Sams Teach Yourself Visual J++ 6 in 21 Days
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Rick Leinecker
ISBN: 0672313510
Publication Date: 11/01/98

Appendix A
Installing Visual J++ 6

This appendix will guide you through the process of installing Visual J++ 6, as well as the help system associated with the Visual Studio 6 product suite, the Microsoft Developer Network Library. To start the installation process, insert Disc 1 of the Visual Studio 6 Package, or Visual J++ 6, into your CD-ROM drive. The Installation Wizard will automatically begin, displaying a screen similar to Figure A.1.

Figure A.1  Insert Disc 1 of the Visual Studio 6 Enterprise Edition to start the Installation Wizard.

Click the View Readme button to view documentation on the products contained on the CD within your default browser. Click Next on the Installation Wizard dialog to proceed to the License Agreement dialog. Read through the license agreement and select the I Accept the Agreement radio button when you are finished. Note that the Next button on the License Agreement dialog will not be enabled until you accept the license agreement.

Once you have accepted the license agreement and chosen the Next button, the Product Number and User ID dialog of the Installation Wizard will appear, as shown in Figure A.2. Enter the product ID number from your CD case, your name, and your company in the appropriate entry fields before clicking the Next button.

Figure A.2  The Product Number and User ID dialog information will be validated before the installation process continues.

Provided you’ve entered the correct product ID number, the Installation Wizard will next evaluate whether or not you need to upgrade the Internet Explorer software before continuing. For the Visual Studio 6 Product Suite, Internet Explorer version 4.01 is required and is used within the MSDN help system. If you do need to upgrade Internet Explorer (IE), a dialog similar to Figure A.3 will appear.

Figure A.3  IE 4.01 is required before the installation of Visual J++ 6 will begin.

If you already have version 4.01 of IE installed, proceed to Figure A.8 for further installation instructions. Otherwise, click the Next button on the Install Internet Explorer 4.01 dialog to proceed to the Internet Explorer 4.0 Setup dialog, as shown in Figure A.4. Before clicking the Next button, be sure to record your product ID number in case you need technical assistance for this product at a later date. As the dialog indicates, any previous versions of IE that you have installed will be automatically upgraded. However, any configuration options you have saved within IE, as well as the bookmarks you have created, will not be lost in this process.

Figure A.4  Record your IE 4.01 product ID number before continuing with the installation process.

Read through and accept the license agreement with IE 4.01 and the IE Installation Option dialog will appear, as shown in Figure A.5. There are two options associated with installing IE 4.01, Standard Installation and Full Installation. A Standard Installation will install IE 4.01 and Microsoft Outlook Express, while the Full Installation also includes the NetMeeting, Microsoft FrontPage Express, NetShow, Web Publishing Wizard, and Microsoft Chat 2.0 products. Either selection is sufficient for your Visual J++ 6 development efforts, so this option is entirely a matter of personal preference.

Figure A.5  Click Standard Installation or Full Installation based on your needs and preferences for the included Microsoft products.

The next dialog that will appear is the Windows Desktop Update dialog, as shown in Figure A.6. The default selection of this dialog is to install the Windows Update Desktop as part of IE 4.01. This update changes the look and feel of your desktop, offering true Web integration through changes to the taskbar, start menu, and all desktop folders. Leave the Yes radio button checked only if you are sure you would like this upgrade installed. Conversely, if you are comfortable or pleased with the current Windows environment, be sure to select the No radio button before clicking the Next button.

Figure A.6  The Windows Desktop Update dialog results in several changes to your desktop, and should only be selected if you want the new environment.

The Installation Wizard will prompt you for the country you reside in and the directory to install IE 4.01 in before continuing with the installation. Once you have provided this information or selected the defaults, IE 4.01 will install on your PC. During this installation, a dialog similar to Figure A.7 will appear, informing you of the status.

Figure A.7  The IE 4 Active Setup dialog informs you of the status of the installation process.

After the IE 4.01 installation, you will have to reboot your PC for the changes to take effect. Once the PC is restarted, Windows will automatically configure the IE 4.01 software and display a dialog, similar to Figure A.8 to begin the Visual J++ 6 installation.

Figure A.8  Click Next on the Visual Studio dialog to continue with the Visual J++ 6 installation.

The first dialog included with any of the Visual Studio 6 products lists the Visual Studio 97 products that are already installed on your PC. With this dialog, shown in Figure A.9, you can choose whether or not to have the Installation Wizard remove the older applications from your PC. The older Visual Studio 97 and new Visual Studio 6 applications can coexist on your PC, but you may have to remove them in order to free disk or Windows Registry space. If you do want to uninstall a prior version of one of the Visual Studio 97 products, select the appropriate check box before clicking the Next button. As the dialog indicates, you can choose to leave the previous versions of development products on your PC initially, and then remove them at a later time with the Add/Remove selection in your Control Panel.

