Standing
Alone with Acad Install
Although "ACAD Install" was primarily written to work in
conjunction with "Inno Setup" - see "Custom
Application Setups" - it can also be used as a stand alone
application. I find it particularly useful for configuring AutoCAD for a
Network environment.
In a Network environment
there is no need for a full blown installation application, as all of the
support files, menu's, lisp files, etc. are already on the Network and are
shared by each user. All we really require is a method of configuring
AutoCAD to suit our Network paths. This is where "Acad Install"
comes into play. So, let's have a look at setting up "Acad
Install" to configure AutoCAD.
This is what our Network
directory structure looks like :
Pretty straight forward hey?
"Network_Install" is the directory folder containing all our
support folders and files. You must remember that "AcadInst.exe"
and "AcadInst.ini" must reside in the root folder of your Network
directory structure. The files in this folder will look something like this
:
As you can see from the file
listing above, "AcadInst"can now be renamed so that multiple
installers can coexist in same directory. The .ini file name should match
.exe name
(AcadInst_1.exe/AcadInst_1.ini/AcadInst_2.exe/AcadInst_2.ini,...)
Any partial Menu must also
reside in this folder as I haven't yet discovered a way to refer to a menu
residing in a sub-folder.
Okay, time to have a look at
the "AcadIns.ini" file :
[PRODUCT]
Name=AfraLisp 2004 Custom Menu
;This is the applications name. This value is required and AcadInst.exe
; will display an error message if it is not included.
[AUTOCAD]
Versions=R16.0
;Comma-delimited string representing the versions of AutoCAD
; for which the application can/will* be installed.
;Valid strings are any key found under
;HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD in the registry.
;When left empty all profiles that match the other criteria are included.
;To avoid all versions enter NONE.
;Examples for AutoCAD are R14.0 for R14, R15.0 for 2000,
;2000i, & 2002, and R16.0 for 2004
;Examples for LT are R5.0 for LT98, R2000 for LT 2000,
;R7 for LT 2000i, and R8 for LT2002
AddPath=< InstallPath >\Admin|1;< InstallPath >\Lib2004|2;
< InstallPath >\Lisp2004|3;< InstallPath >\Sym2004|4
;Semi-colon delimited list of PATH|POSITION to add to the
;AutoCAD search path. To insert the path at the beginning use a
;POSITION of 1. If the POSITION is not specified, the path will be
;appended to the end.
;If the path is already part of the search path it will not be added again.
;You can use < InstallPath > to indicate the path the user installed to.
;Using this you can also add paths relative to the path where the user
;installed, for example
;< InstallPath >\Symbols:2 would add a sub-folder of the installed path
;named Symbols as the second entry ;in the support paths list.
[MENU]
MenuGroups=AFRALISP:AFRALISP:1:50
;Comma-delimited string of MENUGROUP:MENUFILE:POP:POSITION
;(without extensions) to be added to the Menu key for the profiles.
;The registry is searched and the first available Group number is used.
;If POSITION ;is greater than the number of installed pop menus,
;then it will be added to the end. To insert at the beginning
;use 1. To insert at the end use some large number like 50.
;If the POP and POSITION numbers are not included
;then no drop-down menu is installed for that menu.
;Example:
;MenuGroups=MyMainMenu:MyMenuFile:1:3,MyOtherMenu:MyMenuFile
;will setup MyMainMenu and MyOtherMenu from MyMenuFile to be
;loaded when AutoCAD starts up.
;POP1 menu from MyMainMenu will be placed as the third AutoCAD
;menu and MyOtherMenu will not be ;placed as a POP menu.
Toolbars=AFRALISP.LAYMAN
;Comma-delimited string of MENUGROUP.TOOLBAR pairs to be
;added to the AutoCAD GUI. If the user has previously closed one
;of the toolbars it will be forced to show itself again after
;running installer.
[APPLOAD]
StartupSuite=< InstallPath >\Lisp2004\doslib2004.arx,
< InstallPath >\Lisp2004\cerror.vlx
;A comma-delimited string of files (with ext) to be added to
;AutoCAD's Startup Suite.
;Only valid for post-R14, non-LT installations.
History=< InstallPath >\Lisp2004\doslib2004.arx,
< InstallPath >\Lisp2004\cerror.vlx
;A comma-delimited string of files (with ext) to be added to
;the Appload dialog's History list.
;Only valid for post-R14, non-LT installations.
;For both of these keys you must use < InstallPath > to insert the user
;specified path when appropriate.
;See the AddPath= key for more information.
[NEWPROFILE]
Name=AfraLisp
;Name for the new profile. If it already exists,
;the rest of the keys are skipped.
;A profile will be created for all AutoCAD apps specified in the
;[AUTOCAD] and [AUTOCAD LT] sections.
Description=AfraLisp 2004 Menu Profile.
;Description of New Profile
CopyFrom=< CURRENT >
;Copy from the current profile to retain existing configurations
MakeDefault=T
;Make it the default Profile
DesktopShortcut=T
;Add a shortcut to the desktop
ShortcutName=AfraLisp 2004 Menu Profile
;Shortcut Name
ShortcutComment=AfraLisp 2004 Menu Profile
;Tooltip
ShortcutArgs=/p "AfraLisp"
;the arguments on startup
ShortcutWorkingDir=< InstallPath >\Admin
;the working directory
[<PROFILE>General]
TemplatePath=< STRING >< InstallPath >\Tplts
;Template File Path
Do you notice how we make use
of <InstallPath> to indicate the path the user installed to. Using
this you can also add paths relative to the path where the user installed,
for example <InstallPath>\Symbols|2 would add a sub-folder of the
installed path named Symbols as the second entry in the support paths list.
Right, that's everything set
up and ready. Double click on "AcadInst-admin.ini" and see what
happens :
Would we like to install our
custom menu. Of course we would!! Press "Yes."
Now it's asking us what
Profile would we like to base our new Profile on, and which of our Installed
AutoCAD versions would we like to install too. Pick a Profile, any will do
and then select "OK."
Mmmm, nothing really seemed
to happen??
Don't worry, plenty did it's just that it all happened so fast.
Have a look at your desktop :
Ha, ha, we have a new desktop
icon. Right-click on the icon and select "Properties" and then the
"Shortcut" tab :
Mmm, interesting!! Our
"Target" arguments have been set, and our "Start In"
directory has been configured. Okay, now fire up AutoCAD.
A new Toolbar should appear
looking like this :
This is getting more and more
interesting. Now choose "Tools" - "Options"
-"Files" and have a look at your support path :
Good, our Support Paths have
been added.
And the Template File Path?
Well let's have a look:
Yep, there it is. Now choose
the "Profiles" tab :
Yippee, it's there. Now where
has our menu gone? Check out your menu bar :
Great, our pull down menu has
also been loaded.
But didn't we ask for some
files to be loaded in the Startup Suite? Let's have a wee look :
Yep, there are bet are
they in our History List ?
Okay, that's our installation
complete, but what happens when we want to uninstall?
To uninstall you can run it from the command line (Start->Run) passing -U
as the single parameter :
Or you can do something like
the following in a .bat file to uninstall :
ECHO OFF
CLS
ECHO Uninstalling from AutoCAD
PAUSE
AcadInst.exe -U
ECHO Files Uninstalled!
PAUSE
If you would like to download
all the files involved in this tutorial then please feel free to click on
this spot here.
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