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I found it, c:\program data. The files don't show up in a search!

I should add some code to setup the redirect file in Inno, it is below.

Cheers
Owen

[copy or print]

[Files]
Source: "{#MyAppName}.exe"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion; AfterInstall: MakeDcFile('{#MyAppName}','{app}')
...

[Code]
procedure MakeDcFile(appname: string; instdir: string);
var
  dcf: String;
begin
  dcf := ExpandConstant('{commonappdata}\DonationCoder\DcUpdater\RedirectFiles');
  ForceDirectories(dcf);
  dcf := ExpandConstant('{commonappdata}\DonationCoder\DcUpdater\RedirectFiles\'+appname+'.dcupdateredirect');
  SaveStringToFile(dcf,ExpandConstant(instdir),false);
end;
 

[/code]

Are .dcupdateredirect files used still, on Win7?

Where are they located?

Thanks... Owen

great, thanks

Did you see my further update? When I right click the entry, the drop down list shows the date in mm/dd/yyyy format. That is obviously not urgent, but a sign of inconsistent localisation.

Owen

owen, can you try this version (it's just a new exe so replace existing one with this one):
http://www.donationcoder....loads/beta/DcUppdater.zip

That resolves the date display issue, I can change the day in the XML to 20, and both display correctly.

Owen

PS: I might mention that when I right click the entry, the drop down list shows the date in mm/dd/yyyy format.

ahhh i didnt even notice the blanks.  ok, i'm on it.

See my updated previous posting for more info... Owen

i dont see any problem in that screenshot.. it may have been only certain plugins or other programs that displayed unusually? anyone have a screenshot of where it's wrong?  

Again, I am depending on memory, and it may be wrong, but my recollection after investigating the thing was that the blank date display is because the date appears to be invalid (eg month>12) due to localisation problems.

Do you have another explanation for the blanks in the date column?

I have just edited the dcupdate.xml file for fsm in the attachment to day from 2 to 20 and it causes a blank date display. The date in the XML file displayed below is 2 July 2010.

Owen

i remember it but could you show me a screenshot of how it looks for you?

My recollection is that the problem is deeper than just display, that date processing needs to be reviewed to see that where appropriate, localisation is performed.

Owen

Mouser,

If/when you get to do some revisions to dcUpdater:

Version dates do not display sometimes in the main dcUpdater window... seems sensitive to date and I think probably an internationalisation issue (I use dd/mm/yyyy format).

...

Mouser, it seems this continues to be an unresolved issue a couple of years later.

Owen

yes i saw that -- doesn't really pose a risk to dcupdater though. -- at least i can't see any way for it to be exploited to make dcupdater do anything bad.

I was really drawing attention to the fact that it should handle redirects (redirect handling is the subject of the problem), and that there is an updated lib.

Owen

ok thank you.. damn libcurl (the library i use in dcupdater) is not following the redirect the way it promises it will.. i may have to detect it manually and simulate the redirect myself if i can't get libcurl to work.  i'm not all that thrilled with libcurl.

http://curl.haxx.se/docs/adv_20090303.html

ok thank you.. damn libcurl (the library i use in dcupdater) is not following the redirect the way it promises it will.. i may have to detect it manually and simulate the redirect myself if i can't get libcurl to work.  i'm not all that thrilled with libcurl.

I am not really familiar with libcurl... but it looks like you might have to set an option to follow a redirect (CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION).

Owen

we should probably continue this discussion over email, but one thing that is important for me to know is if you've just manually put up a redirect html page, or whether you have told the webserver to send a 301 return code for an official redirect.

i ask because the downloader should follow the redirect if it gets a proper 301 status code reply from the web server.

As advised in email, the Apache web server is performing a redirection as a result of a redirect directive.

Here is a curl of the URL:

C:\>curl -i vk1od.net/nfm/dcupdate.xml
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 03:28:48 GMT
Server: Apache
Location: http://www.vk1od.net/software/nfm/dcupdate.xml
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<TITLE>301 Moved Permanently</TITLE>
</HEAD><BODY>
<H1>Moved Permanently</H1>
The document has moved
here.<P>
<HR>
<ADDRESS>Apache/1.3.33 Server at vk1od.net Port 80</ADDRESS>
</BODY></HTML>

But, to stress, I did not write this HTTP/HTML, it is created by the web server in response to a redirect directive.

I would expect most objects that open a URL will follow a redirect silently by default.

I open another xml file in the same folder using a VB control, and it works fine.

Owen

owen, can you send me your dcupdate file (or program) and ill see if i can't get redirect options working.  if you send me what you think are the important bugfixes i can try to get them done this week as well. (mouser@donationcoder.com)

Mouser,

The dcupdate file is at the URL in the log message in my earlier post... but that URL is redirected to another URL. If you click on the link it will take you to the redirected URL. It seems that DCUpdater issues a request to fetch the contents at the URL in the config files without allowing / processing redirects.

Owen

Another problem:

DCUpdater does not follow a redirect returned by the web server when fetching the dcupdate.xml file.

In view of the very long time that other bugs have existed, there is no rush to fix this one, I will remove dcupdate support from my apps over the coming days.

Owen

Log:

Attempting to download 'http://www.vk1od.net/nfm/dcupdate.xml' as 'C:\DOCUME~1\owen\LOCALS~2\Temp\32B.tmp'.
Queued download of 'http://www.vk1od.net/nfm/dcupdate.xml' as 'C:\DOCUME~1\owen\LOCALS~2\Temp\32B.tmp'.
Nfm: Completed download of C:\DOCUME~1\owen\LOCALS~2\Temp\32B.tmp (0k).
ERROR: Config File 'C:\DOCUME~1\owen\LOCALS~2\Temp\32B.tmp' could not be loaded by TinyXml lib - Error reading end tag.
Nfm: get version failed

It would just be nice to see the accumulated list of bugs addressed sooner rather than later, it has been a very long time since an update.

