Licence Agreement dialog

[NewsArchive]

Hi all,

Help! I'm lost in the SB IDE again:(

I'm using build 1130.

I need to add a RTF file to my Licence Agreement dialog and I can not
find where the heck to select the RTF file! The help on the "Licence
Agreement Dialog" topic (sbuilder.chm::/licenseagreementdialog.htm)
states:

"Specify your file on the Software License Agreement Settings tab
either by using the browse push button to search for the file on your
source system, or by..."

There is no Settings tab on the "Licence Agreement" dialog:( I'm
lost.

When I _created the install the wizard asked if I wanted to add it,
but I didn't have the file ready then:(

Best regards,

Arnór Baldvinsson
Icetips Software
San Antonio, Texas, USA
www.icetips.com

[NewsArchive]

In the License Agreement Dialog Properties, click String Resources, click
the ID= button to the right of the#DLG_LICENSE_AGREEMENT# field, click Edit,
click Browse.

Jane

[NewsArchive]

Hi all,

>There is no Settings tab on the "Licence Agreement" dialog:( I'm
>lost.

Found it.

1. Open "Dialogs" | "Licence Agreement"
2. Select "String Resources" tab
3. Locate "Licence Agreement File ID"
4. Click the "ID=" button
5. Click the "Edit" button
6. Click the "Browse" button and select the file.

Clear as mud and obscure as heck:( Steps 2, 3 and 4 are not intuitive
or logical. I do not associate "String resources" with selecting a
file. I do not associate "File ID" with selecting a file. I do not
associate "ID=" button with selecting a file.

Compared to SB4:

1. Click "User interface" tab
2. Select "Software Licence Agreement"
3. Click [...] button
4. Click [...] button to select file

Friedrich, there has got to be better ways for this! I have built
about 10 installs from scratch with SB5 since December and probably
done about 30 updates, etc. where I had to go in and add files etc.
etc. It seems that almost every time I find myself lost and hunting
for things that should be fairly obvious.

Right now I'm trying to find how I can offset the background text. It
appears that there is no way to do that any more:( The problem I have
is that the text appears too close to the left window border for my
taste and I would also like to move the header and subheader down a
little bit.

Sorry for bitching, but it's Friday the 13th and I'm allowed!<bg>

Best regards,

Arnór Baldvinsson
Icetips Software
San Antonio, Texas, USA
www.icetips.com

[NewsArchive]

Hi Arnór,

If you create a new project with the SB5 project wizard, you can specify the
license agreement file and you are done. No other action is required.

To change a license agreement in existing projects, select the "Text and
Messages" page and change the DLG_LICENSE_AGREEMENT license agreement string
resource. That's it (see screenshot).

In SB5 you can now support up to 29 languages in one setup. Just
wondering - do you know of a better way to handle this situation?

In the latest build, you can do the following (2 steps) if you have to
change something that is displayed to the end-user.

1. Open the "Text and Messages" page.
2. Change the string resource (for all languages you have to support) and
recompile the script.

Yes, SB5 also gives you the *option* to access string resources directly
from within the dialogs. I think this causes confusion, so perhaps I will
disable this option and the only place to change string resources is the
"Text and Messages" page (like it is in other installation tools). I think
I have learned my lesson; too many options seem to cause too much trouble
:-(

Thanks,

--
Friedrich Linder
CEO, Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
1.954.252.3910

[NewsArchive]

Arnor Baldvinsson wrote:

> It seems that almost every time I find myself lost and hunting
> for things that should be fairly obvious.
>
In the words of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles "I second that emotion" :-)

Regards

Parker

[NewsArchive]

Parker,

If possible, could you please let me know what should be improved in the IDE
(you can post it here in the public).

Thank you for your time.

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
CEO, Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
1.954.252.3910

[NewsArchive]

Hi Friedrich,

>If you create a new project with the SB5 project wizard, you can specify the
>license agreement file and you are done. No other action is required.

Like I said I didn't have the licence agreement ready at that point.

>To change a license agreement in existing projects, select the "Text and
>Messages" page and change the DLG_LICENSE_AGREEMENT license agreement string
>resource. That's it (see screenshot).

How is "Text and Messages" tied to the Licence File? I know it is
there now because I found it there too<g>, but it makes no sense to me
whatsoever to have to go into string resources to select the licence
agreement _file_. I realize that you can also put the licence
agreement in there as text, which makes sense, but when you go in
there to add a RTF file to the licence agreement you are not thinking
text and messages or "String resources" I'm also realizing that you
can replace just about any string resource with external files, which
is very powerful:)

Incidentally, how many non-programmers know what "String resources"
are? I have this image in my head of a nice old grandma building an
install of pictures of her grandkids to send to relatives and
wondering about why she needs to worry about clothes lines<bg>

I do realize that this is mostly caused by the docs not being in place
and I know you guys are working very hard on that area:)

Best regards,

Arnór Baldvinsson
Icetips Software
San Antonio, Texas, USA
www.icetips.com

[NewsArchive]

Arnór,

I think what we need is an "Important SetupBuilder 5 Concepts" topic in
the documentation :)

First of all, I have renamed "String Resources" into "Text Resources".
Okay, I know this does not seem to make any difference, but it makes "more
sense" in SB5. So all resources called "string resources" in other
installation tools (Microsoft, InstallShield, etc.) are called "Text
Resources" in SB5 now.

Text resources in SB5 are used to store static, user-visible strings,
separated from the code. These text resources can be referred to from
within the installation application by symbolic identifiers. The primary
advantage of using a text resource is that it makes it possible for all
language-dependent components of an installation application to be
conveniently located within a resource table and thus renders the task of
localization substantially easier.

The idea behind (multilanguage) text resources from a programmer's point of
view is to hide the language-specific details of resources; the programmer
tells the installation program: "Display the 'file-not-found' error message
in the local language". And of course, text resources are handy to reduce
installation file size when, say, a specific text is repeatedly used in one
or more dialogs.

When using the "file://" command, a text resource can also "load" (at
compile time) text from an external file so you don't have to include the
text (via copy and paste) into the resource. For example, if your license
agreement file changes, there is no need to copy and paste the text again
because the compiler does the dirty work for you.

You can also define a local:// command and the installer displays the text
from a text file located on the local (end-user) machine. In other words,
you can add a text file as a "Support File" and the installer loads it at
run-time from the temporary Windows (or any other) folder.

Let us assume, you have to display an English, Spanish and French license
agreement. There is no need to add three different license agreement
dialogs and use a complex if..then..else logic to display the proper
dialog and text. With SB5 you only have to define one DLG_LICENSE_AGREEMENT
identifier to display your license agreement in up to 29 languages.

Everything your end-user might see can be maintained in the "Text and
Messages" page. In SB4 many users complained about not having all text
messages in one place. You had to open each and every message box to change
the text, and error messages where stored in another place. In SB5,
everything can be found in "Text and Messages".

I hope the above makes sense.

Friedrich

--
Friedrich Linder
CEO, Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
1.954.252.3910

[NewsArchive]

Arnór,

"Offset X" and "Offset Y" added.

Thanks,
--
Friedrich Linder
CEO, Lindersoft
www.lindersoft.com
1.954.252.3910