Thread: external libraries and distribution

Is there a checklist of things I must bundle with a program which uses external libraries to ensure that it will work on other computers when downloaded from my site?

I tried running a simple SDL app I made on another computer, but all I got was a dos window flash up and then disappear immediately. I included all the .dll files in the zip, but I can't think what else I would need to include.

here's the zip for anyone interested.

link

Any help is, as usual, greatly appreciated,

Regards,

Stonehambey

run it from the console.

Are you catching errors/exceptions and logging them?

Originally Posted by robwhit

run it from the console.

I'm not sure I follow, exactly

Are you catching errors/exceptions and logging them?

If something doesn't load or fails to initialize it returns a number other than 0, much like the lazy foo way. However I quickly learnt that always returning 1 didn't really help me locate errors, so the program returns different numbers depending on which part has failed. When testing it in the IDE (code blocks, in my case) it just tells me which number was returned when I run the program, making the problem easy to find. I'm unaware how to find out this information when not running it within the IDE. Forgive my ignorance if it should be obvious to me

Create a logger object that logs information to a file.

Originally Posted by Stonehambey

I'm not sure I follow, exactly

Well, he's saying run the program using command prompt (cmd.exe). Just go to Run -> cmd.exe. Then just go to the path where your program is located then type in the program name and see what it spits out.

That's what I thought he might mean, what's the difference between running a program that way and just double clicking on the .exe?

Anyway, I still get the same problem.

As a point of interest. I can run the SDL programs from your site, dwks. However when I try to run them from another computer, I get exactly the same problem (window flashes open then closes immediately), despite all the correct .dll files being on the computer.

Might this suggest that the problem is not specifically with my programs, but something more general? It seems that my computer, on which I've developed an SDL app, likes SDL apps just fine. But other computers don't seem to like them so much

Or is this a versioning problem? What version of SDL was the program compiled with, and what is it running against?

I tried it on two computers, both XP. One had the .dll files in the windows/system32 folder, the other just in the same directory as the app. At first some of the dll's were missing, and it gave an error message like you said. After all the dll's were added, it stopped moaning.

The console window doesn't print anything.

I guess I'm not really helping myself if I'm not logging my errors properly. I thought maybe someone might have had a similar distribution problem and had a suggestion :P

EDIT:

Or is this a versioning problem? What version of SDL was the program compiled with, and what is it running against?

It's the latest SDL, compiled on code::blocks on Windows Vista

Originally Posted by Stonehambey

It's the latest SDL, compiled on code::blocks on Windows Vista

Is the one you compiled with the same one on the target machine?

Originally Posted by medievalelks

Is the one you compiled with the same one on the target machine?

The versions of SDL are the same yes, in fact the .dll files were copied straight from my machine

Originally Posted by Stonehambey

The versions of SDL are the same yes, in fact the .dll files were copied straight from my machine

The only thing I can think of is that perhaps another, older version is in the path somewhere.

Are there any other DLLs that your application depends on?

Not that I can think of.

Here's the source of the program,

http://stonehambey.com/source/KeyEvent.zip

It's mostly just a lazy foo tutorial, but with a few small changes, so I honestly can't see where the problem would be. Perhaps something to do with the way the IDE builds the project?