[Obsolete] Portable Application Template 2.3 released

Yea, great!! - Thanks for these wonderful Application Templates, I have created several launchers and will go update them. Thanks again!!

you might want to check out this comment from john: here, before you make the USERPROFILE redirection a permanent part of your template.

I had used it in Reg Rapper, but stopped because of this conversation.

Hoep this helps.

I am new to both this topic and to NSIS, so I may be doing thngs incorrectly.

I have an old game (rummy500) that creates rummy500.ini in $WINIR.

The problem I am having, is that when rummy500portable.exe is executed, the program runs normally (creating $windir\rummy500.ini), but when I exit rummy500, the rummy500.ini file is deleted from $windir (as I would
expect), but it is not saved on the removeable media.

I have setup the default directory structure as described in "Portable Application Template v1.6.nsi".

This is my "configuration" section: [Line wraps marked » - RM]

; ##########################################################################
; # Change the following constants depending on the application you want to make
» portable
; ##########################################################################
!define AUTHOR "" ; your name
!define APP "Rummy500" ; insert application name, e.g. "TestApp"
!define VER "0.0.0.0" ; insert version of launcher
!define EXE "Rummy500.exe" ; insert program exe name, e.g. "testapp.exe"
!define PNAME "${App}Portable" ; format of portable name (dirs and filenames)
;!define ICON "${PNAME}.ico" ; comment this line out when default icon should be
» used
;!define SPLASHIMAGE "${PNAME}.jpg" ; comment this line out when no splashscreen
» image should be used
;!define REGKEYS "" ; insert regkeys to use separated by "||", comment out, when
» not used, e.g. HKCU\Software
!define SETTINGSFILES "$WINDIR\Rummy500.ini" ; insert settings files to use
» separated by "||" as stored on the host computer, e.g. "$WINDIR\TEST.INI",
» comment out, when not used
!define SETTINGSDIRS "" ; insert settings directories to use separated by "||" as
» stored on the host computer, e.g. "$PROFILE\TEST", comment out, when not used
!define INI "${PNAME}.ini" ; could be changed when settings for multiple
» applications should be stored in one INI file

More info:
If $WINIR\rummy500.ini exists when rummy500portable.exe is started, a back-up is created
($WINIR\Rummy500.ini-PortBak), and then restored to $WINIR\Rummy500.ini when the program is terminated. This is normal (a far as I can understand the script). But still,
no copy of rummy500.ini is saved.
BTW, I am using NSISPortable v2.25.

So, the question is, is it a bug or my configuration error?

Any help will be appreciated!

Hi Klonk,

I have been experimenting with this script by running it from a second
internal hard drive (D:), so there is no write protect issue. This OS is
win98se.

After reading your post, I reset the directory structure (before runnning
rummy500Portable) to:

+-\ Portable.exe (and rummy500.nsi)
  +-\App\
  | +-\Rummy500\ 

After starting rummy500, (and while it is still running), the following is true:
  1. rummy500.ini has been created in $WINDIR
  2. the "removable" media directory structure has had added to it, the sub-
     directories "Data\UserProfile". There is as yet no File1.dat anywhere.
     The "Settings" folder is empty.So now the directories look like this:
     +-\ Portable.exe
       +-\App\
       | +-\Rummy500\ 

After terminating rummy500, rummy500.ini has been removed from $WINDIR, and
File1.dat (or anything else) has NOT been added to Rummy500Portable or any of
its subdirectories.

If it helps you verify the problem, I created a "portable" solitary (the 
standard sol.exe that came with windows98). I used the same directory
structure, and just changed "rummy500" to "sol" in the .nsi configuration
file (in my last post). Sol.exe has the same run characteristics as
rummy500 (.ie it creates "app".ini in $WINDIR).

Before running SolPortable.exe, I removed sol.exe and sol.ini from $WINDIR
so that there would not be any ambiguities.

It (SolPortable.exe) has 'exactly' the same behavior as does rummy500Portable.
It removes the created $WINDIR\sol.ini, but again, it fails to save any-
thing in the "SolPortable" directory structure, although it does create
the empty directories "Data\UserProfile'.

