Hi Isaac, Neil,
Here's my experiences. I don't have a real opinion about what is the
best solution.
On 8/21/06, Isaac Jones
I have no idea what the advantages or disadvantages are; can you expand on this? Option 1 sounds like it makes sense. By use of the Program abstraction (see other email) perhaps we don't have to use PATH if there's some standard location we can check.
What's "normal" on windows for an installer?
First, in my experience, there is no "normal" here. Here's few popular options. For well-known programs, registry keys. HKCU/Programs/Foo/InstallDir=c:\Foo or something like that (exact path is something a bit more complex) Visual studio adds environment variable like: VS80COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\Tools\ which is easy to expand to right directories if you know the way toolset if organised. It is a great idea, to certain extent. It's maybe right way for compilers, but for other programs like alex...it might be confusing. Most typical (devel) programs require user to do path manipulation, or offer to add their installation directory in PATH. I find the automatic addition to PATH disgusting for devel environment, it tends to lend a hand for lazy devels that then forget what they need, which easily results in non-reproducible environment. Best regards, --Esa