Automatic documentation of installed Apps

**Halfwalker** · January 6, 2006

Hey All -

I've been using a neat method of auto-documenting the apps I build for my install CD, and I think it may be good to try to make something of a standard for it. It makes a single html file that lists everything installed on the system, with live links to the originating websites.

During install, my application installers copy a uniquely named html file to c:\windows\config. This is directory # 23 in txtsetup.inf, so it can be listed in normal Addon packs as the destination of the html file. This file contains the live links to information about the application, set up as normal html list items. The final cleanup batch file then collects all of these into a single html file and drops that into the Desktop directory for Administrator and All Users.

An example would help I suppose

When VMWare v5.5 is installed, this file is copied to c:\windows\config as VMWare-v5.5.html.

<li>
<a href="http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/">VMWare Workstation v5.5</a>
  <ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/index.html">VMWare documentation</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/VMware_Workstation_50/VMWARE_10.shtml">Installing VMWare 5.0</a></li>
  </ul>
</li>

Similar files (all named uniquely) are also copied to c:\windows\config. Then, at first reboot/logon, all the RunOnceEx entries are run to actually install the apps that weren't installed via SVCPACK. The last cleanup entry runs a batchfile which contains this :

copy /y "%DIR%\Tweaks\Start.html" + "%systemroot%\Config\*.html" + "%DIR%\Tweaks\End.html" "%systemroot%\Config\Installed-Applications.html"
copy /y "%systemroot%\Config\Installed-Applications.html" "%userprofile%\Desktop"
copy /y "%systemroot%\Config\Installed-Applications.html" "%allusersprofile%\Desktop"

Start.html and End.html are very simple. They just envelope the list of items ...

<html>
<body>
<h1>Applications installed</h1>
<ol>

and

</ol>
</body>
</html>

What you wind up with is a nice simple webpage list of all the installed Apps, each one with live links or whatever information you want to include about the App. Mine looks like this :

<html>
<body>
<h1>Applications installed</h1>

<ol>
<li>
<a href="http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/">VMWare Workstation v5.5</a>
  <ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/index.html">VMWare documentation</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.idevelopment.info/data/Oracle/DBA_tips/VMware_Workstation_50/VMWARE_10.shtml">Installing VMWare 5.0</a></li>
  </ul>
</li><li><a href="http://messenger.msn.com/Xp/Default.aspx">MSN Messenger v7</a>
  <ul>
	<li><a href="http://www.imagine-msn.com/messenger/post/games/activities.aspx?locale=en-us">Games with MSN Messenger</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.msgplus.net/">Messenger Plus!</a></li>
  </ul>
</li><li><a href="http://toolbar.google.com/">Google Toolbar for IE</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://webaccelerator.google.com/">Google Web Accelerator for IE</a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://webaccelerator.google.com/?subid=US-HA-EN&sourceid=gwa">Google Web Accelerator for FireFox</a>
</li>
 :
 :

which results in the page looking like this (though lots better :

Applications installed

1. VMWare Workstation v5.5

* VMWare documentation

* Installing VMWare 5.0

2. MSN Messenger v7

* Games with MSN Messenger

* Messenger Plus!

3. Google Toolbar for IE

4. Google Web Accelerator for IE

5. Google Web Accelerator for FireFox

So, end result ... If pack builders would start including a simple html file with a unique name to their pack that lists/documents their pack in simple <li> list item format, dump that into c:\windows\Config, that would be good

D.

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