NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING - Printable Version
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+------ Thread: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING (/showthread.php?tid=40442)
NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by daniel142005 on 03-18-2005 at 06:23 AM
I just made a new plugin in vb.net and i cant get it to install on any other computer but mine. all other computers will not recognize it. ive tried using the installer.... and doing it manually, but i cant get either to work. What am i doing wrong? can some1 plz help me
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by Ash_ on 03-18-2005 at 07:07 AM
quote:do your friends have the VB.NET Runtimes/Dlls installed?
Originally posted by daniel142005
I just made a new plugin in vb.net and i cant get it to install on any other computer but mine. all other computers will not recognize it. ive tried using the installer.... and doing it manually, but i cant get either to work. What am i doing wrong? can some1 plz help me
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by daniel142005 on 03-18-2005 at 07:50 AM
i didnt give it to my friends to test, i have 2 computers, and i tried sending the dll unregistered to the other computer and registering it on that computer.... and it still didnt work. ( i have the .net redistribution v2 beta installed on that computer )
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by RaceProUK on 03-18-2005 at 09:26 AM
Make sure you're registering it in the correct folder. Also, ensure you're using regasm, not regsvr32.
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by daniel142005 on 03-18-2005 at 08:38 PM
i am using regasm, and it is in the correct folder, but it still wont recognize it, the information for the plugin is in the registry and it works just fine on my computer. Is there a way i could maybe convert it to c/c++ and make it work that way? (i dont know c/c++ but is there a program for it or somthing???) and i tried installing it with the plugin installer, but it doesnt even add the information to the registry.
here is the exact steps i have taken:
1. Shutdown Messenger
2. Added it to Registered Plugins, in the registry
3. Copied the DLL to the plugins directory
4. Registered the DLL in the plugin's directory with RegAsm
5. Loaded Messenger
Did i miss a step? or are they supposed to be in a different order???
because it still isnt detecting it.
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and i have a reature request for Messenger Plus, maybe an advanced plugin detection thing, that will notice its there and tell you whats missing, like if it needs to be registered, or if its not listed in the registered plugins.
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by daniel142005 on 10-03-2005 at 03:05 AM
for future reference, if you are using the messenger api, make sure they have the updated version of Windows Messenger 
, the person i was testing it with was using dialup at the time and never got around to downloading the update, so the messenger api didnt even exist... lol
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by J-Thread on 10-03-2005 at 06:51 AM
WOW wait that can help me!
No messenger API you say, isn't that standard in MSN? Where to download it?
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by CookieRevised on 10-03-2005 at 02:17 PM
quote:You need to have Windows Messenger installed AND enabled (aka: do not use those crappy advisements of disabling Windows Messenger as this will break many things, incl. the API). See CookieRevised's reply to I am about to rip my hair out over MS Messanger
Originally posted by J-Thread
WOW wait that can help me!
No messenger API you say, isn't that standard in MSN? Where to download it?
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by J-Thread on 10-03-2005 at 04:32 PM
Hmmm, but on a standard windows 98 install... Windows messenger is installed isn't it? So that doesn't help me...
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by CookieRevised on 10-03-2005 at 09:27 PM
quote:AFAIK, only on XP Windows Messenger is pre-installed. Then again, I don't have a fresh copy of 98 here.... Anyways, just check your program files folder for Windows Messenger to see if it is installed...
Originally posted by J-Thread
Hmmm, but on a standard windows 98 install... Windows messenger is installed isn't it? So that doesn't help me...
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by matty on 10-03-2005 at 10:00 PM
quote:The folder itself is called Messenger not Windows Messenger.
Originally posted by CookieRevised
Windows Messenger
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by J-Thread on 10-04-2005 at 04:18 PM
I didn't check, but I assume this is the problem because I couldn't find another problem.
But the question is, how can an installer update (or even install) windows messenger correctly? I hate to just place text on my site saying "you must download this and this and then do that". I want my installer to do it all 
. I already does download dotnetfx from the microsoft servers when the .NET FrameWork isn't installed...
So where to get the update? Off course I want a minimum version. And is there any registry key or something to check if the Messenger API has already been installed?
RE: RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by CookieRevised on 10-04-2005 at 05:03 PM
[OFF TOPIC]
quote:I meant it as in "check your program folders to see if the program called Windows Messenger is there somewhere" I didn't explicitly mention the directory because that could be anything (if the user has disabled it using some crappy method (aka: renaming the directory))
Originally posted by Matty
quote:The folder itself is called Messenger not Windows Messenger.
Originally posted by CookieRevised
Windows Messenger
my apology for being a bit to vague about it...[/OFF TOPIC]
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quote:By using very strict and correct methods. Among them is checking the registry for the Windows Messenger GUID and in that way determining its path. Then checking version numbers, checking if dependant libraries (dll's) are installed/registered and what not, etc... etc... etc...
Originally posted by J-Thread
But the question is, how can an installer update (or even install) windows messenger correctly?
quote:I do not recommend doing that! Although it _might_ be user-friendly at first sight, it actually isn't. This is because such frameworks can be updated and what not. You must realy be carefull if you do that and you must use proper methods to determine version numbers and what not. It isn't so strait forward as you might think at all! Code to do this all automatically is long and consists of many many checks and stuff. Not to mention the simple fact that some people do not want this kind of auto-install stuff going on without their consent!!! For all they know you are installing on older version of the framework (or even stuff you shouldn't install)...
