Simply using .exe in Release folder

[dsm1995gst]

I'm using VB 2008. I tried to browse through the forum for this topic, as I didn't really know what terms to search for.

Basically, I'm wondering if it is deemed proper to simply copy the .exe from the Release folder over to another PC as opposed to creating an actual installation.

Furthermore, what are the negatives to simply creating a shortcut on other PC's back to the .exe on my PC? (the advantage I know would be that any time I update the program it will be automatically updated on the other PC's.)

My question actually pertains to a small number of PC's (<5) but I'm curious to hear the answer in general.

 

[ss7thirty]

You will have to worry about things like dependencies, the .NET framework, and easily making updates. An installation package will solve all of these problems. I would also suggest not running it from remote machines if possible, you could run into too many issues doing this in .NET.

 

[dsm1995gst]

I would also suggest not running it from remote machines if possible, you could run into too many issues doing this in .NET.

What type of issues?

 

[ss7thirty]

I am not sure exactly what your application is doing, creating files, connecting to databases etc. Things can sometimes get tricky across servers in .NET. There would no benefit and some risks associated with running it off of your machine. People would still need to have the .NET framework installed on their individual machines. I would definitely suggest creating an install package which will handle all of these things for you. If you do make some code changes you can host the install package on a network location and have them re-install.

 

[dsm1995gst]

Thanks for the response.

I am not sure exactly what your application is doing, creating files, connecting to databases etc. Things can sometimes get tricky across servers in .NET. There would no benefit and some risks associated with running it off of your machine. People would still need to have the .NET framework installed on their individual machines. I would definitely suggest creating an install package which will handle all of these things for you. If you do make some code changes you can host the install package on a network location and have them re-install.

My application is simply reading from a text file and executing some Powershell scripts that are all on a network drive and outputting results to a text box. All PC's in our environment get the .NET framework as part of the build process.

I'm definitely not opposed to creating an install package; I've actually already done so. The main attraction I have to simply "sharing" the application from my PC is that I can make changes to the application and no further action is required to update the app on the other PC's.

 

[ss7thirty]

In a small environment like that you may be able to get away with it, test it out and see what happens. I just do not think it is good programming practice to do it that way. But I have not always adhered to good programming practice sometimes if it works it works and that's good enough I guess.

 

[dsm1995gst]

In a small environment like that you may be able to get away with it, test it out and see what happens. I just do not think it is good programming practice to do it that way.

This was my immediate thought as well.

But I have not always adhered to good programming practice sometimes if it works it works and that's good enough I guess.

The application is basically something that I and some others in the IS department use to gather information from PCs on our network. The main issue is that I've just recently "finished" the application, so I'm constantly tweaking things and it's hard to get other people who are just as busy as I am to uninstall/reinstall or update an application every time I've changed or fixed something.

 

[Joshdbr]

You also might want to go through all of your selected dependancies/references and see if you can omit any of them.