deploying dll's using depends.exe to assess <needed> modules

hi everyone,

i got lost in a thread, which actually stopped.

so i would like to rephrase some questions, which weren't
really answered, about deploying dll's
analyzed by dependancy walker:

1. what happens if you deploy (using setup pro) a dll
that's already present on the target systm?

2. do you need to deploy 'delay load' (according to dep walker) linked
modules? i suppose it's: 'yes'!

3. how do i distinguish (in dep walker) between always present system
modules,
and modules i need to deploy myself?

marco

Bruno
Fri Jun 22 05:24:15 CDT 2007


> 1. what happens if you deploy (using setup pro) a dll
> that's already present on the target systm?

You should avoid deploying dlls to global folders like the windows folder or
system folder.
If you deploy dlls only to your application folder, it doesn't matter if the
dll is already somewhere else in the system.

> 2. do you need to deploy 'delay load' (according to dep walker) linked
> modules? i suppose it's: 'yes'!

Yes.

> 3. how do i distinguish (in dep walker) between always present system
> modules,
> and modules i need to deploy myself?

If you link against the native win dlls, they are always there.
If you link against MFC or other toolkit dlls, you have to supply the dlls.
If you link against any 3d part libary, you have to distribute the dlls.

If you are not sure, simply google the dll name or do a search in MSDN and
you will know quickly enough.
After you've made an installer, you should always try to deploy it to a
clean windows install to see if it works. Failing to do so can cause
problems later on. I use either VMware or VPC. I always have a clean virtual
machine to start from.

--
Kind regards,
Bruno van Dooren MVP - VC++
http://msmvps.com/blogs/vanDooren
bruno_nos_pam_van_dooren@hotmail.com

Ben
Fri Jun 22 15:47:29 CDT 2007


"Bruno van Dooren" <bruno_nos_pam_van_dooren@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eawL9dLtHHA.1672@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>
>> 1. what happens if you deploy (using setup pro) a dll
>> that's already present on the target systm?
>
> You should avoid deploying dlls to global folders like the windows folder
> or system folder.
> If you deploy dlls only to your application folder, it doesn't matter if
> the dll is already somewhere else in the system.
>
>> 2. do you need to deploy 'delay load' (according to dep walker) linked
>> modules? i suppose it's: 'yes'!
>
> Yes.
>
>> 3. how do i distinguish (in dep walker) between always present system
>> modules,
>> and modules i need to deploy myself?
>
> If you link against the native win dlls, they are always there.

Also, the date and time of DLLs provided with Windows is very consistent and
makes them easy to recognize.

> If you link against MFC or other toolkit dlls, you have to supply the
> dlls.
> If you link against any 3d part libary, you have to distribute the dlls.
>
> If you are not sure, simply google the dll name or do a search in MSDN and
> you will know quickly enough.
> After you've made an installer, you should always try to deploy it to a
> clean windows install to see if it works. Failing to do so can cause
> problems later on. I use either VMware or VPC. I always have a clean
> virtual machine to start from.
>
> --
> Kind regards,
> Bruno van Dooren MVP - VC++
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/vanDooren
> bruno_nos_pam_van_dooren@hotmail.com
>