I finally got around to testing INNO Setup. I haven't used a "pro" software so I had no preconceived ideas when I started about a week ago.

I plan to "market" my software to maintain an inventory of electronic components using those handy drawer cabinets, along with a barcode that could be used on an android phone and bluetooth link to a PC. I have some work to do on finishing this app, but I figured I'd get a head start on preparing for deployment (never done one).

I am impressed.
INNO has been able to do everything I needed; starting with a basic format, saving each new version and adding one feature at a time. That way I always had a working copy to fallback on.

I have to admit that knowledge of fiddling with the registry is an advantage, but you can get away with ZERO knowledge on registry and let INNO do everything for you.

Same with custom pages, my experience as programmer has been valuable in copying and pasting working code from forums and modifying to suit my needs. INNO script is in Pascal, a language I learned waaaay back in college. It is a very friendly language, a lot less intimidating as C, so don't be afraid to experiment with simple features.

I haven't played with version control 'cause my ACCESS Programs and Databases as in separate folders. When I Uninstall, Setup makes a backup of the Databases in a separate folder. During an update, I will just re-uninstall the ACCESS Programs and copy the Databases back in the appropriate folder. I prefer to keep a simplified approach to managing this application.

I've also invested in buying a End User Licences Agreement, under $20 at https://termsfeed.com/blog/what-are-eula-agreements/.

While I was at it, I also bought a License Key generator at http://skgenerator.vclexamples.com/. It supports many software and generates code that goes directly in INNO, super simple and extremely well made; supports both offline and online registration processes. I kept it simple, generated myself a list of 10,000 license keys used for offline mode with 4 blocks of 4 upper-case letters and numbers.

I have one task to figure out, how to make Access 2002 link dynamic Databases. That's a "fancy feature", at worst I could leave instructions to the user on how to do it from within Access.

I could also take a pic of a real cabinet and use it as icon and pic within the Setup exe.

SETUP.EXE using INNO SETUP p1 by Robert H, on Flickr

SETUP.EXE using INNO SETUP p2 by Robert H, on Flickr

Something's wrrong with the link counter, it says I had 4 when I had only 3 in the post.

(trying Flickr for first time, got fed up with sloooooow pages on Photobucket)


Robert