Creating and Editing Windows Self-Installing Executables
Getting WISE about WSIE(?)!
For the people who have never heard of this product before, the Wise Installation System by Great Lakes Business Solutions creates and edits Windows Self-Installing Executables. It uses an installation script to determine which files to install and where the files are copied to. The end-user does not need any software (other than Windows itself) to install the Wise executable. When they run the program under Windows, the program extracts the files from itself and installs them onto the client system.
The Wise Installation System achieves great flexibility in creating professional quality installation programs. Some of the features
that are supported in both the 16 and 32 bit editions are:
Have you ever asked yourself "Which DLLs and VBXs do I have to ship with my EXE?"? When an .EXE file is added to the script, the Wise Compiler can check for any DLL/VBX dependencies to that file, which is very useful. It is also possible to make calls to DLL based functions, such as retrieving icons stored in a DLL for your applications program group. Provided with Wise is a freely distributable uninstaller that you can ship with your applications. There is long filename support under Windows NT and Window 95, and you can have password Protected Installations.
The new features of Wise 4.0 offer extensive support for Win95 and NT. The Custom Graphics Editor creates and edits metafile-based graphics. This editor is included within Wise and fully supports multi-lingual installations. This also means that you do not have to rely on "PaintBrush" or any other graphics application. For better scaling graphics are now object, instead of pixel, based. Wise 3.0 offered minimal effects of images whereas with version 4.0 you can accomplish the same quality output and functionality that the Microsoft install processes are known for. The "Timed bitmap display" function can be used to display a series of graphics evenly throughout the installation. This works with both the Custom Graphic and Display Graphic script items. You can advertise your company, or range of products, or remind your users to fill in a registration card!
The Win16 and Win32 editions of Wise read and write the same files and create identical installation EXEs. Quoting GLBS, "the advantage of the Win32 edition is memory protection & compile speed". I did not see huge difference in compile speed between 16 and 32 bit editions, though my "install script" was fairly small consisting of 30 files and no graphic displays. Changes have been made to the "Script Assistant", and it now supports Windows 95 specific features, as well as the Borland Database Engine; automatic replacement of in-use files and Shortcuts/Shell Links for Windows 95. A personal favourite of mine is the ability to cut/paste between dialogs in the "Custom Dialog Editor", using the new feature of selecting multiple controls and assigning different font styles for display messages. Wise 4.0 offers automatic conversion of CD-ROM to floppy installations, 32-bit ODBC installations support, OEM character set support for international installations and support for self-registering DLLs/OCXs through compilation.
Wise 3.0 was known for its functionality, versatility and robustness and those attributes have certainly carried on to Wise 4.0 with its new features and 16 and 32 bit environments.
The product is priced at $279. For upgrade pricing contact our Sales staff, and for a Trial Version of "Wise 4.0" please contact myself, orders@gui.com.au, or phone GUI Computing on 61-(03) 9804 3999.
