Here it is early in the morning of Christmas Eve Day, and I have LIDA crowding in on almost every thought. Well, everyone else is still asleep, so I can probably afford to spend some time on it now.
As of right now, we have seven alpha testers and seven more beta testers, and we hope to nearly double that number in the next couple of weeks.
I have been telling the beta testers that the Beta release of LIDA will be ready during the first week of January, which technically ends two weeks from today, so I have my work cut out for me.
There are still two or three things to do in LIDA itself to have it ready for Beta release, but the big issue I’m facing is constructing an installer package for the beta test team.
I have explored – so far – five different installer builder programs, and so far none of them meets my criteria of (a) being easy enough to use so I don’t have to spend a 40-hour week learning how to use it; (b) being affordable; and (c) having the capability to do everything I need it to do, which is to allow the installer to select which files to install, to allow the installer to select/create which directory to install it into, to run an included .exe file if needed after the installation, and to create a desktop and/or Windows 10 menu shortcut for LIDA.
I thought I’d found the solution yesterday with iExpress, which is included free in Windows 10. After wrestling with that app yesterday for several hours, and finally getting it to run (you have to run it as Administrator and choose the long file names option), I found it doesn’t do what I need it to do. Sigh.
Before that, the best option I had found is the open-source NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System), as it seems to have the power to do everything I need, but GOOD GRIEF is that thing a challenge!
In the meantime, I have had to settle for creating a self-extracting archive with all the components, and including in that archive a PDF of instructions on how and when to install the Access runtime and how to build their own shortcut. But this is far more than I want to ask future users/installers of LIDA to do.
So I heave a big sigh and go back to studying how to make NSIS work.
Fingers crossed that either (a) I can figure this out quickly or that (b) I can find a better solution.
I know there IS a better solution, because 20 years ago, I created install packages with Install Shield, and it worked beautifully. But I checked it out and today it costs nearly $1,000 – and with no income coming in from LIDA yet, I’m not ready to shell out that kind of dough.
So wish me well on my installer-builder quest, let me know if you have any ideas on how to do this better, and in the meantime…
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!