Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!natinst!bigtex!james
From: james@bigtex.uucp (James Van Artsdalen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Setup Programs
Summary: Mostly Brief-specific
Keywords: brief
Message-ID: <2514@bigtex.uucp>
Date: 6 Jun 88 04:06:38 GMT
References: <33336@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> <5854@pyr.gatech.EDU> <2245@bigtex.uucp> <33955@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>
Reply-To: james@bigtex.UUCP (James Van Artsdalen)
Distribution: na
Organization: F.B.N. Software, Austin TX
Lines: 64

IN article <33955@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>, tat00@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Tom Thackrey) wrote:
> In article <2245@bigtex.uucp> james@bigtex.UUCP (James Van Artsdalen) writes:
> >[ extolling the virtues of the Brief setup program ]

> Sounds great, maybe the writers of Brief have anticipated all possible
> configurations.  My experience is that setup programs assume too much.

They appear to have anticipated all common configurations.  :-)  It's almost
like the legal question "Are there any reasonable and prudent people?", and
the answer is of course, No.

> Like -only 1 hard disk,

It will work with more than one hard disk.

> -only 1 copy of the software (I almost always have a test and production
> version),

By default it will replace the existing version.  You would have to change
several defaults to get it to install somewhere other than the current Brief.
A quick glance shows four environment variables that are sensitive to where
Brief is installed (where macros are located, where the help files are, where
the stored "state" is, and where backups are made).

> -only 1 autoexec.bat or config.sys etc,

Well, since you've only *GOT* one autoexec.bat & config.sys (unless you boot
from floppy?), I don't see this as a harmful assumption...  But again, you
get to see the changes it wants to make, and either refuse them, or write to
a different file.

> -specific directory names for some things,

By default, it uses the directory names you used for the last install.  All
of those can be changed before actual installation.

> -only 1 monitor,

I'm not sure if Brief can internally switch between monitors on demand.  I
think it just uses what's currently selected.  It does use an alternate
screen page where possible.

> -only 1 printer,

Well, you can always issue a write-file to lpt2...

> and so on.  IF the program tells me what it's going to do and gives me
> the choice to abort and complete the installation manually, Ok.

Yep, it does.  The only gotcha is that you have to remember to recompile your
macros.  I have a makefile that does this.

> My preference would be software that installed by simply copying the
> distributions disks into a directory.  If I have to use a setup program,
> I want to know exactly what it's going to do and have the option to
> abort before I get trash all over my disks.

You do have that option.  What my original message should have stated is
that Brief's setup program derives its *default* values from the environment &
autoexec & config files.  You get to see and change all of those values, and
just abandon the project altogether if desired.
-- 
James R. Van Artsdalen   ...!ut-sally!utastro!bigtex!james   "Live Free or Die"
Home: 512-346-2444 Work: 328-0282; 110 Wild Basin Rd. Ste #230, Austin TX 78746