How To Add and Register Custom OCXs with Setup Wizard

MORE INFORMATION

The Setup Wizard utilizes a file called SWDEPEND.INI to determine what, if any, additional action is necessary upon installation of each file. It is also used to determine the dependent files that each included file may need to run properly. The SWDEPEND.INI file is generated the first time the Setup Wizard is run and is located in the Windows directory. All OCXs that ship with Visual Basic have an entry in the SWDEPEND.INI file that specifies what sort of registration should take place after the control is installed and what, if any, additional files that should be installed with the control. For example, the following entry exists for the 32-bit DBGrid control:

   [DBGRID32.OCX]
   Register=$(DLLSelfRegister)
   Dest=$(WinSysPath)
   Uses1=OCX Runtime Support
   Uses2=GRDKRN32.DLL
   Uses3=
				

The Register line specifies that the file is auto-registering by means of an exported DLLSelfRegister function. Setup Wizard will call this function to register the control after the file has been copied. The Dest line supplies the location that the file should be copied to, in this case to the Windows system directory. All remaining UsesX lines list the additional files that should be copied to the target system where the program is installed.

To automatically enable the Setup Wizard to support a custom OCX, all that is necessary is to add a section for the given OCX to the SWDEPEND.INI file. Following the above example, this section would look something like:

   [MYBIGOCX.OCX]
   Register=$(DLLSelfRegister)
   Dest=$(WinSysPath)
   Uses1=OCX Runtime Support
   Uses2=
				

After this addition, the Setup Wizard should generate a setup program that will automatically register the custom OCX after installation.

Note that the 'OCX Runtime Support' entry includes MFC40.DLL. It does not, however, include either MFC30.DLL or OC30.DLL. If the OCX was built with MFC 3.0, both of these files should be specified in UsesX lines in the entry for the OCX.