modifying distributed applications

[imanon]

I have previously distributed an application using LW/CVI  v7.x and I now have a need to make a minor modification to it.  Will I need to redistribute the entire application & uninstall the old application on the target PC or is there a shortcut I can take like just replacing certain files on the target machine?  Thanks!

[RobertoBozzolo]

Well, it depends on the weight and importance of the modifications.

A typical application may consist of some or all of these items:

- The CVI Rte

- NI-DAQ support

- Some support DLLs

- Your executable

- Some UIR files

- Some support file (configuration files, data files and so on)

Since you are speaking of "minor modifications" I assume that none of the first 3 items is to be modified / updated; on the other hand, since presumably the last item includes files that contain user data it is better not to substitute them with some "default" file.

Given this, your update is likely to include only the executable and some of the UIR files of your application. In this situation I personally tend to send to my customer only the updated files but keep in mind that my applications are almost unique (one application-one customer) and that normally my customers are able / prefere to execute the update manually. In other scenarios, you may want to create a distribution kit with only the updated files not including the RTE and so on.

As a principle, supposing no interaction issue is present (e.g. UIRs with changed panel names, added or removed controls and so on) you may update every individual file without problem.

[imanon]

thank your for your reply.  I am a novice at distributing applications, having done it only the one time.  The application is a simple test app that reads a piece of GPIB equipment on the target PC & writes out the data to a file.  It worked fine as is on the customer's hardware but now they want an additional control on the gui to specify how long the test application is to run.  I added the contol & the supporting code.  Now I need to know exactly what I need to do to update his system?  WHat files need to be updated on the target to run the new (updated) application?  Thanks again,

ajw

[RobertoBozzolo]

Not knowing the  application in detail, I can guess the UIR file(s) and the executable are surely to be shipped to the customer.

From what you say it seems that no other files are involved but I would suggest that you create a test environment on your machine with the old configuration, next simulate the update copying these files and seeing if some error is reported during program execution.

[imanon]

will do.....thanks again!