DCUPDATER doesn't need to do more so much as do it a little better.

Owen

Looks like DCUPDATER has been "stabilised", ie no fixes, no enhancements?

Owen

...
ps.
cool to see some icons in there that i don't recognize!!

Yes, I will promote it more when the current issues are addressed... Owen

I am starting dcUpdater with:

C:\PROGRA~1\DCUPDA~1\DcUppdater.exe -nothingexit in the task scheduler.

I note that it flags FARR in need of update, but dcUpdater exits after performing the checks.

Seems like the -nothingexit switch is not working properly.

[attach]

Owen

G'day Mouser,

...
as for #3b let me think about it.. i think that the updater is assuming that if the dcupdate file is not in its default list, it means its being run for a non-installed temporary download, and so shouldnt be added to the default list.. i'm trying to think of cases where you would have a permanent .dcupdate file that you wanted added, that didnt have a proper way to add itself.

I think the cases where it would be handy is for apps that don't properly install themselves. Some people still distribute apps that don't have an installer... but then I guess they wouldn't be trying to use dcUpdater.

BTW, I have put a menu option in my apps that launches the app's .dcupdate file, so the user can start dcUpdate on the specific app file alone.

Anyway... sounds good, look forward to the release!

Owen

I'm not completely sure i understand the other two issues.  Could you elaborate?

(2) Right clicking an entry and selecting recheck version does not seem to capture the installation of an update in the current dcUpdater instance.

Here is the scenario: I run dcUpdater and it tells me one package needs update. I select the option to update it, and it runs properly so the package is now up to date. If I now right click and select the 're-check version available on the web', it shows the currently installed version just the same as prior to performing the update. It seems that it might literally recheck the web version... but wouldn't it be sensible to also re-read the installed version data?

(3) It would be nice if when dcUpdater was launched by a specific .dcupdate file, that it could do a version check using the default list, and a right click option to add a .dcupdate file to the defaults if it isn't already there.

If I launch MyApp.dcupdate, dcUpdater starts and shows the details for MyApp, and only MyApp. It would be nice if there was a menu option to 'Check All' meaning to scan the default 'list' ($APPDATA\DonationCoder\DcUpdater\RedirectFiles) used by dcUpdater when it is started with no command line arguments.

The second part of (3) is that if a line item displayed is not in the default 'list' ($APPDATA\DonationCoder\DcUpdater\RedirectFiles), to add a right click option that allows the user to 'install' the MyApp to $APPDATA\DonationCoder\DcUpdater\RedirectFiles.

Does that make sense?

Owen

Mouser,

If/when you get to do some revisions to dcUpdater:

Version dates do not display sometimes in the main dcUpdater window... seems sensitive to date and I think probably an internationalisation issue (I use dd/mm/yyyy format).

Right clicking an entry and selecting recheck version does not seem to capture the installation of an update in the current dcUpdater instance.

It would be nice if dcUpdater was launched by a specific .dcupdate file, that it could do a version check using the default list, and a right click option to add a .dcupdate file to the defaults if it isn't already there.

Owen

Some installers will not allow multiple concurrent instances.

It would be safer if DCUPDATER launched update processes one at a time.

Owen

it probably should always create that directory and put itself there, so that if your program is installed, and THEN the dcupdater is installed, it will still find it.

Ok, if you are not going to clobber it, that is fine, I will write it just in case!

Here is the tested changed NSI script segment for my app named FSC:

  ;register FSC with dcUpdater
  SetShellVarContext all
  CreateDirectory $APPDATA\DonationCoder\DcUpdater\RedirectFiles
  FileOpen $0 $APPDATA\DonationCoder\DcUpdater\RedirectFiles\FSC.dcupdateredirect w
  FileWrite $0 "$INSTDIR"
  FileClose $0
  SetShellVarContext current
  IfErrors +1


The uninstall section should also contain:
  Delete $APPDATA\DonationCoder\DcUpdater\RedirectFiles\FSC.dcupdateredirect


Owen

Mouser,

Have you though of facilitating end user use of the .dcupdate file by reserving a part of the namespace for the user to allocate knowing nothing that you do will trample over it or be ruined by uncoordinated content.

For example, a sub item called "user" in which all user entities are mapped would achieve that end. dcUpdate would just ignore that part of the xml tree, and the user could use it as he wishes.

Perhaps it would be wise to declare a rule on the maximum size of the .dcupdate file, perhaps 10k would exceed reasonable needs.

Cheers
Owen

Mouser,

We all dread needing to change the web site that hosts our update and support pages for an application.

I suggest that it would be useful if the dcupdate.xml file included in a standard way, a url for the support directory.

eg:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
<Program_Version>0.0.2</Program_Version>
<Program_Release_Day>0</Program_Release_Day>
<Program_Release_Month>0</Program_Release_Month>
<Program_Release_Year>0</Program_Release_Year>
<VersionFileRemote>http://www.mysite.net/myapp/dcupdate.xml</VersionFileRemote>
... etc
</root>

Further, that when dcUpdater reads the file and finds the 'new' entities, that it updates the application's .dcupdate file for the new url for all such entities that do not match so that dcUpdater can automatically adjust to the new site. This would be most effective if dcUpdater was launched automatically on each boot, or periodically so the new site was likely to be captured before the old site shuts down.

Do you understand what I mean?

Owen