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Distributing Irie Pascal Programs

So you have written your program, finished testing it, and now you are ready to distribute it. Well, most Windows programs nowadays are distributed as setup packages, and these setup packages provide an easy way for the programs to be installed to, and uninstalled from, the user's computer. If you decide to distribute your program as a setup package, you will need to use a third-party utility to create the setup package, because Irie Pascal does not include such a utility. Using a third-party utility should not be a problem because Irie Pascal programs are very easy to install.

Setup Folders

Most, if not all, setup packages will prompt the user to select the installation folder (i.e. the folder that the program files should be installed into). The utility that creates the setup package will allow you to specify which files you want to put into the installation folder. Most setup creation utilities also allow you to specify which files to put in special directories, such as the Windows folder, or the Windows Systems folder. In the case of Irie Pascal programs you basically have two choices for placing files:

1. You can put all the files into the installation folder
2. You can put all the files, except the Irie Run-Time Engine, into the installation folder. The Irie Run-Time Engine can be installed into the Windows System folder or the Windows folder.

Running Your Program

You probably can't depend on the users of your program having Irie Pascal installed on their computers, so you will probably want the setup package to provide an easy way to run your program. Most setup creation utilities can create setup packages that will add your program to the Windows Start Menu, or create a shortcut, on the Desktop, to your program, or both.

If your program is an IVM executable then there is a slight problem you will need to overcome. The problem is that Windows, right out of the box, does not know how to run Irie Virtual Machine (IVM) executables.

• One way to deal with this problem is to teach Windows how to run IVM executables. This is done by creating an association in Windows between the extension .ivm and the IVM Interpreter (i.e. tell Windows that the IVM Interpreter should be used to execute/open files with the .ivm extension). When Irie Pascal is installed on a computer, this association is automatically created, however if Irie Pascal is not being installed then the setup package will have to create this association. If your setup creation utility allows you to create associations then this is a good choice. You can then have the Start Menu entry or Shortcut on the Desktop refer directly to your program.
• Another way to deal with this problem is to create a batch file, that will execute the IVM Interpreter and pass your program as an argument. For example if you program is named hello.ivm, then the batch file could contain the line ivm hello.ivm. You would then point the Start Menu entry or the shortcut on the Desktop at the batch file, instead of at your program.NOTE: If you choose this option remember to distribute the batch file along with your program.
• Yet another way to deal with this problem is to point the Start Menu entry or the Shortcut on the Desktop, at the IVM Interpreter with your program being passed as an argument.

Files You Need To Distribute With IVM Executables

If your program is an Irie Virtual Machine (IVM) executable then in addition to the .ivm file containing your program, you will also need to distribute the IVM Interpreter (i.e. ivm.exe), and the Irie Run-Time Engine (i.e. the file iriert26.dll), along with any other files required by your particular program. If you have purchased a license to use Irie Pascal, then you may have the right to distribute the files necessary to run your programs (see the license agreement for details).

Files You Need To Distribute With EXE Executables

If your program is an EXE executable then in addition to your program, you will also need to distribute the Irie Run-Time Engine (i.e. iriert26.dll), along with any other files required by your particular program. NOTE: In this case there is no need to distribute the IVM Interpreter (i.e. ivm.exe).

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