Author Topic: DcUpdater - Coming Soon - Teaser Screenshot (Read 36,120 times)

mouser · « **on:** June 12, 2007, 04:51 PM »

Just to give you a little tease..

lanux128 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 12, 2007, 05:15 PM »

just fantastic, mouser..

mouser · « **Reply #2 on:** June 12, 2007, 05:16 PM »

This is a project i've been wanting to work on for a while.. then i decided not to do it.. then i decided i needed update checking for FARR and FARR Plugins.. then i decided i might as well write it and use it for dc program updating.. and more..

lanux128 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 12, 2007, 05:39 PM »

hehe.. throughout Farr alpha's updates, i was trying a way to find out about newer versions and now this will come in mighty useful.. also, there is a thread where justice had a small program that was called software updater.. ah, here is the link..

mouser · « **Reply #4 on:** June 12, 2007, 05:52 PM »

Thanks for reminding me about justice's work -- he helped to inspire me to work on mine and we should make them compatible.

lanux128 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 12, 2007, 06:04 PM »

glad to be of help but thanks to the forums' bookmark feature..

justice · « **Reply #6 on:** June 13, 2007, 10:47 AM »

Great stuff mouser!

Can't wait to find out how it works checking wise! there's a lot to it especially when supporting other people's software.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #7 on:** June 13, 2007, 01:46 PM »

Great idea - the Mouser catches another one (you must be getting fat these days)

Will this only work for 'installed' software or will it also work for software that is run from a folder directly?

lanux128 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 13, 2007, 02:42 PM »

Quote from: Carol Haynes on June 13, 2007, 01:46 PM

Will this only work for 'installed' software or will it also work for software that is run from a folder directly?

i'd vote for both options since many of the programs on my pc are not installed but are portable/zipped versions..

Darwin · « **Reply #9 on:** June 14, 2007, 06:47 AM »

+1 for this idea as well

I'd also vote for both options outlined by Carol as my usage is similar to lanux'

mouser · « **Reply #10 on:** June 14, 2007, 11:05 AM »

It doesnt matter if the software is officially installer or just unzipped into a folder,
BUT
one problem is that its looking for updates, which for donationcoder are mostly in the form of full setup installers.

That is, it was not my intention to only upload the modified exe, but rather stick with the full installer download when an update is needed. So my problem is that if you are using it in a plain folder without an install, when it finds that an update is needed, it will want to download the installer and run it.

I suppose i could have an option that says, when you find an update, just download the file and give it to the user instead of running it. or of course you could just use the updater tool to find out about new updates without using it to download and install stuff.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #11 on:** June 14, 2007, 12:16 PM »

Sounds like a good solution.

Maybe you could implement the single license key (we talked about this a couple of years ago) for all apps via a centrally held ini file (say in C:\Program Files\DonationCoder\donationcoderapps.ini or C:\Windows\donationcoderapps.ini) which could also keep a list of installed applications (registered in the ini file as such when installed) and unzipped applications (the applications could register when they run each time). Then the update could use the installer or just unzip as appropriate.

If the unzipped application folder is not present when the update is run then either a download could be offered or simply a warning that the application folder is missing - and optionally deleted from the registration file.

The ini file approach would be quite useful because then if you have multiple copies of unzipped applications they could all be monitored during the update process.

It would also have the advantage of having a single central license - so if you install a new app you don't have to find the universal key again.

Users who get free individual app temporary keys could stick to the old key system and not get the automatic updates! (Could be an advantage to making a small donation).

Tinman57 · « **Reply #12 on:** June 18, 2007, 01:54 AM »

Well as many DC programs that I'm using, it should make life a little easier....

