KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub
Q198038: INFO: Useful Tools for Package and Deployment Issues

Article: Q198038
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbcode kbATLComposite kbwizard kbAppSetup kbDeployment kbDownload kbVBp kbVBp600 kbOSWi
Last Modified: 27-SEP-2001

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, version 6.0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

Microsoft Visual Basic ships with the Package and Deployment Wizard (PDW), a
tool designed to aid developers in packaging and deploying their Microsoft
Visual Basic applications. Packages created with the PDW use compressed cabinet
files (.cab files) for distribution. This article discusses several utilities
that may be used to modify, view or manipulate cabinet files. As well, during
the distribution process, problems may arise when deploying applications to
various environments or when testing. This article also discusses some tools
that may be useful for troubleshooting application deployment issues.

MORE INFORMATION
================

This article discusses the following utilities:

  Utility          Description
  ------------------------------------------------------------------
  Extract.exe      Extract files from a CAB file.
  Makecab.exe      Builds CAB Files.
  Cabview          View/Manipulate the contents of a CAB file.
  Cabarc.exe       Build and extract files from a CAB file.
  Regsvr32.exe     Registers ActiveX Components.
  Regocx32.exe     Registers ActiveX Controls (.OCX Files).
  Regit.exe        Registers in process ActiveX servers (.OCX/.DLL Files).
  Depends.exe      View file dependencies.
  Clireg32.exe     Registers Distributed Component Object Model Components
                   on Client computers.
  Vbrun60.exe      Installs core Visual Basic files.
  Setup Toolkit    Used to customize Visual Basic application Installations.

Extract.exe
-----------

Extract.exe is a utility that allows you to extract all files or specific files
contained within a cabinet (.cab) file.

The Extract.exe utility is found in your Windows, Windows\System32 or
Windows\Command folder on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 98, or
Windows 95. It may also be found on your Windows installation CD-ROM.

To use the Extract.exe utility perform the following steps:

1. Open an MS-DOS Command prompt.

2. Navigate to a folder that contains a cabinet file from which to extract the
  files.

3. Execute the following command from the MS-DOS Command prompt:

  Extract.exe Project1.cab /E

  NOTE: Project1.cab is the name of the cabinet file.

  Executing the preceding command extracts all of the files contained within the
  Project1.cab into the current directory.

Extract.exe may be used to extract individual files or may be used to extract
files from multiple cabs at one time. For more information about the options
available with the Extract.exe file, execute the following command from a MS-DOS
command prompt:

  EXTRACT.EXE /?

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q191212 HOWTO: Modify and Rebuild .CAB Files Built with PDW

Makecab.exe
-----------

Makecab.exe is a utility that allows you to take existing files and package them
into a cabinet (.cab) file. This may be useful if you have extracted files from
a .cab using the Extract.exe utility and then would like to repackage the files
into the cabinet.

The Makecab.exe utility is installed by Microsoft Visual Basic and may be found
in the following folder by default:

  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\Wizards\PDWizard

To use the Makecab.exe utility, perform the following steps:

1. Open an MS-DOS Command prompt.

2. Navigate to the folder that contains the files to package into a cabinet.

3. Run the following command from the Command prompt:

  MAKECAB.EXE FILENAME CABFILE

  NOTE: The filename is the file to compress and cabfile is the cabinet (.cab)
  file.

Makecab.exe packages the file listed into a .cab for distribution. If the .cab
file does not exist it will be created. When used with the preceding syntax,
files must be added to a .cab file one at a time. With the use of a .ddf file,
archive options and multiple files can be added to a .cab file at the same
time.

For additional information on the Makecab.exe command line parameters, execute
the following command from an MS-DOS Command line:

  MAKECAB.EXE /?

For additional information please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q191212 HOWTO: Modify and Rebuild .CAB Files Built with PDW

Cabview
-------

Cabview is a Windows 95/Windows 98 PowerToy utility that allows you to
graphically view and manipulate the contents of a .cab file. Windows 98 has
Cabview installed natively as part of the operating system.

For Windows 95, CABVIEW is available at the following location:

  http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wutoys/w95pwrtoysset/

Refer to the download page for the Cabview utility for instructions on how to
install the utility.

Cabview provides a graphical view of the contents of a .cab file similar to
Windows Explorer. This allows easy file manipulation through drag-and-drop of
files to and from the .cab file.

