VCL UI Pack setup.exe questions

Hi,

some quick comments/questions about the new VCL UI Pack installer.

- setup.exe version shows 0.0.0.0 . In TMS Component Pack this value was useful to track the dfferent versions.

- setup.exe doesnt remember the registration email and registration code. Is this something we can expect to see reimplemented in the future? The setup of component pack used to remember those values.

- With component pack we used to download the changelog file at https://www.tmssoftware.com/doc/tmspck.txt
Is there an equivalent link for to download the VCL UI Pack changelog?

Thanks

Hi,


The version in the setup should show when starting the setup executable. We'll investigate what is the reason why it is not displayed in the file info window.

the setup remembers username and code, but the TMS VCL UI Pack is a new product and thus also separately handled. If you install an update, the username and code should be shown if you have entered it once during the first installation.

Under https://www.tmssoftware.com/site/tmsvcluipack.asp?s=history
you can verify what the changes are since version 10.0.0.0

Hi,

I updated VCL UI Pack this morning from the old VCL UI Pack which had the missing tmsEmptySheet.res issue and I had to enter my user and code again. This was not a new install so I think there might be an issue.

I understand that there won't be a downloadable changelog for this? Will the changelog at https://www.tmssoftware.com/site/tmsvcluipack.asp?s=history eventually be truncated or we can always expect to see all changes since the beginning version 10.0.0.0?

Thanks

From now on, the version history will be handled in the standard way as all other products, i.e. via: https://www.tmssoftware.com/site/tmsvcluipack.asp?s=history


If a problem with tmsemptysheet.res remains, please try to add the XlsAdapter subfolder of the TMS VCL UI Pack install folder to your IDE library path.
Hi,

I'm in the process of thinking about redoing an auto-download script for the VCL UI Pack. I have talked about it the comment section of the VCL UI Pack announcement. 
https://tmssoftware.com/site/blog.asp?post=570#vc

Pieter's solution wasn't applicable since we're only suscribers of the TMS Component Pack and so we do not have access to the Subscription Manager.

So I'm thinking about taking Bruno's solution and using the RSS feeds described at https://www.tmssoftware.com/site/blog.asp?post=147 

  • The https://www.tmssoftware.com/site/productquery.asp feed to know when a new update is released.
  • The https://www.tmssoftware.com/site/versionquery.asp feed to know the content of the update for a specific product and a specific version.

I have a few questions about those.

  1. Other than the Count=N parameters for the productquery, is there other filters that could help us getting information easier about new version of VCL UI PACK?

    I tried to use ?id=tmsvcluipack but it doesn't filter the sent XML.


  2.  Other than the ?id=XXXX&version=N.N.N.N for the version query, is there other filters?

    I tried to, for exemple, remove the version filtering to obtain all version of a product, but it didn't seems to work.

  3. What is the maximum number of simultaneous product updates that has occured or "may" occured in a single day?

    I imagine the "May" might as well be all 396 currents products in the feed plus any other new, but realistically, will ?count=10 be safe to assume that if the VCL UI PACK is updated, there will no more than 9 other product and thus avoid hiding this product update?

  4.  Is it possible for a product to be updated twice in the same day?

    The Product feed only have the date in <channel\item\pubDate> and the <channel\pubdate> updates every minutes regardless of if there's been an update to a product or not.
 
 My current solution would be:
  • Check in productquery.asp?count=10 if there is an item with <id>tmsvcluipack</id> (count=10 to avoid unnecessary bandwidth use);
  • If so get the <version> of this item;
  • If the version is different of the last time it was checked, use versionquery.asp?id=tmsvcluipack&id=<version> to obtain the version info and send an email about it;
  • Download the VclUiPack, extract it, and send it to the server for installation.
   
Is that an alright solution?

Thanks for your time.

It will be very rare that there are over 10 releases a day.

When a new Delphi version is released and products need to be adapted to it, that could be such exception.
Taking this in account, your approach should be fine.
Hi,
I updated to the last version of VCL UI Pack today and the setup did not remember my username and code.

Can this be fixed please?
Thanks

We are not aware of this shortcoming. Can this be reproduced?
Are you referring to running a new version of TMS VCL UI Pack? Do you do this from the same Windows user account as you did the previous time?

Normally, the presets for credentials are kept in the registry under HKCU\Software\tmssoftware\TMS VCL UI Pack.  You might have a look if you see the correct credentials there.

I Bruno,


I have the same problem as Francois.

Such keys do exists but are left blank.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\tmssoftware\TMS VCL UI Pack]
"Username"=""
"Code"=""
"InstallDir"="C:\tfs\Composants\TMS VCL UI Pack"
"Version"="10.0.2.0"
"Date"="06/08/2019"

But, there is keys in the TMS Component Pack branch (Even after uninstalling Component Pack)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\tmssoftware\TMS Component Pack]
"Username"="[redacted]@[redacted].ca"
"Code"="[redacted]"





That is strange. We will investigate.

Really sorry to write you again so soon,

I've some questions/suggestions about the new setup.exe for the VCL UI Pack vs Component Pack.


The installation appear to be slower. If my memory is correct, when we installed the Component Pack, we had the option to install or not the demos. Now, in the UI Pack, it seems it always install the demos and documentation, adding more time to the install process. Futhermore, it does not install the demos it in the installation path, but at C:\Users\Public\Documents\tmssoftware

Could the demos install be an option?

Also, at the end of the install, there is three checkboxes to uncheck if we just want to start coding right away without being bombarded with Notepad&Explorer windows. (View [...] documentation, View [...] migration and Open [...] Demos). It is a bit tedious.

Could they be unchecked by default, especially after an upgrade (in opposition of a fresh install)?

Thanks again for your time.

We will consider these feature requests for the installer when new work on installer scripts is scheduled.

When you are looking into the installer, can you please confirm that the essential option to install WITHOUT building and installing into selected compiler registries will be retained?  I was alarmed to read that is is now described as 'deprecated' in the new UI Pack.  Maybe this is a translation issue, but to me this word gives the clear implication that it is one step away from being dropped, which would make difficulties for us.  If you say instead 'not recommended' then that is fine (and correct for new users), but we need to be absolutely sure that no subtle changes creep in, so (for all the libraries we use) we always check sources (in a special folder only for installs) against our production source code, and only build the BPL/DCP and registry entries with a Finalbuilder project which we can document and control.

it will be retained

Hi,

Today's version still did not remember the Username and Code after installation.

I did an other test by manually setting the "Username" and "Code" in the registry key before launching the installation process and reinstalling the pack. It did successfully fetch this username and code, but overridden them with "" at the end of the installation.

Furthermore, the version in the "Right-Click -> Properties -> Details" section of the setup.exe is still at 0.0.0.0.

Also, when I wanted to check the "history" of the UI Pack, it did not contains an entry for 10.0.3.0, it was at 11:55 UTC. When I rechecked it at 12:16 UTC, it did have the entry.

Does the installer get release before the versionquery.asp API is updated? Should I expect the history to only be update at 12:00 UTC ?

Thanks.
  1. We got no time yet to review the installer script (we work with 1/2 staff due to summer vacations)
    2) You cannot assume the version history to be immediately updated after the version nr. is updated. This can take a few minutes.

Thanks for the informations!

Same here, I have to enter username and serial every time I update the UI Pack.
I've added the registry entries manually, but the values will always be set to "" again.

As explained, as soon as we can we will review the installer script & update.