FMA 11 Runtime Error

[Totes]

We jumped and purchased FMA 11 and then found that runtimes will not work. All computers (no Mac's) give the following error:"The application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."

Then I found a post that requires the user to install Visual C++ 2008sp1

Is this new, or did I mess something up along the way?

Jim

[PotzUK]

I think it's new, as the FM11 installer prompts to install the same package if it's not ready installed...

[TheTominator]

We jumped and purchased FMA 11 and then found that runtimes will not work. All computers (no Mac's) give the following error:"The application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem."

Then I found a post that requires the user to install Visual C++ 2008sp1

Is this new, or did I mess something up along the way?

Jim

Yes, that is a new requirement.

It also affects runtimes built with FileMaker Advanced 11. Now you must make sure that your runtime users install "Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)" which requires administrator access to install.

This fundamentally changes the installation procedure for runtimes which did not require any special user permissions as long as the user had the ability to write to the directory where it is installed, e.g. their personal Documents directory.

I am not pleased with this new requirement.

[Totes]

I still consider myself a newbie at FM so:

What was the logic behind that change.

Looks like to me you now will have to take on the role of computer tech for your customers should something happen with the install of the Visual SP, and of course it will be your fault.

I only have about 10 runtimes of our K9 program out to other agencies and was hoping to increase that number this year, but not if I have to fix issues with any glitched Visual updates.

Jim

Edited March 17, 2010 by Guest
Role not Roll...brain is the first thing to go.

[TheTominator]

What was the logic behind that change.

MS VS C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package download page

The Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86) installs runtime components of Visual C++ Libraries required to run applications developed with Visual C++ SP1 on a computer that does not have Visual C++ 2008 SP1 installed.

From what I can interpret, FileMaker 11 was complied using this newer Microsoft Visual C++. The newer Visual C++ comes with this requirement thus FileMaker 11 requires it.

I expect there are pros and cons to it in the grand scheme of things. I see only cons. What good is the compiler if you have to install additional software onto the OS to be able to run the software you ship? If I wanted to do that, I'd code in Java since Windows doesn't have that either.

Looks like to me you now will have to take on the roll of computer tech for your customers should something happen with the install of the Visual SP, and of course it will be your fault.

The best I can come up with is to add that Microsoft program to the list of requirements for my runtime product. "You must be running at least Blah version of the OS and have this Microsoft software installed."

Edited March 17, 2010 by Guest

[Totes]

Thanks for the information.

Question: are you going to use 11 to make your Runtimes, or will you switch back to 10 to avoid making your customers install more software?

Jim

[TheTominator]

Question: are you going to use 11 to make your Runtimes, or will you switch back to 10 to avoid making your customers install more software?

I haven't yet switched to 11 for my runtimes. So far I see no reason feature-wise to do so for my solution. The only thing I've heard which would benefit users of my solution is reduction of screen flicker.

I want to provide feature-parity for Mac users also and still want to support Mac OS X 10.4 so version 11 is not an option for them.

Unless there are actual bug fixes that come in 11 or an update to 11 such as addressing the garbled screen issue for some XP users with certain graphics cards, I have no reason to upgrade.

[Contour]

I've recently explored this situation and here are my observations and conclusions:

Lacking a solution, this FMP 11 shortcoming spells the end to the possibility of building bubblewrap-style solutions with FileMaker.

By "bubble-wrap", I mean the common, downloadable sets of software that the average computer user is familiar with. They download a file, double click to install and then click on an icon to start the software. Messages like "invalid application environment" are not acceptable.

In FMP 10.0, FileMaker added three subdirectories to built runtimes:

Microsoft.VC80.CRT

Microsoft.VC80.MFC

Microsoft.VC80.MFCLOC

Obviously, they became required for this same kind of reason. My question is why didn't FMP 11 include any required files in this same manner. As evidenced by the following links, Microsoft seems to facilitate this approach:

Deployment (C++)

Choosing a Deployment Method

Redistributing Visual C++ Files

(In particular, see the subsection entitled: Potential Runtime Errors)

Microsoft clearly states the alternatives (see below). Did FileMaker shirk their primary role here? Will developers have to take it upon themselves to bundle the required Microsoft dlls with their application?

Visual Studio 2005 installs Visual C++ libraries as shared side-by-side assemblies. By default, all applications built with Visual Studio 2005 are built as isolated applications with a manifest either embedded as a resource, or accompanying the final binary as an external file. In order to ensure that your Visual C++ application will run on a computer without Visual C++ installed, you may have to redistribute Visual C++ assemblies with your application and ensure they are installed on the target computer.

Has anyone attempted this?

[Zcast]

Yes, it does seem to be a hassle, but what I have done is just included the Visual redistributable with my solution in an installer, and have the installer run the redistributable, then install my solution, and the customer never knows the difference. But, at this point, I may JUST stay with FM 10 for my bubblewrap!

Edited March 25, 2010 by Guest

[Totes]

Z,

What installer are you using to install the Visual along with the Runtime?

Also, are there not two Visuals 32b and 64b, how does the installer know which one to install to the users machine.

Thanks,

Jim

Edited March 25, 2010 by Guest

[TheTominator]

What installer are you using to install the Visual along with the Runtime?

Also, are there not two Visuals 32b and 64b, how does the installer know which one to install to the users machine.

I would be using the free Inno Setup installer.

Inno Setup can be configured to install different files (or run different programs) depending on the Windows OS version and the 32 versus 64-bit architecture.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Guest

[krmullins]

I would be using the free Inno Setup installer.

Inno Setup can be configured to install different files (or run different programs) depending on the Windows OS version and the 32 versus 64-bit architecture.

Inno Setup works great as a setup program. I haven't yet figured out how to configure it to include the Microsoft Visual C++ package but I don't think it should be too hard.

I assume this happened because of the way they Compiled Filemaker so that it could be certified for Windows 7, which is a big selling point of the new version. IMHO

[Contour]

Inno Setup can be configured to install different files (or run different programs) depending on the Windows OS version and the 32 versus 64-bit architecture.

I've looked at Inno and it certainly has a lot of capabilities. Could you post a few lines of an Inno install script to give a better idea of what this would involve?

[TheTominator]

I've looked at Inno and it certainly has a lot of capabilities. Could you post a few lines of an Inno install script to give a better idea of what this would involve?

This discussion thread at the official FileMaker forum has an example of using Inno Setup to deal with the issue.

http://forum-en.filemaker.com/t5/Report-a-bug/FileMaker-11-Runtime-Error/td-p/56644/page/4

I have not yet customized Inno Setup myself to deal with this.

When I do, I'll figure out how to install the 32-bit versus 64-bit versions and figure out how to detect if it is already installed.

This Inno Setup page gives a starting point on what variables are available when scripting for 32 versus 64-bit.

http://www.jrsoftware.org/ishelp/index.php?topic=32vs64bitinstalls

I'm hoping that FileMaker sees the light in FM 11v2 and decides to include the appropriate libraries themselves in the runtime.

The removal of Mac OS X 10.4 and this admin-requiring Windows installation gives me very little incentive to use FM 11 for my runtime deployment.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Guest

[RodM]

INTO Installer heh... just another thing to do!

The runtime installed nicely b4 updating to FM11 runtime which is the pits, crash.. Now I find this thread...a new installer thing to coop with...

Thanks for the thread

:

Edited April 13, 2010 by Guest