Saturday 12 April 2008

VB Space API Alfa Release

An Alfa release of the Space VB API is now available at OpenSpaces.org.

There are a number of changes in this build. Main ones are a new installer, a fix for default value in read and take APIs, and a more comprehensive example and documentation pages.

You can read more about it in the project pages, but one thing I want to specifically mention in my experience with the installer program.

It has been very long since the last time I had to compile an installer program. Actually, it was around 1998, where I created a setup for a university project. It was based on InstallShield, which made the entire process long and painful! This time it was very different. I used a utility called Inno Setup
, a very lightweight and simple installer. It took me no more than 10 minutes to create the first run of the setup, and another half an hour or so to customise it with my own specific stuff (making sure GigaSpaces is installed, invoking the example at the end of the setup, etc'), which was also straight forward to do thanks to the detailed help files provided.

Now, surely InstallShield could do everything I needed and much more, but it would have been much harder and a longer process... Kudos to Jordan Russell for the well designed and implemented installer utility!


Enjoy!


-Guy

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