Introduction
The DragInstall User's Guide consists of a collection of HTML documents and image files. HTML is a special document format which has been popularized by the World Wide Web.
This user's guide can be viewed using the HTML Viewer application included with DragInstall or with your favorite Web browser. Having the guide in electronic format, particularly in HTML format, offers a number of benefits.
- The hypertext links allow you to move easily back and forth between topics. For instance, you can quickly check the menu reference section for more information about a topic mentioned in the tutorial section.
- Throughout the guide, there are links to resources on the Internet. If you have an Internet connection and the appropriate client applications, you can access the Internet-based links within this guide. For instance, with an Internet mail client application like Eudora, you could send a technical support question via e-mail to support@sauers.com.
- The HTML documents can be searched to locate all occurrences of a particular word or phrase. If you are using the HTML Viewer application, this search is initiated using the "Find" option in the Edit menu.
- The HTML documents can be printed to get a paper copy of the entire user's guide. In the HTML Viewer application, this can be done by choosing "Print" from the File menu.
- The user's guide can be opened directly from within the Builder application. The Help menu in the Builder offers a list of guide topics. Choosing one of these topics opens the appropriate HTML document. The Windows menu also includes an option to open the guide.
If you are reading this introduction, you have probably already installed DragInstall onto your hard disk. If so, you should have a folder on your hard disk named "DragInstall 2.0 folder". This folder contains the following items:
- Builder 2.0
- This file is the Builder application used to create installers.
- Documentation
- This folder contains the documents and images which make up this guide.
- DragInstall Extensions
- This folder contains the XRays that are included in the DragInstall package.
- DragInstall Templates
- This folder contains the standard Drag & Drop interface template used to build installers. This folder also contains all language files associated with this template.
- Sample Icons
- This folder contains files with custom icons that can be used as installation icons in your installers.
- Tutorial Files
- This folder contains the files used by the tutorials in this guide.
The folders "DragInstall Templates" and "DragInstall Extensions" are required for proper operation of DragInstall. They should always be in the same folder as the Builder application.
DragInstall Builder
The Builder application requires System 7.0 or later. It uses approximately 3MB of memory.
DragInstall Installers
Installer applications work with System 3.2 or later. They use around 400K of memory depending on the number of items installed.
Before getting started with DragInstall, it is helpful to understand some of the terms used throughout this manual. Installers are "built" or created using the Builder application. The Builder stores all the information required to build installers in documents called Scripts.
Script documents list all files, folders, and special items that are included in the installer. These scripts also contain a list of Installations. Installations are groupings of items that are presented to the user as a single icon. An installation can represent a single file or many folders and files. The startup screen, read me text, and appearance options for the installer are also stored within the script document. Once all the required information is gathered in a script, an Installer is built.
The Builder takes the information from the script, locates the necessary files, compresses them, and creates a stand-alone Installer application. Depending on the amount and size of files in the Script, the Installer may need to be broken into sections, called Segments. The Installer application and all of its Segments comprise the Installer.
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Last modified 26-MAR-96
Copyright © 1996 Ray Sauers Associates, Inc.