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:

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).

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