Omnis Technical Note TNGI0010 Updated May 2011
The Deployment Process and FAQ
For Omnis Studio and Classic
By Omnis Technical Support
Which files do I need to keep in my runtime tree?
Where can I place my libraries in the runtime tree?
How can I deploy my application to my users system?
How do I build an installer?
Which
files do I need to keep in my runtime tree?
It is not recommended by Omnis Software that any files should be
removed from the runtime tree unless absolutely necessary. In such a scenario
that application size or installation speed are critical then any files
removed from the runtime tree should also be removed from the design tree
prior to development. A list of the files and their functions for both
Omnis Studio and Omnis7 can be found in the deployment.doc.
Where
can I place my libraries in the runtime tree?
In order for the application library to function in the Omnis runtime
environment, it needs to be loaded. It can be loaded manually by the user
who would seolect 'Open' from the File menu and browse to the library
file. This may be suitable for some applications that involve several
unconnected libraries. The most common way is the automatic loading of
the library by the Omnis runtime environment. In order to achieve this
the initial library should be placed in the Startup Folder within the
Omnis Studio runtime tree or the External/Extensions Folder within the
Omnis 7 runtime tree. All libraries that are placed in this folder are
automatically loaded when the runtime environment is started. For applications
with more than one library, it is not necessary to place them all in this
folder, only those that you wish to be loaded on startup. Additional libraries
and files relevant to your application can then be placed anywhere in
the tree so long as your application knows where to find them.
How can I deploy
my application to my users' system?
Omnis recommends that you build an installer to deploy your
application onto your users' system. When installing a release version
of a software product there are requirements that the end user would expect
to see from a quality product installation. The first impressions that
users will receive from a software product will be that of the product
installer. Third party products that could be used to build an installer
are:
- BitRock InstallBuilder for Windows, macOS, and Linux, available from: www.installbuilder.com
- An alternative to Installer Vise for Windows is InstallShield, available from: www.flexerasoftware.com
How
do I build an installer?
With the introduction of Omnis Studio 5.1.1 (May 2011), we are using an
installer solution called BitRock InstallBuilder to build our release
products for Windows, Mac and Linux. We believe this is a suitable cross-platform
option for developers to build their own product installers, in addition
to the installers we have supported in previous versions of Omnis Studio.
You can download a free evaluation version of InstallBuilder from the
BitRock website which is fully-functional, but will print a small message
on the first window of the installer saying that it was created with an
evaluation version of InstallBuilder.
To create your own Omnis-based product installer using BitRock InstallBuilder, you need to create a project with the necessary folder structure for the platforms you wish to support. Creating InstallBuilder projects and creating your own installers is described in detail in the BitRock documentation. The informattion provided in the Deployment document (which can be downloaded below) refers to a project template that we have built to allow you to create Omnis-based product installers using InstallBuilder. Members of the Omnis Developer Partner Program (ODPP) can obtain the BitRock template via the usual Support channels. Developers not in the program will need to construct their own project based on those provided by BitRock.
Alternatively, using the installer applications from Mindvision
software, it is quick and simple to create an installer and full documentation
is supplied with it. An example of how to create a simple Omnis runtime
installer for both Windows and Macintosh platforms is described in the
Deployment document. The Deployment document contains further detailed
information on deploying your application.
For more information about deployment, download this document :- Deploydoc.zip
(Jan 2020).