To use Cabview, perform the following steps:

1. Navigate through Windows Explorer to the .cab file you wish to view.

2. Right-click the file, and select the View option. CABVIEW presents the files
  contained with the .cab file. You can drag files into the CABVIEW window to
  add files, and drag files from the CABVIEW window to extract them onto the
  system.

Cabarc.exe
----------

Cabarc.exe is another CAB file manipulation utility. With Cabarc.exe you can
create new .cab files, extract files and list the contents of a .cab file.
Cabarc.exe does not allow adding additional files to an already existing .cab
file, however.

Cabarc.exe is available with the CAB Software Development Kit (SDK).

Cabarc.exe's best feature is the ability to list information about the files
contained within a CAB file in an orderly way (better than Extract.exe).

To view the contents of a .cab file with Cabarc.exe, perform the following
steps:

1. Open an MS-DOS Command Prompt.

2. Navigate to the folder containing the .cab file that has the contents you
  want to view.

3. Run the following command from the Command prompt:

  CABARC.EXE L CABINENT.CAB

  NOTE: Cabinet.cab is the CAB file that has the content you want to browse.

  For additional information about the Cabarc.exe file, refer to the
  documentation that ships with the CAB SDK.

Regsvr32.exe
------------

Regsvr32.exe allows you to register/un-register DLL and OCX files that are
self-registerable. Regsvr32.exe provides rudimentary error codes as well as a
silent install option.

Regsvr32.exe is installed with Microsoft Visual Basic and can be found in the
System (or System32) directory.

When used, Regsvr32.exe attempts to load the component and call it's
DLLSelfRegister function. If successful Regsvr32.exe displays a dialog
indicating success. If the registration fails, Regsvr32.exe returns a basic
error code.

To use the Regsvr32.exe utility to register a component perform the following
steps:

1. Open an MS-DOS Command prompt or from the Windows Start menu, select Run.

2. Execute the following command line:

  REGSVR32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\COMPONENT.DLL

  Component.dll is the DLL/OCX to register onto the system. The path to the
  component must be included in the command line.

  Components can be unregistered using the /u command line parameter.

For additional information on Regsvr32.exe command line parameters, execute the
following command from an MS-DOS command line:

  REGSVR32.EXE /?

Regocx32.exe
------------

Regocx32.exe is used to register ActiveX controls. This utility is designed to
work with setup programs and does not offer any user interface. This is helpful
when using an installation program/script that needs to shell out to register
ActiveX controls.

Regocx32.exe ships with Microsoft Visual Basic and is located on the installation
CD at the following location:

  \Common\Tools\VB\Regutils

Copy the file into the System (or System32) folder.

To use the Regocx32.exe utility perform the following steps:

1. Open an MS-DOS Command prompt or from the Windows Start menu, choose Run.

2. Execute the following command line:

  REGOCX32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CONTROL.OCX

  Control.ocx is the ActiveX control you want to register. The path to the
  component must be included in the command line.

  Note that Regocx32.exe does not raise any dialogs or return any error codes to
  determine if the ActiveX control successfully registers.

Regit.exe
---------

Regit.exe allows you to register DLL and OCX files that are self- registerable.
Regit.exe accepts multiple filenames and wildcards, allowing numerous components
to be registered at the same time. Regit.exe also provides basic error codes if
a component will not register.

Regit.exe ships with Microsoft Visual Basic and is located on the installation CD
at the following location:

  \Common\Tools\VB\Regutils

Copy the file into the System (or System32) folder.

To use the Regit.exe utility perform the following steps:

1. Open an MS-DOS Command prompt or from the Windows Start menu, choose Run.

2. Execute the following command line:

  REGIT.EXE C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\COMPONENT.DLL

  -or-

  REGIT.EXE C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\*.OCX *.DLL

  Component.dll is the DLL to register onto the system. The path to the
  component(s) must be included in the command line.

Depends.exe
-----------

The Dependency Walker, Depends.exe, is used to determine the explicit
dependencies a file has. A dependency is a secondary file, which is necessary
for a file to load/run properly. For example, a Microsoft Visual Basic
application is dependent upon the Microsoft Visual Basic run-time files.

Depends.exe also presents plenty of invaluable information about dependent
components, such as their export table, internal version number, and so forth.

