do this:

1) Open your PRJ file in a text editor.
2) Find the [Distribution Kit] section of the PRJ file.
3) Remove the GUID entry under the [Distribution Kit] section of the PRJ file.

Then, the next time you build a distribution kit, it will generate a new GUID for you. Again, I would backup your project before editing your PRJ file.

Chris

[Al_S]

My answers here are for CVI 6.0.
1. In CVI 6.0 using the MSI installer that shipped with it, you can make a distribution kit of release and debug versions. I use distribution kits for debug versions if I need a quick fix as an interim release. When I get the time to do more testing, I'll build a kit for the release version.
2. As Chris says, all Target Settings except the Application File are common (_dbg automatically gets added in the debug version). You can change the Target Settings (including the Version Info) manually when you switch between the Release and Debug versions.
3. If you save your project under a new name (using File >> Save Project As... in the project window) , you'll get a new GUID when you build a distribution kit using the new project. Rat
her than updating two projects with every change, do all your development in one project. Every time you're ready to release both versions, do another File >> Save Project As...
3 (second 3). You can make the application file names the same for the release and debug version (just manually edit the Application File name in the Target Settings window), but you might want to keep them different to make it more obvious what the difference is. You could choose to make the names the same and put them in different directories.