missing/out-of-date dependency information

Ryan · Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 2

I've never come across these issues before. Can anyone help?

I'm using MS Packaging and Deployment Wizard (VS 6.0) to create a setup file
for a program I've written.
The weird thing is that I wrote this last year with the same exact project
references and controls with no problems. This year all I did was tweak some
code and I'm getting these errors when I try to create the package.

Missing dependency information for
msadox.dll c:\program files\common files\system\ado
(i'm using 2.8, if that helps)

-and-

Out-of-date dependency information for
comdlg32.ocx c:\windows\system32
MSCOMCTL.ocx c:\windows\system32

The MSDN version that I own (on disc) offers solutions for third party dlls
and ocx files, and also for custom-written ones, but these fall under neither
of those categories since they MS, right?

So I continued with the packaging process and installed this on the other
computer that I own (does not have VS installed) and it ran fine. When I
installed it on a client's PC, we got errors about out-of-date files, a
prompt to reboot, and then nothing happened.

Any help is appreciated. THANKS!

Archived from group: microsoft>public>vb>deployment

Ralph · Joined: 04 Oct 2007 Posts: 4148

"Ryan" wrote in message@microsoft.com...
> I've never come across these issues before. Can anyone help?
>
> I'm using MS Packaging and Deployment Wizard (VS 6.0) to create a setup
file
> for a program I've written.
> The weird thing is that I wrote this last year with the same exact project
> references and controls with no problems. This year all I did was tweak
some
> code and I'm getting these errors when I try to create the package.
>
> Missing dependency information for
> msadox.dll c:\program files\common files\system\ado
> (i'm using 2.8, if that helps)
>
> -and-
>
> Out-of-date dependency information for
> comdlg32.ocx c:\windows\system32
> MSCOMCTL.ocx c:\windows\system32
>
> The MSDN version that I own (on disc) offers solutions for third party
dlls
> and ocx files, and also for custom-written ones, but these fall under
neither
> of those categories since they MS, right?
>
> So I continued with the packaging process and installed this on the other
> computer that I own (does not have VS installed) and it ran fine. When I
> installed it on a client's PC, we got errors about out-of-date files, a
> prompt to reboot, and then nothing happened.
>
> Any help is appreciated. THANKS!
>

There may be several things going on here.
A bit of background. The P&D was developed back in the VB4 32-bit days. It
was never a true 'product' only an in-house development tool, that MS
provided with VS as an "unsupported" utility.

To simplify processing, instead of examining every component for dependancy
information, the P&D package builder was designed to read .DEF files (these
are INI-formatted text files) for this information. If you note P&D includes
the ability to both build a package and create a .DEF file.

The article you read was about how to create these .DEF files. MS components
are not mentioned because they came with their own. Unfortunately sometimes
the incorrect version was shipped. In this case you can open up the file and
make the change manually, or simply run the DEF option from P&D.

So to fix the message - just create a new DEF file as though the MS
component was just another 3rd party or custom dll.

Another possible problem with MDAC (ado) components and the P&D is that the
P&D checks the components referenced in the VBP against the ones installed
on the build box. BUT when it ships the components it actually bundles the
MDAC_TYP.EXE file it finds in the "~\vb98\Wizards\PDWizard\Redist" folder.
(It reads the VBBDEP.INI file to know which components are in the MDAC.) The
default version found in the folder is an early version. Can't recall if its
2.5 or 2.6, but it's old. If you upgrade MDAC on your box, it will replace
the installed components - but never replaces or puts the new MDAC_TYP.EXE
in this folder. You have to do that yourself. Otherwise, you may build your
project with new components but actually ship the old ones.

Up until WinXP you could simply include the current MDAC in the \redist
folder. But WinXp actually has a separate version than Win2k. With Vista you
can't install MDAC at all, as it comes with its own version called the DAC.
The easiest way around this is to not include the MDAC/ADO components in
your package. Instead have the client download the required version for
their machine or included the correct version as a separate install. You
just have to make sure you are using the Latest 'n Greatest for your build
box.

Now about using P&D. I like it for what it does and have no trouble with it.
I like the idea that the source for Setup1 is provided and I can create
complex installs by modifying the code instead of learning some other script
language or tool. But I grew up with it.

Many people like Inno Setup. ($$free$$)
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Authoring-tools/Setup-creators/Inno-Setup.shtml
You can do anything Inno can do with P&D and Setup1 - but it is a lot
harder.