Figure A.9  Unless you are out of disk or registry space, you may want to leave the prior versions of your development platforms until after you are familiar with the new versions.

If you have purchased the entire Visual Studio 6 Enterprise Edition, the next dialog of the Installation Wizard will allow you to choose which software products you want to install based on three different categories: Custom, Products, and Server Applications. Although the different configurations associated with this installation are nearly endless, for the purposes of this book you should click either the Custom or Products radio button before clicking the Next button. The Custom option will allow you to create an integrated setup of products and server applications on your PC, while the simpler Products option will allow you to choose which high-level development products you want to install. This is not to imply that the products included with the Server Applications install are not valuable, but they are outside the scope of this book.

Figure A.10  For the simplest installation, click the Products radio button to install the entire Visual J++ 6 Software Product in one easy step.

If you have chosen the Products radio button, the next step of the Installation Wizard allows you to select which particular products of the Visual Studio 6 Suite you want to install. Conversely, if you have chosen a Custom install, proceed directly to Figure A.11. The Products options include the 6 versions of Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++, Visual FoxPro, and Visual InterDev, as shown in Figure A.11. At a bare minimum, click the Visual J++ 6 check box before clicking the Next button to install the software required for all of the material presented in this text.

Figure A.11  Choose to Install Visual J++ 6 and you are on your way to accelerated Java development.

The Installation Wizard will begin your installation by displaying your product ID number, which you should record in case you need technical assistance in the future. Then, the Visual Studio 6 Enterprise - Custom dialog will appear, as shown in Figure A.12. The Options selected in this dialog are based on the products you selected to install back in Figure A.11. Conversely, if you chose a Custom install back in Figure A.10 instead of a Product install, all application categories will be deselected, allowing you to choose exactly which items to install.

Figure A.12  The Custom dialog allows you to view and change the items that will be installed.

If you are interested in viewing the individual components that make up each of the items in the custom dialog, highlight the item in the listbox and click the Change Option button. For example, you can view the components that make up the Enterprise Tools option, as shown in Figure A.13.

Figure A.13  The Enterprise Tools items contain useful components such as Visual Source Safe, which provides some basic Change Control features to a team programming environment.

Before clicking Continue on the Visual Studio 6 Enterprise - Custom dialog, make sure that, at a bare minimum, the Microsoft Visual J++ 6 item is selected. After clicking Continue, the products you have selected will be installed on your PC and the required Windows Registry changes will be executed. At the conclusion of this installation, you will once again have to restart Windows.

Once Windows has been restarted, the final phase of the installation will automatically begin. The Install MSDN dialog, similar to Figure A.14, will appear. Insert the MSDN Library CD 1 into your CD-ROM drive and click the Next button to proceed to the MSDN Visual Studio 6 Setup dialogs.

Figure A.14  The installation of the MSDN Library for Visual Studio 6 will automatically start after you have restarted Windows.

Once again, your product ID number for the MSDN library will be displayed. Write it down. Additionally, you will again have to approve a license agreement, this one associated with the MSDN Library for Visual Studio 6. After you accept the agreement, the MDSN VS 6 Setup dialog will appear, as shown in Figure A.15.

Figure A.15  The MSDN VS 6 Setup dialog allows you to choose which portions of the MSDN Library CDs you want to copy to your hard drive.

For most programmers, a Typical MSDN Library install will be sufficient. This will copy the required elements of the MSDN Library, mostly index information, to your hard drive without using too much disk space. Going forward, you will have to keep the MSDN Library CD in your CD-ROM drive whenever you need help from the Visual Studio 6 platform. If you don’t mind leaving the MSDN CD loaded when you are using Visual J++ 6, this installation option will probably make the most efficient use of your resources.

Choosing a Custom install will present the MSDN VS 6 - Custom dialog, as shown in Figure A.16. From this dialog, you can choose to copy additional documentation from the MSDN Library CD(s) to your hard drive, which may be beneficial if you have the free disk space or do not want to have to keep the MSDN CD loaded. You can get a brief description of each item by highlighting the item in the Options list box, which may assist you in deciding whether or not to consume disk space with each one.

Figure A.16  The MSDN VS 6 - Custom dialog allows you to copy additional components of the MSDN Library to your hard drive.

The Full installation will copy all of the help files from the MSDN CD(s) to your hard drive, so you don’t have to keep the MSDN CD(s) handy when programming with Visual Studio 6. Unless you have a great deal of free disk space, upwards of 700MB, this is not a practical solution.

After you have decided on an option, the appropriate portions of the MSDN Library will be installed on your PC and the installation process will terminate.