Originally posted by J-Thread
I hate to just place text on my site saying "you must download this and this and then do that". I want my installer to do it all
Trust upon the user instead, explain what they need and where they can download it. And thus let them decide if they want it or not, if they need it or not, and thus what is installed on their computer or not.
quote:All current updates can be found on the microsoft download center (mind you that brand new updates take a few days/weeks to be available on the download center though).
Originally posted by J-Thread
So where to get the update?
quote:Check its GUID (IIRC {53CED51D-432B-45B2-A3E0-0CE2C24235D4}). If that is there _chances_ are that it is installed. Or better: was installed at some point (the user could've manually deleted the program without deleting/updating the reg keys. Hence, again, be very carefull in auto-installing stuff like that!!!)
Originally posted by J-Thread
Off course I want a minimum version. And is there any registry key or something to check if the Messenger API has already been installed?
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by J-Thread on 10-04-2005 at 06:50 PM
quote:
I do not recommend doing that! Although it _might_ be user-friendly at first sight, it actually isn't. This is because such frameworks can be updated and what not. You must realy be carefull if you do that and you must use proper methods to determine version numbers and what not. It isn't so strait forward as you might think at all! Code to do this all automatically is long and consists of many many checks and stuff. Not to mention the simple fact that some people do not want this kind of auto-install stuff going on without their consent!!! For all they know you are installing on older version of the framework (or even stuff you shouldn't install)...
That's a good point. I know all this and I really tried to be as user friendly as possible. The method I use to get the framework version is not a simple one. I does loop trough a couple of registry values to get the latest installed version. It does work with all the versions know at the moment (at least the version I did test with). If the framework isn't found, a new page is showed in the installer. It tells the user the framework isn't found, and that its recommended to install it. The user can uncheck the box, get's another warning when clicking yes, but can choose to not install the framework.
If it is checked the file is downloaded from the microsoft server, and it's the file microsoft marks as the right file for redistributing. Then it is installed.
About the versions, it isn't possible to overwrite a newer version in this method. If my check does fail, I'm sure the dotnetfx.exe file also does a check to see if there are already newer versions installed. And, if there are newer (stable) versions, the file may be updated once I think.
So, I think we have the same thougts about it, but instead of sending the user to the microsoft download center to download that file, I let my setup do it. It is a choice I made and I did think about it...
About that windows messenger thing, thanks for that registry key. I'll test a couple of things at the windows 98 machine tomorrow, I hope i can finally find the problem.
RE: RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by CookieRevised on 10-05-2005 at 04:34 PM
quote:
Originally posted by J-Thread
That's a good point. I know all this and I really tried to be as user friendly as possible. The method I use to get the framework version is not a simple one. I does loop trough a couple of registry values to get the latest installed version. It does work with all the versions know at the moment (at least the version I did test with). If the framework isn't found, a new page is showed in the installer. It tells the user the framework isn't found, and that its recommended to install it. The user can uncheck the box, get's another warning when clicking yes, but can choose to not install the framework.
quote:Many things found on the download center are marked as redistributable. But redistributable doesn't mean that it is the correct file. If a file is marked "redistributable" it means you can physically add it to your own installer. If a file is marked as "not-redistributable", it means that you may not attach the physical file to your own installer because different versions and types of that file may exist on different OS's or different OS's need different versions, etc... Instead the user should download it from the official and proper source (from the download center for example after selecting the correct OS or what not).
Originally posted by J-Thread
If it is checked the file is downloaded from the microsoft server, and it's the file microsoft marks as the right file for redistributing.
Being redistributable doesn't mean it is the correct latest version...
quote:Possible, but experienced has tought me this isn't always the case. Some files/installer on the download center do not check for this. I'm not saying this is the case for the .NET framework though, but it is a possebility (if not now, maybe in the future)...
Originally posted by J-Thread
About the versions, it isn't possible to overwrite a newer version in this method. If my check does fail, I'm sure the dotnetfx.exe file also does a check to see if there are already newer versions installed.
quote:You mean on the download center? Not always! In some cases, MS updates the current available download, in other cases it creates a new download page with another unique id number. This can even change from update to update. eg: the link to MSN Messenger in the download center is only sometimes updated to a newer version, and sometimes the old version is left and a new download page (with another unique id) is created...
Originally posted by J-Thread
And, if there are newer (stable) versions, the file may be updated once I think.
In short: you can't always trust on that to always have the latest download. You need to manually search and check if there isn't a newer download available on another page.
quote:anyways, without trying your install or what not, from what you just told me, it seems ok (with the note that it still _could_ download an outdated version in the future though)...
Originally posted by J-Thread
So, I think we have the same thougts about it, but instead of sending the user to the microsoft download center to download that file, I let my setup do it. It is a choice I made and I did think about it...
RE: NEW PLUGIN IN VB.NET NOT WORKING by J-Thread on 10-05-2005 at 04:44 PM
I totally agree with that, but if it may happen, I think it is the users own fault. There always is an option to not install it...
quote:
In short: you can't always trust on that to always have the latest download. You need to manually search and check if there isn't a newer download available on another page.
True, but it is a version that is working, the reason I let the setup download it is not to give the user the latest framework version, but to let my application work. And with this version my application does work!