Is there anything I can do to help debug the problem? Do you have any
other questions? Just ask.:puzzled:

Added a check for local admin access. This should work..

Constants Section

!define ADMINREQUIRED "1" ; Set to 1 if administrator access is required to run this program. Comment out if not.

Main section (right after Section "Main")

Call CheckAdmin ; Check if Admin rights are required

New Function (put anywhere - right after the Main section is good)

; **************************************************************************
; *  Function: Check if local admin rights are required
; **************************************************************************
Function CheckAdmin
  !ifdef ADMINREQUIRED
    StrCmp ADMINREQUIRED "1" 0 DoneAdmin
    userInfo::getAccountType
    pop $0
    StrCmp $0 "Admin" DoneAdmin
    messageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION "You must be logged in as a local administrator!"
    Abort
    DoneAdmin:
  !endif
FunctionEnd

This is mostly from http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Simple_tutorials

-Steve.

Klonk:

In attempting to get my non-portable application working from a USB stick, I added some registry management functionality to your template. It's nearly complete but still has a few problems.

In addition to the registry keys being managed by the REGKEYS constant, which requires you to list the registry keys, I added a REGFILES constant. By using this constant to list the external registry files, the template now contains the ability to manage more registry keys than is allowed by the 1024 character limit in String variables.

Also, this gives the template the ability to replace keywords in the registry files that would be parsed out at runtime, letting the user insert path-specific variables into the registry as required.

For example, in my external registry file I might have

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mindjet\MindManager\6\MyMaps\Folders]
"My Maps"="%USERDATAPATH%\\My Maps\\"


At runtime, the wrapper will replace %USERDATAPATH% with $DATADIR\UserProfile, put the result in RegKey#.reg file, then let the existing template functionality to import those keys as normal.

The variables that the template is currently replacing are:

%DESTPATH% = "$EXEDIR\App\${APP}"
%DATAPATH% = "$DATADIR"
%USERDATAPATH% = "$DATADIR\UserProfile"

I also added the CheckAdmin function from above, which seems to work for me.

I tried not to break existing functionality in the template, but it is not certain that I have succeeded in that.

There are a few outstanding issues with my changes, but one in particular is giving me trouble.

The Registry file parsing works correctly, but in order to maintain a list of keys to add/remove when the installer starts/exits, the script builds a list of "base" registry keys. That part doesn't seem to be completing when there is more than one registry file to parse. I'm not sure why.

The application that I am using to test my modifications requires about 1000 registry keys, 70% are in the HKLM tree. This is probably considered a "large" application for this type of script, but I would still like to see it work.

Anyway, are you interested in these modifications?

-Steve.

Hi Klonk,

What exactly does this mean?
- added possibility to integrate the sources if you want to distribute only the exe, e.g. when creating commercial/shareware applications launchers -> launcher is an installer at the same time

Also, do you have a roadmap of what other options/improvements/evolutions you have for future versions of PAT?

Thank you and keep up the GREAT work!

At line 382 (v1.8 ) , after copying the $DATADIR\Settings\File$R8.dat to
the destination directory, the code falls through to copy the existing
host file over the just copied $DATADIR\Settings\File$R8.dat. The net
effect is to run the portable app with the file that existed on the
host instead of with the portable app file.

Insert after line 382 (v1.8 ) or after line 446 (v1.9)
Goto InitFilesLoop

before change

		InitFilesApply:
			IfFileExists "$DATADIR\Settings\File$R8.dat" 0 InitFilesCopy ; only restore when available
				CopyFiles "$DATADIR\Settings\File$R8.dat" "$R9" ; restore file
		InitFilesCopy:
			CopyFiles /SILENT "$R9-PortBak" "$R9" ; copy existing settings file if no portable version exists
	Goto InitFilesLoop

after change

		InitFilesApply:
			IfFileExists "$DATADIR\Settings\File$R8.dat" 0 InitFilesCopy ; only restore when available
				CopyFiles "$DATADIR\Settings\File$R8.dat" "$R9" ; restore file
				Goto InitFilesLoop
		InitFilesCopy:
			CopyFiles /SILENT "$R9-PortBak" "$R9" ; copy existing settings file if no portable version exists
	Goto InitFilesLoop

There may be a better (or prefered) fix, but this does work.

