PRO, STUDIO, LITE & DEMO

Auto Update & Auto Inform

QSTP Auto-Update Sample

The QSTP AutoUpdate sample will show you how we could have added AutoUpdate capability to QSetup (This is just a sample - that is not distributed to users).

Auto Update STEP-1

The first step takes place when we create the first (original) setup.
At this stage only the first 2 areas ("General" and "Original Setup") of the "AutoUpdate" page are important so we have painted the third area in black.

We define Name of UPDATE Project to be qstpupdate. Later on (in the next steps) 2 files will be created with the names: "qstpupdate.info" & "qstpupdate.update".

We define Download URL of UPDATE Project to be "http://www.pantaray.com/download". In the next steps the files "qstpupdate.info" & "qstpupdate.update" will be posted in this location.

We define the Secret Token to be 1234.

In the second area we define the following:

We want the agent to test for new update every 2 hours.
The version of the current release is 1.
If the user declines when prompted to AutoUpdate we want to prompt him once again after 1 week (7 days).
We want the Agent to start automatically at computer startup.
We want to provide the user the option to manually check if an Update is available.

Auto Update STEP-2

A month has passed and we are now ready with a new version of QSetup Installation Suite

First we compile a full new QSTP.EXE file for regular distribution to download sites. For this compilation the only change that we make in the AutoUpdate page is to increment the Version of Original Setup to 2. (Of course we might have made other changes in other pages of the composer like adding files, adding registry entries etc...)
Important Note on Files

We now proceed to compile the AutoUpdate files. For this operation we will need the third area ("Update Setup") of the AutoUpdate page.

In the third area we define the following:

We select qstpupdate.update as our update file.
We specify that IF QSetup.exe (the composer) is running it should be closed before AutoUpdate starts.
We specify that the agent should send a WM_QUIT message to the composer as a shut down signal.
We specify that the version of this Update is 2.
We specify that this update should take place only if the current version on the target machine is 1.
We specify to Request Confirmation before Download.
We specify to Request Confirmation befor Install.
We specify to Inform User when update is finished.
We specify to Restart Process when Update is Finished - that means that if the agent has closed QSetup.exe it will now restart it.

Now it's time to hit the Compile button. (the button located on the third area)
When hitting this button the files "qstpupdate.info" & "qstpupdate.update" will be created in the Project directory:

Remember the Test Mode is still checked. So we can test our update before we upload it to the web.

We go to "Start/Program/Qsetup Installation Suite" and click Check for New Update.
In response the Agent will present us with the following message:

We click YES and the agent will install the updated version of QSetup on our machine.
When the update is concluded the agent will present the following message:

Now it's time to upload our update files to our website.
We click the Upload button. (the button located on the third area)
And use the FTP service of QSetup to upload the files "qstpupdate.info" & "qstpupdate.update" to our WebSite in the directory: download.

When upload is concluded we can test that the files were correctly uploaded and placed in the correct location on our website. To do this we click the Verify URL button and get the following display:

We click the Verify INFO File and Verify DATA File buttons to get a message similar to the following:

Now the creation of the AutoUpdate option is concluded.

We may repeat Step-2 for any future update. If we only provide updates and not intend to provide a new setup file then there is NO need to increment the Version of Original Setup on the second area.