**FREE** For MCE Addin Developers :
MCECustomRegApp.DLL is a replacement for
'RegisterAddin.DLL' found in the MCE2005 SDK - and has support for VS2005 (.NETv2) installers as well as adding a number of new features to support Vista Media Center (and specific versions of MCE2005).
Please Note - While the long term 'suggested' strategy for Developers is to use the Wix toolset to create powerful .MSI Packages - this DLL will provide an incramental improvement over the original RegisterAddin.DLL (which is no longer included with the Vista MediaCenter SDK) - and save developers from the steep learning curve for Wix Script Development (however this will be automated by the MCE SDK in a future release).
This DLL provides all the current features of RegisterAddin.DLL plus adds these additional features (which may be useful when creating MSI Installers) -
1)
DLL is Built/Compiled with .NET Framework v2 (Based on .NETv2/VS2005 Installer class)
2)
Supports Non Media Center Platforms (Installer will still work for applications which work both with MCE and non-MCE targets - and can be set to not ‘Fail’ if not detected)
3)
Allows Targeting of Specific Versions of Media Center via Min/Max Switches (ie. Allow MCE2005-RU2 -> Vista but not MCE2005-RU1)
4)
Auto Selects 'Best' registration file based on MediaCenter Version and User's ISO Language Code (ie you can supply a alternate .xml files which could be used to target 'German' users on Vista).
5)
Provides a Debug Mode for quickly resolving Installer Errors (provides popup messages during the install/uninstall phase so you can see what parameters are being processed).
6)
Provides Meaningful User Error Messages for when there are errors or conditions are not met (original RegisterAddin.DLL only showed a generic Fail message)
7) ****
Allows you to check/confirm that a User with Administrator Access has launched the Installer (required for using the /allusers switch).
**** This feature is not yet working 100% as it cannot yet detect whether the Setup.exe was launched with 'Run As Administrator' using Windows Vista. ***
Please download the DLL File and Usage Document from the following location :
Download MCECustomRegApp (30k .zip file)
Note that full source code will be released soon (DLL only at the moment) - and it would be great if developers could contribute to the ongoing development of this .DLL. (ie. Providing MultiLingual Strings for Dialogs, Adding New Features etc)..
Enjoy!
Niall Ginsbourg / mobilewares.net
ps : please pm/email me or reply to this thread if you have comments/feedback.
[For Developers]: MCECustomRegApp.DLL - (RegisterAddin.DLL Replacement)