Back to your specific problem. It is my best guess that you installed some
tool/utility/mdac/program etc. over the last year that updated the MDAC
components. (MDAC not only includes ADO support, and OLE DB providers, it
also includes updated OLE 'system files'.) Remember I mentioned that on
occasion the wrong DEF files were included or worse not included, or not
copied over an existing one. (Not sure about the common dialog, but likely
something similar occurred.)

So I recommend
1) Make sure you are using the latest 'n greatest MDAC (ado 2. Cool

for your
applications.
2) Use P&D to create new def files for everything it is complaining about.
3) Remove the ADO, OLE, etc 'system files' from your package.
4) Work out a way to identify the target O/S and include the correct MDAC.
-OR-
5) Give Inno a try, unless you like to do things the hard way.

hth
-ralph

Ryan · Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 2

Thanks for the reply Ralph,

I'm still lost though. I should have probably told you that I'm a
programming novice, at best.

Ok, I opted to use Inno Setup. I downloaded the files from that site you
linked me to, but the readme says I need to have Borland Delphi, RemObjects
Pascal Script, and SynEdit. I know absolutely nothing about any of these
things, or how to get Borland Delphi, much less how to use it.

As far as your other suggestion goes, I'm not exactly sure how to create a
dependency file specifically for the components in the project. When I load
the project into P&D, I select Dependency File as the package type, and I
still get the same errors about missing and out-of-date information, with no
chance to supply it.

Wow, I think I'm in over my head... can you help?

Thanks again!

"Ralph" wrote:

>
> "Ryan" wrote in message
> @microsoft.com...
> > I've never come across these issues before. Can anyone help?
> >
> > I'm using MS Packaging and Deployment Wizard (VS 6.0) to create a setup
> file
> > for a program I've written.
> > The weird thing is that I wrote this last year with the same exact project
> > references and controls with no problems. This year all I did was tweak
> some
> > code and I'm getting these errors when I try to create the package.
> >
> > Missing dependency information for
> > msadox.dll c:\program files\common files\system\ado
> > (i'm using 2.8, if that helps)
> >
> > -and-
> >
> > Out-of-date dependency information for
> > comdlg32.ocx c:\windows\system32
> > MSCOMCTL.ocx c:\windows\system32
> >
> > The MSDN version that I own (on disc) offers solutions for third party
> dlls
> > and ocx files, and also for custom-written ones, but these fall under
> neither
> > of those categories since they MS, right?
> >
> > So I continued with the packaging process and installed this on the other
> > computer that I own (does not have VS installed) and it ran fine. When I
> > installed it on a client's PC, we got errors about out-of-date files, a
> > prompt to reboot, and then nothing happened.
> >
> > Any help is appreciated. THANKS!
> >
>
> There may be several things going on here.
> A bit of background. The P&D was developed back in the VB4 32-bit days. It
> was never a true 'product' only an in-house development tool, that MS
> provided with VS as an "unsupported" utility.
>
> To simplify processing, instead of examining every component for dependancy
> information, the P&D package builder was designed to read .DEF files (these
> are INI-formatted text files) for this information. If you note P&D includes
> the ability to both build a package and create a .DEF file.
>
> The article you read was about how to create these .DEF files. MS components
> are not mentioned because they came with their own. Unfortunately sometimes
> the incorrect version was shipped. In this case you can open up the file and
> make the change manually, or simply run the DEF option from P&D.
>
> So to fix the message - just create a new DEF file as though the MS
> component was just another 3rd party or custom dll.
>
> Another possible problem with MDAC (ado) components and the P&D is that the
> P&D checks the components referenced in the VBP against the ones installed
> on the build box. BUT when it ships the components it actually bundles the
> MDAC_TYP.EXE file it finds in the "~\vb98\Wizards\PDWizard\Redist" folder.
> (It reads the VBBDEP.INI file to know which components are in the MDAC.) The
> default version found in the folder is an early version. Can't recall if its
> 2.5 or 2.6, but it's old. If you upgrade MDAC on your box, it will replace
> the installed components - but never replaces or puts the new MDAC_TYP.EXE
> in this folder. You have to do that yourself. Otherwise, you may build your
> project with new components but actually ship the old ones.
>
> Up until WinXP you could simply include the current MDAC in the \redist
> folder. But WinXp actually has a separate version than Win2k. With Vista you
> can't install MDAC at all, as it comes with its own version called the DAC.
> The easiest way around this is to not include the MDAC/ADO components in
> your package. Instead have the client download the required version for
> their machine or included the correct version as a separate install. You
> just have to make sure you are using the Latest 'n Greatest for your build
> box.
>
> Now about using P&D. I like it for what it does and have no trouble with it.
> I like the idea that the source for Setup1 is provided and I can create
> complex installs by modifying the code instead of learning some other script
> language or tool. But I grew up with it.
>
> Many people like Inno Setup. ($$free$$)
> http://www.softpedia.com/get/Authoring-tools/Setup-creators/Inno-Setup.shtml
> You can do anything Inno can do with P&D and Setup1 - but it is a lot
> harder.
>
> Back to your specific problem. It is my best guess that you installed some
> tool/utility/mdac/program etc. over the last year that updated the MDAC
> components. (MDAC not only includes ADO support, and OLE DB providers, it
> also includes updated OLE 'system files'.) Remember I mentioned that on
> occasion the wrong DEF files were included or worse not included, or not
> copied over an existing one. (Not sure about the common dialog, but likely
> something similar occurred.)
>
> So I recommend
> 1) Make sure you are using the latest 'n greatest MDAC (ado 2. Cool

