Autorun

Visual Basic >> Autorun

Can anyone direct me to a source for basic, step-by-step instructions
for applying the autorun function to CD's I am creating? There are 5
programs to be included on each CD. I would like for a window to appear
showing the excel icons for the programs, then the user can access and
use the programs from there.

Is autorun applied to the CD prior to, at the same time or after the
excel programs are applied to the CD?

Any help would be appreciated.

Dan Gorman

*** Sent via Developersdex http://www.hide-link.com/ ***
Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it!

Visual Studio97

Visual Basic >> Autorun For CD-R, it's obviously going to be at the same time. For CDRW, it
shouldn't matter.

For autorun samples, see: www.planet-source-code.com/vb

--
Regards

Steven Burn
Ur I.T. Mate Group
www.it-mate.co.uk

Keeping it FREE!

Disclaimer:
I know I'm probably wrong, I just like taking part ;o)

>
>
> Can anyone direct me to a source for basic, step-by-step instructions
> for applying the autorun function to CD's I am creating? There are 5
> programs to be included on each CD. I would like for a window to appear
> showing the excel icons for the programs, then the user can access and
> use the programs from there.
>
> Is autorun applied to the CD prior to, at the same time or after the
> excel programs are applied to the CD?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Dan Gorman
>
> *** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***
> Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it!

Visual Basic >> Autorun Have a look at some CDs you have already: you can open the Autorun.inf file
with a text editor. It's usually not much more than the name of an exe, and
optionally an associated icon. By default, Windows looks for this file, and
if found it runs the exe. (You can tell Windows to do this with floppies,
too, which is a cheaper way to debug your setup routine.)

Bear in mind that you can't easily run a VB exe from a CD unless the user
has VB installed on their machine already.

>
>
> Can anyone direct me to a source for basic, step-by-step instructions
> for applying the autorun function to CD's I am creating? There are 5
> programs to be included on each CD. I would like for a window to appear
> showing the excel icons for the programs, then the user can access and
> use the programs from there.
>
> Is autorun applied to the CD prior to, at the same time or after the
> excel programs are applied to the CD?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Dan Gorman
>
> *** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***
> Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it!

Visual Basic >> Autorun Autorun CD's are created by simply adding an Autorun.inf file to the root
directory of the CD..

Heres a link that will give you the details of the Autorun.inf;
http://autorun.moonvalley.com/autoruninf.htm

--
Chris Hanscom
MVP (Visual Basic)
http://www.veign.com
Application Design Section
http://www.veign.com/information/application/info_app.html
------

>
>
> Can anyone direct me to a source for basic, step-by-step instructions
> for applying the autorun function to CD's I am creating? There are 5
> programs to be included on each CD. I would like for a window to appear
> showing the excel icons for the programs, then the user can access and
> use the programs from there.
>
> Is autorun applied to the CD prior to, at the same time or after the
> excel programs are applied to the CD?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Dan Gorman
>
> *** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***
> Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it!

Visual Basic >> Autorun Actually they dont need VB on their system, just the VB Runtime Files and
any other dependencies of the Application...

--
Chris Hanscom
MVP (Visual Basic)
http://www.veign.com
Application Design Section
http://www.veign.com/information/application/info_app.html
------

> Have a look at some CDs you have already: you can open the Autorun.inf
file
> with a text editor. It's usually not much more than the name of an exe,
and
> optionally an associated icon. By default, Windows looks for this file,
and
> if found it runs the exe. (You can tell Windows to do this with floppies,
> too, which is a cheaper way to debug your setup routine.)
>
> Bear in mind that you can't easily run a VB exe from a CD unless the user
> has VB installed on their machine already.
>
>

> >
> >
> > Can anyone direct me to a source for basic, step-by-step instructions
> > for applying the autorun function to CD's I am creating? There are 5
> > programs to be included on each CD. I would like for a window to appear
> > showing the excel icons for the programs, then the user can access and
> > use the programs from there.
> >
> > Is autorun applied to the CD prior to, at the same time or after the
> > excel programs are applied to the CD?
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated.
> >
> > Dan Gorman
> >
> > *** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***
> > Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it!
>
>

Visual Basic >> Autorun This works but try ejecting the CD while the autorun is running, kaboom!!

An alternative is to use a webpage, you need an exe that will run the web page because an autorun won't run a htm file directly but
this can be written in C or delphi or even vb or can be pinched from another CD that does the same thing (most CDs found on
magazines will do).

