Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Access 2010: Windows Installer Package Solution Wizard

First you need :

Microsoft Access 2010 Runtime

After creating an application in Access 2010, you may need to bundle the relevant databases into a package. Access 2010 has a intrinsic feature which lets user bundle and deploy Access 2010 database applications. This feature allows you to wraps up Access application into setup package, i.e, MSI installer in which you can associate Macro or VB code with the main database file and add other information such as; registry info, bitmap files, data version, Add or Remove Programs information and EULA info.

To begin with bundling and deploying Access 2010 database, launch Access 2010 main database file and on File menu, click Save & Publish.
save publish

From main window, under Package & Distribute, click Package Solution. It will show up Package Solution button at right side, click it to get started.

It will bring up package Solution Wizard dialog, click Browse to select the folder where you want to create a MSI application. Click Open and in wizard window hit Next to continue.

In this step, click Browse to select the main database file, i.e, that contains main form, report or switchboard.

Now from Root install folder, select a path of folder to install the setup file and from Install subfolder, enter name of folder you want installer to create. Beneath it, you can see the full folder path.
Under Pre-installation requirements, choose an option among three available options; a) installer will be requiring Access 2010 installed on the system, b) in-case of Access 2010 absence, it will require Access 2010 runtime to run the installer, and finally c) if system has neither access 2010 nor Access 2010 runtime, then the runtime will be bundled with the installer (for including Access 2010 runtime, you need to specify the location where it is residing).
Under Shortcut Options, enable Desktop option, to create a shortcut of main database file on desktop and enter the shortcut name.
Once done configuring all the necessary options, click Next to proceed further.

In this step, we will be adding all the files to be bundled in MSI installer, click Add and select the application relevant database files.

It will instantly add the files, for removing any database file(s), select the file and click Remove. If you need to add registry keys with app to operate according to requirements, click Add, to add registry keys. Once done, click Next.

The last step is about adding installer properties and other feature information. Only input panes marked with red asterisk are mandatory. Start filling out General Properties, Feature Information, Add/Remove Programs Information, and File information. Click OK to end the wizard.

It will instantly open the folder where the it has created an MSI installer (it contains all the selected database files). To test it out, run the installer.