RE: Windows installer

[Philip Nienhuis]

John Donoghue-2 wrote
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John W. Eaton [mailto:

> jwe@

> ] 
> Sent: Monday, January 06, 2014 10:02 AM
> To: John D
> Cc: 'octave maintainers mailing list'
> Subject: Re: Windows installer
> 
> On 01/06/2014 09:45 AM, John D wrote:
> 
>> I thought about the compiled packages for a while and I think it is 
>> going to be hard to do on a cross build system - the easier way to do 
>> this will be create the compiled packages on a native machine and then 
>> include them as binaries in the cross build system.
> 
> I agree that it is not easy now, but longer term I'd like to be able to
> cross compile the packages.
> 
> jwe
> 
> ---
> 
> How about for now changing the run octave checkbox on the installer to
> "Install provided packages" and at the end of the install, have it run the
> build_packages.m script ?

That check box had better be called "Build provided packages (may take some
time!)" 
(it takes ~10 minutes to build the original 10 or so packages included in
the first mxe builds on my 2.5 Ghz Core DUo WinXP box).


While we're here, the build_packages script may require some changes:

1. Many developers here think that packages shouldn't be loaded by default.
So should the "-auto" flags be changed into "-noauto"?

2. At the end of build_packages some message is needed to inform users that
packages must be loaded (+ how to do that) before they can be used.

3. The "-global" flag makes no difference, that is, not on my 3 Windows
boxes; it can be dropped I think unless it works or is required on Mac OSX.
Besides, the Windows installer makes shortcuts (Start Menu, desktop) for the
current user only.

4. The build-packages script sometimes fails (for packages that I added
manually).
Perhaps a try-catch around each pkg install command, or around pkg install
commands for sets of interdependent packages, could be handy.


As to 3., I think we also need a radio button for installation for current
user or all users (Admin priviliges required for the latter). Inside the
make_installscript.sh at some place the NSIS command "setShellVarContext"
should be set accordingly
(http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Reference/SetShellVarContext), plus maybe (as
per http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Shortcuts_removal_fails_on_Windows_Vista)
RequestExecutionLevel user
RequestExecutionLevel admin

Philip




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