drewdavis1
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Hello everyone
The final development of the application discussed here (http://www.myitforum.com/forums/m_175190/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#175190) took a bit longer than expected but, it is finally ready for some testing.
The miniNotify application is an updated version of the work that was done on SMSNotify and SMSNotify v2 which is an application that is run via a dependency before an application is installed on a client's PC which notifies them of the software that is about to be installed. As with SMSNotify v2, all settings are controlled via a INI file.
Features of miniNotify:
· Simple, low profile user notification utility
· Uses system tray icon and bubble very similar to ITMU (Keeps consistency in deployments)
· Displays time to install if user hovers over system tray icon. (Screenshot "Hover")
· Ability to display reminder just before installation (See Screenshot "Reminder")
· User has ability to postpone installation of the application one time
· Can display specific information about the application being deployed
· Fully customizable via INI (configuration) file
· Ability to run application in “Notification Only” mode to alert users of scheduled down time, security alerts, etc. In this mode, application will only display task bar bubble and possibly have “More Information” if they clicked on the bubble
· Allows the administrator to provide information about the software to be installed either from a text file or even from a webpage
How it Works:
As stated above, miniNotify is configured to run as a dependency of a package so that it runs before the installer and once miniNotify is closed, it returns an EXIT CODE 0 and allows the installer to run.
Upon launch, the user is prompted with an Notification Bubble informing them that they have software that needs to be installed but if they wish to postpone the install, click on the bubble (See Screenshot "Notification")
The user can simply ignore the notification bubble and the software will install in the configured specified amount of time. But if the user wishes to postpone the install, they just simply click on the bubble and they are presented with the Main dialogue window which allows them to select what they wish to do. (See Screenshot "Main")
When the install timer reaches zero or if the user selects the "Install Now" option, the miniNotify application closes with a EXIT CODE 0 to allow the software to install properly.
*For more detailed information, please see the post listed above
Usage:
As stated above, the miniNotify utility is configured via an INI file that you call in the command line (miniNotify.exe Example.INI). This allows you to create several INI files for each of your packages if you wish or a generic INI file (i.e AdobeProfessional.INI, Default.INI, etc). Then each ini file can be called by a separate Program in SMS (Create a Package for miniNotify with the app source pointing to your folder that contains the miniNotify utility and all of your INI files, then create a Program for each different INI file you wish to use.) It is a very similar process to how you configured the INI files for SMSNotify and SMSNotify v2, for more info on configuring these, see http://www.myitforum.com/articles/1/view.asp?id=4897.
Bundled in the ZIP file are a couple example INI files (NotifyEx.ini and InstallEx.ini) as well as some basic documents that outline what the software does and how to create your own INI file.
I know that this is not a lot of information but if you have any questions, comments, issues, complaints, etc, let me know! I hope you enjoy the application!
Please understand that this software has NOT undergone extensive testing and you MUST test in a non-production environment as you should with any software. Also, all software is provided "AS-IS" and I can not be held liable for any damages, data loss, etc by the use of this software. So TEST TEST TEST!
Again, many thanks to the work that Joel Schoenberg and Dan Thomson did on the SMSNotify utilities as they laid the groundwork for this application.
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< Message edited by drewdavis1 -- 4/8/2008 12:02:44 PM >
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