EUDORA 4.3 INSTALLER CUSTOMIZATION GUIDE 02/17/00 The Eudora installer uses an initialization file (Instopt.ini) for customization purposes. Instopt.ini contains four sections, each of which is explained below. This file must be located in the same directory as the rest of the setup files. If this file is not included with the rest of the Eudora setup files, strange and undesirable behavior of the installer is guaranteed. The [General] Section --------------------- This section has two keys: APP_NAME ----- This is the name of the application. This value is used throughout the installer to give titles to some windows and such. APP_VERSION -- This is the version number of the application. None of the keys or values in this section should be changed. The [User_Info] Section ----------------------- This section contains information about custom files the user may want to add (and how those files are to be handled by the installer), a setting for creating/naming an icon on the desktop during install, a setting for prompting for an alternate mail box location (with an option to set that dialog's text message), and settings that allow one to alter the Eudora.ini file during install. To add a custom file to the installer, simply put it in the directory where the rest of the installer files live and edit the appropriate USER_FILE line(s). A line with no value is ignored. USER_FILE_MODE determines how the custom files are copied to the installation directory: AlwaysOverwrite - USER_FILE will always be copied to install directory NeverOverwrite -- USER_FILE will not be copied to the install directory if same named file is found OverwriteNewer -- USER_FILE will only be copied if newer than same named file in install directory All three user files have the same mode. The values for these options are case sensitive. Note that Ph.ini, Finger.ini and LDAPinit.ini are already included in the setup as uncompressed files, and need not be specified here. TIP: You can put default Eudora settings in a user file called DEudora.ini (for example, USER_FILE1=DEudora.ini). When a setting isn't found in Eudora.ini, Eudora will look in the DEudora.ini file located in the same directory as Eudora.exe. The Eudora installer won't replace an existing Eudora.ini, which means users won't lose changes they've made to their settings. The Eudora installer will install the new DEudora.ini (assuming you set USER_FILE_MODE to AlwaysOverwrite), which ensures that the right defaults will be used for settings the user hasn't changed. If you elect to use DEudora.ini, you should still put your desired settings in Eudora.ini as well. It will always be copied on a fresh install. Deudora.ini is a special file that is used in conjunction with Eudora.ini. Eudora runs as if each section of Deudora.ini is added to the corresponding section of Eudora.ini. If there is a conflicting setting, then Eudora.ini takes precedence. The SUPPRESS_REGISTRY_WARNINGS key, when set to 1, will suppress the displaying of most of the warnings resulting from not being able to write to the registry due to lack of administrator privileges on Windows NT. These messages will be displayed as appropriate if this key is set to 0. The CREATE_SHORTCUT key has two possible values, 0 and 1. When set to 0, the installation routine does not ask about placing a shortcut on the desktop. When set to 1, this dialog is presented during installation. The shortcut is titled using the ICON_SHORTCUT_NAME value. Note that if this value is different from the name of a previous shortcut, an additional shortcut is created. If this value is the same as the original shortcut name, the target for that shortcut is overwritten. If no value is given, "Eudora" is used. The MAIL_DIRECTORY_PATH key is an optional directory path that gets appended to the Eudora shortcuts (Start menu and desktop, if chosen) made by the installer. This extra path info is passed as a command line argument to Eudora, and the user's mailboxes will be stored, created, etc. in that location. This option might be used, for example, when you wish to keep a user's mailboxes on a network drive or a separate folder on a local drive. If you want to keep a user's mail folder in a different location, enter that path here and the user will either be forced to accept that path, or will be prompted to browse for another folder with that folder as the default (see MAIL_DIRECTORY_PROMPT below). Paths should be of the form: :\ (Example: h:\mailboxes\jsmith) Do not use a trailing slash on pathnames. If the path cannot be found, the default Eudora mail directory is used. Leave this value blank if you don't wish to use alternate mailbox folders. If the MAIL_DIRECTORY_PATH key is set, the MAIL_DIRECTORY_PROMPT key determines whether or not the user is prompted. If this is set to 1, then the user will be prompted to either accept the path specified in MAIL_DIRECTORY_PATH or browse for another folder. If this is set to 0, then the user will