Tekzel · « **Reply #13 on:** June 18, 2007, 08:23 PM »

Oh yea, I have been wanting this app for a while now! Wheeeen mouser? Wheeeeeeeeen?

mouser · « **Reply #14 on:** June 19, 2007, 08:33 PM »

more screenshots:

I think i should have a download available this week.

mouser · « **Reply #15 on:** June 19, 2007, 08:34 PM »

Note the installation options, i really like that -- you can either have the program download and run it for you, or do everything manually and just use the updater to tell you when there is something new to go check out.

mouser · « **Reply #16 on:** June 19, 2007, 08:35 PM »

Note:
Anyone can easily use this program to make their software support update checking and downloading, simply by creating 2 tiny files (one local, one on remote server). In other words, this is not limited to DC software.

ps.
yes, it can update itself

justice · « **Reply #17 on:** June 19, 2007, 09:09 PM »

looking good!
btw, How many hours do you estimate you will have spent on the app once you release the first version? (I am thinking of learning visual basic 2005 to build apps more advanced than ahk scripts, I am wondering if it will be a major waste of my time or not

)

Curt · « **Reply #18 on:** June 19, 2007, 09:41 PM »

Will you please add option to delay CheckOnStartup for so and so many minutes, so it doesn't begin to download in the middle of a very long startup procedure....?

Tekzel · « **Reply #19 on:** June 20, 2007, 01:49 AM »

Quote from: Curt on June 19, 2007, 09:41 PM

Will you please add option to delay CheckOnStartup for so and so many minutes, so it doesn't begin to download in the middle of a very long startup procedure....?

Ahhh long startups. I remember those. They are a thing of the past for me though. Ever since I started using Startup Delayer everything has been groovy. It lets me arrange the order of my startup items so I can put the stuff I want going quick at the front, and put the stuff I just don't care when they start at the end, and set the delay between each item. One of the best applications, EVER. Right up there with FARR.

mouser · « **Reply #20 on:** June 21, 2007, 02:24 AM »

Quote from: justice on June 19, 2007, 09:09 PM

looking good!
btw, How many hours do you estimate you will have spent on the app once you release the first version? (I am thinking of learning visual basic 2005 to build apps more advanced than ahk scripts, I am wondering if it will be a major waste of my time or not )

i'd say it's about 1-2 weeks of coding now, but that includes being able to reuse a lot of code i've written in the past for other projects.

it's coded in Borland's C++ Builder by the way, but visual basic is a similar RAD type environment.

some things you are going to be able to do faster and easier in ahk, but a good rule of thumb is probably that the bigger and more ambitious the program, the better off you would be with a more large-scale programming language vs. a script-centric thing like ahk.

for me, i make heavy use of third party libraries and components (in this case im using libcurl, tinyxml, and a nice grid component called NextGrid); plus i'm a huge fan of object orientation and using classes and stuff that ahk is not really suitable for.

it's possible to use ahk to do some great stuff, but for larger programs i don't think it's the most appropriate (though it should be said that some people are clearly using ahk to do some pretty substantial stuff).

Cavalcader · « **Reply #21 on:** June 22, 2007, 03:12 PM »

Quote from: mouser on June 19, 2007, 08:33 PM

more screenshots:

I'm curious -- why use your own proprietary proxy setup when Windows has a central config via IE?

Also, Justice mentioned that you might be superceding his updater with this program. If so, I posted a recommendation about the file format to parse for updates so it could be used universally.

mouser · « **Reply #22 on:** June 22, 2007, 03:55 PM »

regarding proxy: i use an open source cross-platform library called "libcurl" to do the downloading, it has it's own proxy settings.

~~as for agreeing on a universal format, i'll have a look.~~
i read your comments -- you seem to be suggesting to use pad files -- we must be thinking alike because that's always been my plan, and dcupdater will be able to check for updates by reading pad files. However, as wordzilla pointed out to me, this could cause a huge amount of bandwidth since pad files are so big, so dcupdater now supports checking a kind of tiny pad/xml file which contains only version info. it will be able to download the full pad file to get more detailed information if the user requests.

Cavalcader · « **Reply #23 on:** June 22, 2007, 05:08 PM »

Quote from: mouser on June 22, 2007, 03:55 PM

regarding proxy: i use an open source cross-platform library called "libcurl" to do the downloading, it has it's own proxy settings.

Ah! Gotcha.

Quote

However, as wordzilla pointed out to me, this could cause a huge amount of bandwidth since pad files are so big

True -- XML is a fairly bulky format. But then again, so is HTML.