for your
> applications.
> 2) Use P&D to create new def files for everything it is complaining about.
> 3) Remove the ADO, OLE, etc 'system files' from your package.
> 4) Work out a way to identify the target O/S and include the correct MDAC.
> -OR-
> 5) Give Inno a try, unless you like to do things the hard way.
>
> hth
> -ralph
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Ralph · Joined: 04 Oct 2007 Posts: 4148

"Ryan" wrote in message@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the reply Ralph,
>
> I'm still lost though. I should have probably told you that I'm a
> programming novice, at best.
>
> Ok, I opted to use Inno Setup. I downloaded the files from that site you
> linked me to, but the readme says I need to have Borland Delphi,
RemObjects
> Pascal Script, and SynEdit. I know absolutely nothing about any of these
> things, or how to get Borland Delphi, much less how to use it.
>
> As far as your other suggestion goes, I'm not exactly sure how to create a
> dependency file specifically for the components in the project. When I
load
> the project into P&D, I select Dependency File as the package type, and I
> still get the same errors about missing and out-of-date information, with
no
> chance to supply it.
>
> Wow, I think I'm in over my head... can you help?
>
> Thanks again!
>

It sounds like gave you the wrong site. That site was for Inno Setup, a
front-end for building Inno scripts. You don't need that.
Try this URL:
http://www.jrsoftware.org/isdl.php
But definitely get it. There is no reason to go down the P&D path.

I also screwed up on the extension. Sorry. I kept saying ".DEF". The correct
extension is ".DEP".

Sorry, sorry - boy, I sure am a 'great' help. My only poor excuse is that I
normally ferret out and correct these problems with a host of tools, and
occasionally lose sight of what a VB Beginner has available out of the box.
Poor I know, but I hope I can be forgiven. Now that I have, hopefully, got
all the bad advice out of my system - let's try again.

By rebuilding the dependancy file (again a *.DEP file) I meant rebuilding
the DEP file for the components it is complaining about. Not the VB project,
since, as you discovered, you will only get the same error again. The P&D
will create a DEP file for your components, but not for a 3rd party without
some tweaking and additional work. So let's not go there.

Since you are experiencing these problems with MS components it is almost a
certainity that you have installed something that placed a different version
of these components on your machine, but did not update the DEP files. We
need to get your machine back to some clean state with the latest 'n
greatest.

Back to Basics:

1) What VB/VS Service Pack are you using?
Make sure it is at least SP5.
If not download SP6 here.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9EF9BF70-DFE1-42A1-A4C8-39718C7E381D&displaylang=en
(There are some issues with SP6 compared to SP5, but they are minor to
getting your system up and running.)
If you have the SP5 CD/Download then re-install it.
This will insure that you now have all the correct updated components and
dep files on your system and they are registered correctly.

2) Download and install (or re-install) the MDAC 2.8 (Unless you are using
Vista. In which case, skip this step.)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6c050fe3-c795-4b7d-b037-185d0506396c&displaylang=en

3) After downloading and installing the above packages. Run a Registry
Cleaner on your machine. If you don't know what one is, see this ...
http://www.registrycleanerscompared.org/2/index.html?gclid=CIT77faQxJECFQKHPAodFEprDA
You may already have one bundled in with other utilities - I use PC Mechanic
myself.
There are also free ones.
http://www.tweaknow.com/RegCleaner.html

This should take care of those DEP problems and the problem with out-of-date
components.

4) Rebuild your project.

5) Create a setup package with Inno.

Problems should be solved. Holler back if I screwed up again.

-ralph

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