Depends.exe ships with Microsoft Visual Basic and is located on the installation
CD's at the following location:

  \Common\Tools\VB\Unsupprt\Depend

Copy all the files from the Depend folder into the System (or System32) folder.

To use depends.exe, perform the following steps:

1. From the Windows Start menu, choose Run.

2. Type in the path and name to the Depends.exe file. You can also run the
  Depends.exe file by double-clicking the file through the Windows Explorer.
  Once Depends.exe executes at least once on your system, you may right-click
  any .exe, .dll, .ocx or other file and select View Dependencies from the
  shortcut menu to launch the Depends.exe file.

3. When Depends.exe launches, select File and then choose Open.

4. Browse in the Open dialog box for an .exe, .dll, or .ocx file and then click
  Open.

5. The explicit dependencies for that particular component will appear.

  For more information on the Depends.exe file, please refer to the Utilities
  On-line help.

Clireg32.exe
------------

Clireg32.exe is a utility used to register remote server components onto client
computers. This allows a client program to instantiate an object that resides on
a remote computer through the Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) or
Remote Automation.

Clireg32.exe is installed by Microsoft Visual Studio, and can be found in the
following folder by default:

  \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\Common\Tools\

Clireg32.exe uses an ActiveX EXE/DLL's VBR file (Remote Automation Registration
File) to register a remote component onto a clients computer.

To use Clireg32.exe to register a remote server, perform the following steps:

1. Open an MS-DOS Command prompt or from the Windows Start menu, choose Run.

2. Execute the following command:

  CLIREG32.EXE <PATH>\PROJECT.VBR

  Project.vbr is the VBR file to register, and <PATH> is the path to that
  file. For the preceding command line to work, the path to the CLIREG32.EXE
  file must be part of the environment Path variable.

3. When Clireg32.exe launches, it presents a title dialog box. Click the OK
  button, and the Options dialog box appears. You can then set the properties
  as desired to let the client computer know about the remote server.

For additional information on the Clireg32.exe file command line parameters,
execute the following command from an MS-DOS command line:

  CLIREG32.EXE /?

Vbrun60.exe
-----------

The Vbrun60.exe file contains the necessary run-time files needed to run an
application written in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0.

The core run-time files for Microsoft Visual Basic include the following:

Msvbvm60.dll
Oleaut32.dll
Olepro32.dll
Stdole2.tlb
Asycfilt.dll
Comcat.dll

The Vbrun60.exe file ships with Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, and is located (in
CAB format) on the installations CD-ROM at the following location:

  \Common\Tools\VB\Cabinets

From time to time Microsoft releases a Service Pack for Microsoft Visual Basic,
which contains updates to the run-time files. You can locate the most current
version of the run-time in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

  Q192461 FILE: VBRUN60.EXE Installs Visual Basic 6.0 Run-Time Files

To install the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 run-time, perform the following steps:

1. Open an MS-DOS Command prompt or from the Windows Start menu, choose Run.

2. Run the Vbrun60.exe file. You can also run the Vbrun60.exe file by
  double-clicking the file through the Windows Explorer.

  Vbrun60.exe contains a silent install switch (/q). This installs the run-time
  files without any dialog boxes appearing.

NOTE: Installing the run-time files may require you to reboot the computer.

For more information about the Vbrun60.exe file, please refer to the preceding
Knowledge Base article.

Setup Toolkit
-------------

Microsoft Visual Basic ships with the source code to the setup program used to
install application distributions. This source code is usually located in the
\Wizards\PDWizard\Setup1 directory where Microsoft Visual Basic is installed.
You may modify this code to customize the setup package created by the PDW.

NOTE: Microsoft Technical SupF194621port does not support the modification of the
setup process or any of the setup files. Support is provided for the Package and
Deployment Wizard on an "as is" basis only.

REFERENCES
==========

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q194022 INFO: Visual Studio 6.0 Service Packs, What, Where, Why



Additional query words: Extract Makecab Cabview Cabarc Regsvr32 Regocx32 Regit Depends Clireg32 Vbrun60 Setup Toolkit

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbcode kbATLComposite kbwizard kbAppSetup kbDeployment kbDownload kbVBp kbVBp600 kbOSWin95 kbOSWin98 kbCodeDownload kbGrpDSVB kbOSWinME 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB600Search kbVB600
Version           : :6.0
Issue type        : kbinfo

=============================================================================
THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.