This may sound like a beginner's question, and it really is one. I have just created an application. It's a fairly simple thing, no more than an interface that opens files and runs programs. When attempting to run the executable on other computers, a message is displayed requiring that the .NET Framework version 2.0.50215 be installed.
Now I could put the entire setup for my application on the disk, so that the user first runs it; this way, I suppose, the required elements from the .NET Framework would be installed automatically in the user's computer. However, this is not the way this is supposed to work. I want the user to just click on the executable without any preliminaries.
As explained, this application is quite straightforward. I find it hard to believe it really requires any special APIs, object modules or somesuch strange animals. It just opens and runs files. So here's my question: is there a way to create a stand-alone executable that will contain all the required APIs and modules, just like in good old VB6
Unable to create a stand-alone executable
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Unable to create a stand-alone executable
Graham Williams
Thanks a lot. Seems I'll have to stick with VB6 for this one.
Nora
blsandhya
If deployment is your issue - then VB.NET has some nice new ways to deploy your application - much easier than VB6. Click Once is a great example.
I wouldnt let the fact that you require framework on machine be an issue. Creating a setup project in Visual Studio or a click once application will allow you to deploy the package as part of the application setup or instead of you having to ship the redistributables for the framework, you can configure it to go to the web to download the framework.
Once the framework is on the machine, future setups of applications using the framework wont reinstall the framework. So its only installed first time.
Once VB.NET 2005 is released the framework will be available through windows update and ultimately will make its way onto a large proportion of PC's. You just have to look at how many PC's have the version 1 of the framework installed.
Basically VB.NET 2005 has some of the simplest and easiest deployment options available. Much simpler to create setups than VB6 and click once is great.
Allan_M
Is a good chapter detailing the differences between VB6 and .NET it addresses this in a section called .NET Framework.
dhoward789
.NET was a fundementally change in approach and uses a JIT (Just In Time) compiler which means that the exe file you create is not native code but is Intermediate code and will be compiled at run-time using the JIT compiler. These compiler services are provided by the framework not the development language tool (you can possibly think of the framework as the runtime libraries as well)
You could actually write applications using the framework and notepad, as the compiler is shipped with the framework - not the development tool.
You could however look to building a setup project which would install the framework if it didn't exist. Once this has been installed once on the end-user machine then the framework would not need to be deployed again.
I know this sounds like a hassle about having to create a setup with the framework and this also imposes a limitation on having to deploy a lot more than just the small executable file the system generates. Meaning you cant deploy a full solution on a floppy disk.
Once the product ships then windows update will provide an opportunity to install the .NET framework. At the moment as Version 2.0 of the framework is Beta this means you have to ensure that this version of the framework is installed for any apps you want to run for VB 2005 applications you have developed.