on 4/9/01 3:24 AM, Tim Mountford at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Actually it *isn't* in the Read Me, it's on the *download page*. Soooo, it's
> still possible to skim over the web instructions straight to the DL and miss
> it if you only read the installer Read Me. Or if a colleague passes you the
> SR1 on a disk or network or some such, you'd never know.
Good point - thanks for clarifying this. I don't recall seeing this in the
readme, but as others have pointed it out, I took their word for it.
> So there.
Well said - and I believe at the very least a couple of things can be learnt
from this experience:
* The MBU should seriously take this discussion over the updater to heart.
* Based on the plethora of various problems experienced, I'd be willing to
wager a rather large sum that no user testing has been performed on the
updater - might be smart to test such functions as well.
* It might be a good idea to include a healthy README with such updaters,
that INCLUDES notes regarding what the updater requires, or in what cases it
will not install.
* The updater should be smart enough to notify when it did not perform an
update, on what files, and why.
* The updater should *NOT* panic just because a user pasted a different icon
on the application.
* The updater should be smart enough to *NOT* panic when the names of the
relevant files have been changed by the user (e.g. by removing the leading
'Microsoft'). Not only can other updaters (Aladdin UpdaterMaker, and
InstallerVise) handle such isntances with no problem, but the l,ogic is
pretty easy: Look for Microsoft Office folder -> Check original names -> If
fail, check for names without 'Microsoft' -> Found files, then check
'checksum' (or some test to verify the file is intact and correct). ->
perform upgrade, dump old files in trash. -> finish update by displaying a
dialog informing user that the files that have been replaced are in the
trash.
Not rocket science, logic-wise.
Let's hope that a future updater will heed these experiences.
Harry
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