--
Michael Culley

> Actually they dont need VB on their system, just the VB Runtime Files and
> any other dependencies of the Application...
>
> --
> Chris Hanscom
> MVP (Visual Basic)
> http://www.veign.com
> Application Design Section
> http://www.veign.com/information/application/info_app.html
> ------

> > Have a look at some CDs you have already: you can open the Autorun.inf
> file
> > with a text editor. It's usually not much more than the name of an exe,
> and
> > optionally an associated icon. By default, Windows looks for this file,
> and
> > if found it runs the exe. (You can tell Windows to do this with floppies,
> > too, which is a cheaper way to debug your setup routine.)
> >
> > Bear in mind that you can't easily run a VB exe from a CD unless the user
> > has VB installed on their machine already.
> >
> >

> > >
> > >
> > > Can anyone direct me to a source for basic, step-by-step instructions
> > > for applying the autorun function to CD's I am creating? There are 5
> > > programs to be included on each CD. I would like for a window to appear
> > > showing the excel icons for the programs, then the user can access and
> > > use the programs from there.
> > >
> > > Is autorun applied to the CD prior to, at the same time or after the
> > > excel programs are applied to the CD?
> > >
> > > Any help would be appreciated.
> > >
> > > Dan Gorman
> > >
> > > *** Sent via Developersdex http://www.developersdex.com ***
> > > Don't just participate in USENET...get rewarded for it!
> >
> >
>
>

Visual Basic >> Autorun

> >
> > Bear in mind that you can't easily run a VB exe from a CD unless the user
> > has VB installed on their machine already.
>
> Actually they dont need VB on their system, just the VB Runtime Files and
> any other dependencies of the Application...

Or nothing at all, if you're willing to use *16-bit* VB to write the autorun App,
and include the support _file_ VBRUN300.DLL in the root directory.

<http://obob.com/vb/vbautorun.zip>
contains VB 3.0 source for a generic autorun.exe
which takes its cues from a tiny XML file

The exe should also be in that zip, for those who don't have VB3 to make it,
and VBRUN300.zip can be downloaded from the same directory.

I really ought to update that page to show the contents in there which are newer
than VB5<g> Some day...

Bob
--
VB expert looking for work <http://obob.com/bob/resume/>

Visual Basic >> Autorun

>>>
>>> Bear in mind that you can't easily run a VB exe from a CD unless the user
>>> has VB installed on their machine already.
>>
>> Actually they dont need VB on their system, just the VB Runtime Files and
>> any other dependencies of the Application...
>
> Or nothing at all, if you're willing to use *16-bit* VB to write the autorun
> App, and include the support _file_ VBRUN300.DLL in the root directory.
^^^^
You misspelled "same" -- hth! :-)
--
[Microsoft Basic: 1976-2001, RIP]

Visual Basic >> Autorun

>
>
> Can anyone direct me to a source for basic, step-by-step instructions
> for applying the autorun function to CD's I am creating? There are 5
> programs to be included on each CD. I would like for a window to appear
> showing the excel icons for the programs, then the user can access and
> use the programs from there.
>
> Is autorun applied to the CD prior to, at the same time or after the
> excel programs are applied to the CD?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>

Nothing fancy about it....basically just create a file named AUTORUN.INF in
the root folder of the CD and a startup program (which can be in the root
but doesn't have to be). AUTORUN.INF is just a text file that contains
commands and directives, such as the program that should be run, the icon to
display in Explorer, and a few other things. You would have to write the
program yourself which shows these excel icons and provides the means for
launching other programs on the CD. This program would be your startup
program (the one specified to run in AUTORUN.INF).

For more information, see the following (and its subtopics):

Creating an AutoRun-enabled CD-ROM Application

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/programmersguide/shell_basics/shell_basics_extending/autorun/autoplay_intro.asp

(watch out for that URL having wrapped, possibly several times)

The problem is that if your launcher program is a VB program, it very well
may need to be installed before even it can be run. The program could still
exist on the CD if desired, but at a minimum, the VB runtime file (and its
dependency files) and any OCXs or other dependency files would need
installed to the user's hard drive. You would also have to be careful to
ensure that the installation program also installs any dependencies used by
the other 5 programs on the CD, even though the launcher for these programs
might not use them. Because of the runtime dependencies of VB programs,
they don't always lend themselves well to being autorun programs. You need
to consider your target audience. For example, if this CD will only be
distributed to users who have Windows 2000 or greater, you might be OK
because these versions of Windows include the core VB6 runtime so an
installation MAY not be necessary (the launcher, as well as the other 5
programs, would have to rely on nothing but intrinsic VB controls).

Mike