I have an old program that I am trying to make portable for personal use. The program installs some files to the system32 directory, the fonts directory and puts an ini in the windows folder.
This is my first time creating a portable app, so forgive me if this is posted somewhere obvious, but how can you handle these issues - how can you redirect the launcher so that it looks for those sys32 files and fonts in the portable directory and not on the computer?
I've been searching for a while and haven't come up with anything - if anyone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.
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One trick we used to use to combat DLL Hell back in the older days of Windows 3.11 and Win95 was to put the required DLLs in the same directory as the executable. The .exe would "look" in the directory it was launched from for the DLL files and find and use them (a lot of the time). You could try that for the system32 files and the .ini but not sure it'll work for the font file.
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My biggest issue is the ini file. The program looks for it in the Windows folder. The dlls and fonts I'm not too concerned about. The dlls will most likely be ok in the app directory.
I guess if worse comes to worse I can just have a quasi-portable app. It's just for personal use anyway.
You could write a launcher to move the ini when you open it and move it back when you close it. Take a look at some of the launchers here for examples.
wraithdu made a system for handling fonts in a local directory. I"m actually considering adding the code into Geany so you can have a custom code font if you'd like and still have it appear on all the computers, but I haven't decided if its worth it or not.
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Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
The code is very short and easy. I wouldn't take 5 minutes to implement
yeah, I'm just wondering if its worth it . . .
What do you think?
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
FYI, it's going into the Platform, possibly in time for 2.0 (as usual, John cares about it having an interface, and also because of that, translations into all our languages) but more likely the next release.
I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1
and what if someone launches Geany Portable without the menu?
EDIT: I'd like to also point out this comment you made, specifically the part that I copied here:
So, you would lose some function that I would like to have. I myself don't always use the menu. Only when I'm not on my home computer and plan on being at the computer awhile.
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
Quite so; but in the platform is where it is going according to John. It may also possibly go into the Launcher, but I doubt it.
I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1
you're not writing it (geany's)
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
I don't use the PortableApps Launcher. I haven't tried the 2.0 Platform yet, but I've been fond of Portable Start Menu - I like the simplicity of it.
The PortableApps.com Launcher is completely different from the PortableApps.com Platform. The Platform is the "start menu" thing. The Launcher is what actually runs the application and makes it portable.
I am a Christian and a developer and moderator here.
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1