> > running the uninstall so that I can then
> > manually setup the package as I want.
>
> Hi,
>
> slightly off-topic: what fancy manual installing are you
> doing? Doesn't the product end up on your hard disk? Are
> you particularly special about what folders should be
> used? I mean, what *substantial* advantages could a
> manual installation have?

1. I use my own package project files, with specific options and
directory setups (to direct temporary and binary files into locations
that I want). So I dont want the installation to install its own
packages into BCB/Delphi.

2. Since I build my own binaries, I do NOT want outdated binaries from
the installation lying around where I cannot keep track of them.

3. I setup my system so that only the actual package source files
exist in a directory that gets backed up regularly. The full
installation exists on a different location - used only for reference,
and to run compares when checking to see what changes I have made to
the development copy of the source.

4. In cases of small packages, many of them share the same source
directory (to keep my search paths simpler) and I like to do a manual
copy/compare to ensure there are no conflicting unit names.

5. BCB4 sometimes has trouble with the load order of packages (when
they are inter-dependant - as many of mine are), so keeping control
over the installation order of the packages can be important.

6. I distrust uninstallation programs - so many are not comprehensive.


One particular package that I am still using (but gradually phasing
out) installs bpls in the System32 directory, makes assumptions about
where I want the help files and dumps everything else into a
particular directory. The installation is not aware that I have both
Delphi5 and BCB4 on my system - and since it does not support BCB
anyway, I have changes that are required to the source which means
rebuilding, outdating everything it has placed into the System32
directory. Add to this that the uninstaller does not collect
everything it installed and it gets really frustrating.


Does this explain :-)

Geoff Worboys
Telesis Computing