Klonk:

Lines 328-337 present a small bug. If ADMINREQUIRED is set to true, then even if the logged in user has administrator access the program will abort.

!if "${ADMINREQUIRED}" = "TRUE"
  userInfo::getAccountType
  pop $0
  StrCmp $0 "Admin" InitAdminEnd
    messageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION "You must be logged in as a local administrator for this launcher to work!"
    Abort
  InitAdminEnd:
    messageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION "You have admin rights!"
    Abort
!endif	

The solution is to delete lines 335-336.

!if "${ADMINREQUIRED}" = "TRUE"
  userInfo::getAccountType
  pop $0
  StrCmp $0 "Admin" InitAdminEnd
    messageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION "You must be logged in as a local administrator for this launcher to work!"
    Abort
  InitAdminEnd:
!endif	

-Steve.

Dear Karl,

I made a suggestion to John Haller in order to be more flexible with the use of a GTK or a JRE with a portable application. See it here.

It would be great to include this suggestion in your template!

Kind regards,

Bertrand GILLIS

Suggestion HERE https://portableapps.com/node/6956
would make good addition to Template.

Hi Klonk,

I tried compiling PAT 1.9.4, but get the following error in NSIS Portable (v 2.27).

Abort: ""
Invalid command: Dialogs::Folder
Error in script "B:\FotoGraphics\Noiseware\NoisewarePortable.nsi" on line 338 -- aborting creation process

For reference, the changes I have made are quite simple. I have registry injection/cleanup and have commented out almost all the other items as seen below:

!define APP "Noiseware" ; insert application name, e.g. "TestApp"
!define VER "1.1.0.194" ; insert version of launcher
!define EXE "Noiseware.exe" ; insert program exe name, e.g. "testapp.exe"

; ----- Application specific stuff
; insert regkeys to use separated by "||", comment out, when not used,
; e.g. HKCU\Software
!define REGKEYS "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\Imagenomic"
; insert settings files to use separated by "||" as stored on the host
; computer, e.g. "$WINDIR\TEST.INI", comment out, when not used
; !define SETTINGSFILES ""
; insert settings directories to use separated by "||" as stored on the
; host computer, e.g. "$PROFILE\TEST", comment out, when not used
; !define SETTINGSDIRS ""
; Require local administrator rights to run the launcher, necessary
; when writing to e.g. HKLM registry key. If not required comment out
; !define ADMINREQUIRED "TRUE"
; Redirect Userprofile folder, comment out when your application calls
; other programs, i.e. to disable automatic redirection. Default value
; "TRUE".
!define REDIRECTUSERPROFILE "TRUE"
; When "TRUE" a launcher is created that contains the sources and
; copies them into the appropriate folder if they do not exist yet.
; !define INSTALLSOURCES "TRUE"

In addition, I have commented out the splashscreen and have turned off the CRCCheck.

For reference, the problem line (338) is below:
Dialogs::Folder "Select installation folder of ${APP} " 'Select the main folder where you installed "${APP}" on your harddrive:' "$PROGRAMFILES" ${VAR_R0}

Would you know what is going on? Thanks. CD

By the way, you and Steve are doing a marvelous job with the PAT/PAL. I am having a very difficult time deciding whether I prefer the idea of compiling my own launchers (PAT) or whether I just want to modify an ini file (PAL)...decisions, decisions, decisions...

Klonk, would it be possible to define the PROGRAMPARMS variable within the PAT instead of having to use an external ini file? I am thinking of something like the "--vlm-conf" settings of John's VLC Portable launcher...

