Portable App Development

I've looked through the forums for an answer but couldn't find any recent discussions (most of the posts were several years old).

I understand that the current policy is not to officially support .NET apps. They are available under a separate download section. I understand why this decision was taken (http://johnhaller.com/jh/useful_stuff/dotnet_portable_apps/) and it made sense at the time (that page was last updated in 2010).

I saw that many apps require %PAL:PortableAppsBaseDir% to replace paths stored in settings files. However why it will not work if I only use %PAL:Drive% and %PAL:LastPackagePartialDir% to replace the old paths (why we have to add %PAL:PortableAppsBaseDir% to ensure paths are modified correctly)?

Recently I found a program in development that you can enter the settings for the app, and it will create a folder with all the correct formats for that app. But, I deleted it and now I can't find it. I can't find the link either, someone please help find the link for me...

Hey Cody, I got a question for you. I noticed in your unsupported directory, a launcher for CCEnhancer. As I just received permission from the author to make a launcher for this available, do you mind if I just use your launcher and update it to the newest version? I figured that would be quickest, but I wanted to ask first.

So, I wanted to make a new portableapp for the first time in 6 months or so.
Registry is bugging me, so I decided to create a SSCCE.

I created HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AAA in the registry, to mess with. Under that key, I added the value "test" with value 1. I backed up the key, named it AAA.reg and moved it to \Data\settings.

Next, I made a small portableapp, filled the appinfo.ini and help.html with normal values, nothing important. AAAPortable.ini in \App\Appinfo\Launcher looks like this:
[Launch]
ProgramExecutable=AAA\AAA.exe


Assuming that an app saves its settings in a file *.dat. Especially may be saved the changes with respect to drive-letters and languages in this file *.dat. Because of the difficulties regarding the access to this *.dat file, there are now basically 2 options.

1. Removing of the file *.dat

Firstly I can remove this file *.dat. Afterwards I look, where the app now stores its settings. Now I start the development of a portable version of the app.

2. Access to the file *.dat

Hi,
I am now facing a language problem that my portable applications cannot detect my language probably.
I am using WinXP SP3. I live in Hong Kong and so I prefer Traditional Chinese (although I know English) as my language. Still my application cannot detect my language properly.

I use FoxitReader as an example. When I open it, it is in English.
So I created a text file called TEST.txt in the same directory as that of the launcher. Then I add a FileWrite section in FoxitReaderPortable.ini,

[FileWrite15]
Type=ConfigWrite
File=%PAL:Drive%%PAL:PackagePartialDir%\TEST.txt

I've started this thread to continue discussion on the portablization of PicPick, so as to keep the Outdated Apps thread clean. The following is an explanation in detail of everything occurring in the launcher.ini, Custom.nsh and installer.ini when I updated the package for 3.2.7.

PicPickPortable.ini

[Launch]
ProgramExecutable=picpick\picpick.exe
DirectoryMoveOK=yes
SupportsUNC=yes

This section has not been touched.

[Activate]
Registry=true

[RegistryValueBackUpDelete]
1="HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\PicPick Start"

Once again I've thought a little bit about the steps, which must be performed for obtainment the necessary knowledge for creating a portable app. Let me consider the base app named "tictac". Its appropriate installer should be "setup_tictac.exe". After extraction of the file setup_tictac.exe I receive for example the file tictac.exe and three other files named file1, file2 und file3, which are necessary for the correct working of the app. Now I run the file tictac.exe and analyze with such typical apps like Regshot the different changes, which was caused by the app tictac.

Hi there!
I'm a newbie here and unsure if that is the rigt way.

For the time being I've improved the FocusWriter launcher.ini for a better portable support. I've also added an online installer.

So, please test it and let me know your opinion.

FocusWriter1.4.4 improved

md5: 1c96f7790d78fe79b4946ffe22a4f225