Detect and install .Net framework if required

[battler.]

Most of our LV apps have dependencies which require the .Net framework.

Some of the customer PCs do not have .Net installed (at least the required version i.e. 4.0+) which after installation causes the error message "Full Development version of LabVIEW required..." and the app won't run.

I am surprised the application builder does not include the .Net framework as an optional Installer as it includes MS Silverlight.  I guess the LV RTE does not require it.

I need a dependable method of detecting if .Net is installed on a PC and installing the .Net framework if required during installation.  Would this be done through the registry?

I know of this KB article:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/51698977FC8DA9E48625760E00689C5E

I know the build option to "run application after installation" but this is not optional (does not involve a check if it's required).  It's not ideal.

Thanks.

[Sam_Sharp · Accepted solution]

If you look at the .NET developers guide here it gives the information on doing silent installs and how to detect if the .NET framework is installed (i.e. which registry key to look at)

You can either: 

1) Include the .NET redistributable and run it with the silent or passive flag (/q) after the install - it shouldn't install it/do anything if it is already present.

2) Create a simple LabVIEW executable that runs after the install and does the detection of whether it is installed and runs the installer.

There are also web-based versions of the redistributable that will detect/download/install .NET if required - this is obviously only useful if your target has an internet connection.

[battler.]

Thank you Sam.