Thanks. CD

1.4 - 1.9 do not pass arguments.
Just to clarify this is when passing argument from command line or from menu like ASuite, I didn't test with ini file.
Using PortableFirefox as a guide I came up with the following to fix it.

include section:
!include "GetParameters.nsh"

Run app section:
Call GetParameters
Pop $PROGRAMPARMS
;MessageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION 'Before compare $PROGRAMPARMS'
;StrCmp $PROGRAMPARMS "" 0 +2
;    StrCpy $PROGRAMPARMS ' portable'
;MessageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION 'After compare $PROGRAMPARMS'
;MessageBox MB_OK|MB_ICONEXCLAMATION 'Executing "$PROGRAMDIR\$PROGRAMEXE" $PROGRAMPARMS'
ExecWait '"$PROGRAMDIR\$PROGRAMEXE" $PROGRAMPARMS' $R0 ; run program

SimpleStart Section:
Call GetParameters
Pop $PROGRAMPARMS
Exec '"$PROGRAMDIR\$PROGRAMEXE" $PROGRAMPARMS'; run program

the commented lines are just test code.
you will need the GetParameters.nsh you can copy it from the firefox portable source folder.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because they stand on a wall and say nothing is going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.

I started with NSIS last week and found your template v1.4. Little did I know v2.0 was the latest! Either way I'm up to speed now, and I've found a few minor bugs. In it's default state, v2.0 throws 2 warnings and an error when compiling.

1. The variable ${EXEPARMS} on appx line 641 in the RunApp function is not defined. I just commented out that line and the preceding one.

2. The label CleanRegCleanUp on appx line 742 is not used. This is because if no regfile is used for the regkeys (ie listing reg keys in the source) then this label is never called. I added a superfluous Goto two lines above just to avoid the warning.

3. In the InitINI function, there is a jump to CheckAppsINI (I think) at appx line 232, and the label does not exist. It looks like there are 3 INI file directory locations you are checking in v2.0. In v1.4 there were about 5 maybe? So I don't know if you left these out on purpose and forgot to update the Goto, or what. Either way I just jumped to InitINIEnd to get rid of the error.

As for suggestions -

1. Reinstate a Sleep 50 command after, at least, any ${registry::SaveKey}. I had a problem where the reg keys were not deleted becuase they were still open for saving from the previous command. To be safe, I added Sleep 50 after any registry operation.

2. Consider in the InitReg function deleting ALL reg keys once they have been backed up, and not relying solely on the imported Registry.reg file to do it. The case for this I found was when having a locally installed version of the program and then running the portable version. In some cases regsitry entries that were only used by the native installation were making their way into my portable reg files becuase they were not being deleted first. Case in point is Eraser 5.82. I have some scripts where I call eraserl.exe to do a final cleanup, and it creates just the main HKCU key. On a computer where I had the full version of the program installed, ALL the HKCU keys and values were being migrated back to my portable reg files. I'm picky about my settings being intermingled, so I edited the script to delete all keys after they are backed up...so I can start the portable app from a clean slate.

Great job on this template, really. It was a great help to start learning NSIS and I don't know what I would have done without it at. The learning curve would have been really steep. Keep up the good work!

I'm new to PortableApps. It's a great idea and I love what is currently available. I'd like to start developing, but do not know what "helper apps" are available to monitor which files, folders, and registry keys are generated.

Thanks a lot!

In version 2.1, line 646 is throwing out errors if EXEPARMS(commandline default parameters) is not defined. To fixed the error, I replaced lines 645, 646 with:

!ifdef EXEPARMS
	!if ! "${EXEPARMS}" = "" ; only do stuff if constant is not empty
	  StrCmp $R0 "" 0 +2
            StrCpy $R0 ${EXEPARMS}
	!endif
!endif

"2. You monitor which files, folders, and registry keys are generated. (There are several helper apps for that task)."

What are those? And where are they found. Thanks!
BTW: This s really helpful! A template is always good.

Whats with the Java stuff? Thats optional right?
Also one that I don't understand at all is the delete stuff? Whats that for?

I am trying to make a portable version of debugview (from sysinternals). The problem I've got is that debugview writes in 2 places in the registry and I think this is causing my "Registry.reg" file to get deleted for some reason.
I have made a portable version of Tcpview, Portmon and ProcessExplorer and these all run fine (They all only write to one area in the registry).
What I have done is export the debugview registry settings to Registry.reg and also added the dbgview reg settings (second place of reg settings) to this reg file. When I run my portable version of debugview it runs correct the first time (I can also see regisytrybackup.reg in the data folder) but when I shut it down it seems to restore the backed up registry settings but then deletes both reg files in my data directory.

Could someone help me with this please? Has anyone else managed to get multiple reg settings to work?

Cheers Rochey