be forced to accept the alternate location (and will not be prompted). This might be handy when you know that every user's mail should always reside in one location (such as a shared network drive) and you do not wish the user to be able to change it. Note that if this value is set to 0 and the specified MAIL_DIRECTORY_PATH does not exist and cannot be created (for whatever reason), Eudora will revert to the original, default mailbox folder, and no alternate mailbox folder will be used. If MAIL_DIRECTORY_PROMPT is set to 1, the MAIL_DIRECTORY_DIALOG_TEXT key is the dialog text that appears when a user is prompted for an alternate mailbox directory location. This text should be at most 256 characters, not containing any words over 50 characters long, and should be all on one line (it will be sized automatically by the installer). If left blank, a generic message is used. Set UPDATE_EUDORA_INI to 1 to add, modify or remove Eudora.ini file settings at install time. The user's old Eudora.ini file is renamed to Eudora_ini.old before any changes are made. You must specify a section name using the UPDATE_SECTION key. The default value for this is "Settings", as this is where most of Eudora's customization should be placed. DO NOT use brackets ([]) when specifying a section name, or settings will not be written to the ini file. If an UPDATE_SECTION value has not been specified, no name/value information will be written to Eudora.ini. Specify a series of key name and value pairs using KEY_XXX_NAME/ KEY_XXX_VALUE. If a key name is specified, a key value must also be specified. If UPDATE_EUDORA_INI is set to zero and name/value pairs have been specified here, they will not be written to the Eudora.ini file. Note that you should make these same name/value additions to the default Eudora.ini that comes with the installer (it's uncompressed and with the rest of the installer files). This file is used during an install when no Eudora.ini can be found. When this file is used during an install, none of these settings will be written. The [Included] Section ---------------------- This section contains all the third-party software that normally comes with Eudora. The keys here allow one to suppress or display installation information about these applications (which is useful if these installer(s) are not going to be included with the Eudora installer). When the installation is complete, a final window is displayed. To edit the text at the top of the window, set THIRD_PARTY_DIALOG_HEADER to the desired message. If left blank, a generic message is displayed. To edit the text at the bottom of the window, set THIRD_PARTY_DIALOG_FOOTER to the desired message. If left blank, it will similarly display a generic message. Each of these messages should be kept under 256 characters, should not use any words over 50 characters long, and should all be on one line (they will be sized automatically by the installer). If DEFAULT_URL is set to 1, the window will give the user an option to go to Eudora's software download page, which will automatically detect which third party software the user is missing. If, however, you would prefer to use your own custom URL, set DEFAULT_URL to 0, and set CUSTOM_URL to the full URL name. If it is local, include the prefix "file://", otherwise include "http://". If no page is to be opened, set DEFAULT_URL to 0 and do net set the values of CUSTOM_URL. If you would rather open a folder containing icons of the applications to be optionally installed, set CUSTOM_FOLDER to the full path name of the directory which contains these files. This will only be opened if no web page is opened, and will be ignored if not set. Note that if none of the above options are set (ie. DEFAULT_URL=0, and CUSTOM_URL and CUSTOM_FOLDER are not set, then the checkbox on the window to install software disappears. Set INSTALL_PUREVOICE to 1 if you would like include an option that allows PureVoice to be installed directly from this installer. Set to 0 to disable this option. The [Type] Section ------------------ These are the types of installations possible with a "regular" Eudora installer: ELECTRONIC=1 CD_INSTALL=0 FULL_UPGRADE=0 BETA=0 DEMO=0 The only option that should be set for these purposes is ELECTRONIC. The other options depend on files and routines that may not be present. If more than one option is set to 1, the first option read from the ini file will be used. If none of the options is set, undesirable results are likely. If you wish to distribute this installer on a CD, yet you wish to distribute MSIE or QuickTime, leave ELECTRONIC set to 1. Simply specify a path name (in the [Included] section) for the directory that contains these installers, then include them with the rest of the Eudora setup files on the disc. Note that there is currently no way to specify a subdirectory of the Eudora install directory for these installers. Because of InstallShield limitations, this will likely never be implemented.