Thread: Finalizing Projects in Visual C++ 6.0

  1. #1
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    Apr 2004
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    Finalizing Projects in Visual C++ 6.0

    Ok--I know how to compile and run basic console apps and dialog-based MFC programs in Visual C++ 6.0. But, although I can run the programs, the files are stored in a debug folder, which I assume is meant to be temporary, not final.

    So my question is, what is the correct (i.e., commonly used, standardized, whatever) procedure for finalizing a project in Visual C++? Let's say I've made a simple guessing game console program. I want to compile the code, put the executable and any other necessary files into a folder, burn that onto a CD, and make my first million. How do I do it? (The first part, at least ). Do I simply copy the files from the debug folder? If so, how do I know what to copy, and what to leave behind? What if I've made a more complicated MFC program which requires additional files beyond the .exe? There must be something I'm missing here, but I haven't found any tutorials or book chapters on the subject.

    And, if you guys are feeling REALLY generous, maybe you could enlighten me about creating installation wizards for my programs? These seem to be included in every program that I've ever installed on my system. And--although I'm shamed to admit it--even Visual Basic provides a utility to generate an installation wizard.

    Anyway... thanks for any help you can provide. I'm kind of diving headfirst into all this, but I'm trying not to break my neck on the bottom of the pool. This site is a great resource!

    (P.S. If there are any other sites with tutorials that are more relevant to my needs--that is, basic program development in C++ for the Windows platform--I would love to hear about them!)

  2. #2
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    You are building your project in "debug" mode. This is used to, you guessed it, debug your project. It contains a lot of excess information that is helpful for troubleshooting things. You want to switch to "release" mode. This will perform optimizations to your code and shrink the size of the executable considerably.

    To do this, simply click the Build menu and then click the Set Active Configuration item. This will let you select from debug and release. These files will be in the release folder. You can simply copy your exe to any other place and run it.

    As far as installation wizards, there are a ton out there. Most of them are highly-automated and you can just follow the easy steps to create a setup.exe. Just do a search on google to find some.
    "...the results are undefined, and we all know what "undefined" means: it means it works during development, it works during testing, and it blows up in your most important customers' faces." --Scott Meyers

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