Re: [Installbase-devel] Installbase, existing "setup(.exe), etc...

[Damon C. <da...@yo...>]

> Herein lies the problem The help files don't. I imagine that the first step 
> would be to simply include the existing setup and it's files in one node, 
> specifying the existing setup(.exe) etc. But, how do we set up the templates 
> and other extras? 
> 
> This is complicated because the existing installer must (for a Multi-user 
> install) be run first as admin (root), then since this produces another 
> setup(.exe) in the install directory, that installer must be run as a normal 
> user, otherwise only the admin or root user can run OO.o It is during this 
> initial install that the templates etc need to be installed as well, as they 
> need to go in a directory of the base install.
> 
> So, we need to firstly run the existing installer with the correct flags, then 
> we need to install the extras. The next part of the setup is not so bad, as 
> the first time a user tries to run O.o, the setup will automatically fire up. 
> We can for now ignore that.
> 
> I (and I would guess Laurent) would appreciate any suggestions. For example, 
> with the extras, how best to configure the installation process? Assistance 
> will be gratefully received...

    Well, InstallBase doesn't currently allow for a lot of what you're
trying to do, but with a little twiddling, it's quite easy to accomplish.
I'm even willing to help with the project if you like.  It shouldn't be
that tough to accomplish your goals.

    Since this is part of the CDROM project, can we assume that this
installer will always be run from a CDROM?  If so, there's no need to
pack the current OO.o installer at all.  Just run it from the CD.

    Here are the basics:

1. Add current OO.o installer to a file group (if not always on a CD).
2. Add extras and templates to separate file groups.  You can then popup
   the custom setup panel and let the user choose which parts to install.
3. In order to accomplish your goal, you'll need to add a new, custom
   install pane to the install.  This is where I can help you quite a bit.
   It won't take but a few minutes for me to add this panel for you.

   If the OO.o installer is packed in the install, this new pane needs to
   first unpack it into a temp directory.  The pane will have a little
   progress bar for this.  If we're running from a CD, we simply execute
   the OO.o installer and wait until it exits.

   This pane will go directly before the "Copying Files" pane.  We can
   popup a message saying "Running OpenOffice.org install..." and run
   the OO.o installer.  Once it exits, InstallBase will immediately jump
   to the next pane, which is the "Copying Files" and copy all of the
   templates and extras the user selected as well as any other install
   components.


    That's pretty much it.  In the next version of InstallBase, all of
this will be much easier as panes and components will be able to placed
in any order during installation.  That's a little ways off though.

    If you would like my assistance with the project, I would love to
help you guys out.  If you send me a zip file of what's going into
the install with a little description of what is what, I can probably
build you the install in no time.

    If not, I'm always here to answer questions. 0-]

Thanks,

Damon