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Visual Basic Concepts

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Deploying Your DHTML Application

You package and deploy your DHTML application using the Visual Basic Package and Deployment Wizard. The Package and Deployment Wizard packages your project .dll files and all associated files into a "cabinet" or . The wizard can then deploy this cabinet file and its associated support files to a location you indicate on a Web server.

Note   The .cab files you generate for your DHTML applications should be digitally signed prior to deploymentSee "Digital Signing for ActiveX Components" in "Downloading ActiveX Components" for an explanation of how to sign your files.

Files to Deploy

The application files that must be deployed include:

  • The .dll files for the project — including the Visual Basic run-time DLL and the .dsr and .dsx files for the project. These are automatically packaged into the .cab file when you run the Package and Deployment Wizard.

  • The HTML page or pages associated with the project. The Package and Deployment Wizard does not package these into the .cab file, but it copies them to the indicated location on the Web site when you deploy the .cab file.

  • Any files referenced by the HTML pages, such as images. The Package and Deployment Wizard does not automatically recognize these dependencies, but you can add them to the list of additional files to deploy.

The files end users need to download for a DHTML application vary depending on whether or not they have previously downloaded an application or not. If the end user is downloading for the first time, he must download the Visual Basic run-time DLL and the page designer run-time DLL in addition to the files associated with the application. If he has previously downloaded a DHTML application, the user does not need to download the run-time components again.

The Deployment Process

These are the steps in deploying your DHTML application to the Internet:

  1. Debug and compile your application.

  2. Use the Package and Deployment Wizard to build a .cab file that contains the necessary files for your application.

Tip   Make sure that the HTML files for your application are listed on the Included Files screen, while you are packaging. If they are not, use the Add button to manually include these files.

  1. Digitally sign your .cab file and rebuild.

  2. Use the Package and Deployment Wizard to deploy your application to the Web server you want to use.

  3. Manually copy any files associated with your application’s HTML pages, such as images, to the necessary location on your Web server.

    Note   You can also use the Package and Deployment Wizard to perform this step.

  4. Test the pages in your application to make sure that all the links to associated files still work. If not, you may have to adjust the location of your files on the Web server to match the in the HTML pages.

For More Information   See "Distributing Your Applications" in the Programmer's Guide for instructions on using the Package and Deployment Wizard to distribute your DHTML application.