avoiding reference problems when distributing apps

[John Welch]

It happens much too often that I have to tell a client how to fix up missing
references when I send them an application, especially if the client is
distributing it to different users. It makes me look unprofessional (which I
guess I am to some extent). I've tried the fixuprefs() function I got from
the knowledge base (that uses the qryTestRefs and checks for error 3075),
but it doesn't seem to get called, and I still get the problem. I'm
developing in A2002 Dev. Edition with a 2000 file format.
My question is: what do people consider the best way to avoid this problem?
Can I just download the most current refs and tell my clients to do so as
well? If so, can someone point me to where I would get those?
Or, is there a better routine out there to automatically fix the problem?
If I compile an mde, I would think I woudln't get the problem, because it
would include all the library stuff it needed, no? But I do get the problem.
Is it possible to 'late-bind' everything in order to solve this? I'm not an
expert on that, but I don't think so.
Do people agree that this is one of the most difficult issues with
distributing applications, or am I just ignorant?
I've read a fair amount about this and tried lots of things, so I'm not a
total newbie, but I'm still stymied.

thanks a lot
-John

[Rick Brandt]

"John Welch" <j+ohnw+elch@cal+central.com (remove +'s)> wrote in message
news:db********@enews1.newsguy.com...

It happens much too often that I have to tell a client how to fix up missing
references when I send them an application, especially if the client is
distributing it to different users. It makes me look unprofessional (which I
guess I am to some extent). [snip]
My question is: what do people consider the best way to avoid this problem?
NO additional references other than the defaults and late binding for everything
else.
Can I just download the most current refs and tell my clients to do so as
well? If so, can someone point me to where I would get those?
Or, is there a better routine out there to automatically fix the problem?
If I compile an mde, I would think I woudln't get the problem, because it
would include all the library stuff it needed, no?
Your file only has the reference which is just an entry that says "Use this
Windows resource at this location." The problem is when that resource doesn't
exist at that location.
But I do get the problem.
Is it possible to 'late-bind' everything in order to solve this? I'm not an
expert on that, but I don't think so.
The ony problem that late binding doesn't solve is if the target computer has a
different version of one of the built in reference resources. Not unheard of,
but MUCH rarer. I have never had a user with that problem.
Do people agree that this is one of the most difficult issues with
distributing applications, or am I just ignorant?

Only difficult if you insist on adding references and using early binding.

--
I don't check the Email account attached
to this message. Send instead to...
RBrandt at Hunter dot com

[Tom van Stiphout]

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 01:40:18 GMT, "Rick Brandt"
<ri*********@hotmail.com> wrote:

<clip>

Your file only has the reference which is just an entry that says "Use this
Windows resource at this location." The problem is when that resource doesn't
exist at that location. Not quite. It's more something like "Use this Windows resource with
this GUID." Windows will look it up in the registry and load it into
memory from the location where it was registered from (using
regsvr32.exe).

But I do get the problem.
Is it possible to 'late-bind' everything in order to solve this? I'm not an
expert on that, but I don't think so.
The ony problem that late binding doesn't solve is if the target computer has a
different version of one of the built in reference resources. Not unheard of,
but MUCH rarer. I have never had a user with that problem.

Most ActiveX DLLs preserve backward compatibility, so if you write
your app against the lowest common denominator you will often not have
any problems.

Do people agree that this is one of the most difficult issues with
distributing applications, or am I just ignorant?

Only difficult if you insist on adding references and using early binding.

I think there are some instances where early binding is required. Just
can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps an Access Add-In would be one
example?

This NG has discussed code one could at at startup time to check for
broken references. I'm sure you could find it in Google.

-Tom.