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redistribution of Microsoft Scripting Engines 5.1

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Mike Vashevko

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Dec 7, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/7/99
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What are the conditions for redistribution of Microsoft Scripting Engines
5.1 ?
The license agreement in the ste51en.exe says that
"...Microsoft grants you a nonexclusive, royalty-free right to reproduce and
distribute the object code version of the following files <...>:
jscript.dll <...>, vbscript.dll, scrobj.dll, scrrun.dll, dispex.dll,
cscript.exe, wscript.exe, wshom.ocx, and wshext.dll."
However it's not clear for me may I distribute the ste51en.exe itself along
with my product and launch it during the installation of my product?

Nala

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Dec 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/8/99
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but then the user has to click on all the dialog boxes during your
installation. much better to simply copy the files and register them.

"Mike Vashevko" <mvas...@invention-machine.com> wrote in message
news:uJRhXVPQ$GA.267@cppssbbsa04...

Michael Harris

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Dec 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/8/99
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I've seen (but never personally used) the following syntax posted for a silent install..
 
ste51en.exe /Q:1 /R:N
 
Perhaps someone from MS (Mr.Whalen ???) can post what the recognized switches are.  Running with /? shows /Q (but not with any /Q:blah explanation) but not anything for /R:blah)...

--
Michael Harris

Mike Whalen (MS)

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Dec 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/8/99
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Interesting that this is only barely in the MSDN - it's under article Q200007. But, I think the descriptions from the IExpress docs (which apparently aren't in MSDN... hmmm) are better.
 
Cheers,
  Mike Whalen
  Windows Script Dev
 

Supported Switches

/Q Bypasses all prompts, error messages, and file extraction animation - This is close to Acme /Q1 mode.  /Q: also just defaults to /Q.

/Q:1 Bypasses all prompts except file extraction animation and error messages.

/Q:A Assumes person running app is admin or SMS and does no checking for admin rights, disk space and such.  No prompts and no errors.

/Q:U User Quiet Assumes being used by end user but automated to be semi-quiet.

/R: Restart OS when complete.

/T: Provides a path to point decompressed files to other than TEMP.

/C: Calls different INF or app then the default one specified in CAB.

/N: Makes Wextract skip setup steps such as file extraction.

/? Describes lists of possible switches.

What Each Switch Does

/Q

Bypasses all prompts, error messages, and file extraction animation.

With this mode administrators would be able to automate basic process and avoid user choices for most cases.


/Q:1

Bypasses all prompts except file extraction animation and error messages  (Old and not used now).

With this mode administrators will be able to see errors occurring in extraction process or examine file extraction phase.


/Q:A

Assumes user is Admin or SMS.  Bypasses all prompts, error messages, and file extraction animation.

With this mode administrators would be able to automate basic process and avoid user choices for most cases.  Does no checking for admin rights, disk space, etc.


/Q:U

(Default)Assumes user is an end user but bypasses extraction animations.  Still checks for disk space and admin rights.

With this mode users would be able to run in a semi-Quiet mode.  Used when IExpress packages are shipped on CDs or installed through ActiveSetup.


/R

Control or force restart.

Administrators would like ability to actually force a restart also.  This ensures the update takes effect right way.  This issue was not fixed for the SP1 silent mode CAB we provided.

Wextract uses: NEVER_REBOOT reboot mode when calling InstallHInfsection to ensure that setupx.dll will return to wextract and leave the reboot job to wextract.  Wextract.exe will decide if reboot is needed in the rules below:

  • Check on reg key:
    • HKLM\...\Currentversion\setup
    • wextractreboot 128 or 132 .... (reboot mode defines)

If the above key value does not exists, or it is exists and is not one of the NEVER_xxx or ALWAYS_xxx mode, wextract.exe checks:

  • if Reboot =1 in the install INF file or
  • if \windows\wininit.ini is not empty.

If reboot is needed, it provides prompt or silent reboot handling based on the result from above.

Administrators can control the restart logic with the following entries:

  • R = /R:A (Default)
  • /R:= /R:A (Default)
  • /R:N -- Never reboot, overrides INF settings in package
  • /R:A -- Always reboot, prompt user with reboot choice
  • /R:I -- Reboot if needed, prompt user with reboot choice
  • /R:AS -- Always reboot, silent and don't prompt user
  • /R:IS -- Silent reboot if needed, silent and don't prompt user
  • /R:ND -- Tell Wextract to check for reboot state before running any RegisterOCX sections.  If machine is in reboot state before the install and that state wasn't caused by the package then queue up registrations in Runonce automatically.  This usually is used for cases where an install depends on something that was installed earlier, but maybe hasn't finished for some reason.


/T:

"temp dir full path" 
Provides a path to point decompressed files to other than TEMP.

With this switch administrators can work around any problems with TEMP dir issues.  This mainly has been requested though so that CabPack could be used to expand files and just drop them in a directory.  If author could leave the execution line blank this could be used to expand files in friendly manner to a specific folder.  Not delete after Wextract is done. /T without colon is invalid and will return user to /? command help.

If the dir specified does not exist, wextract will create it and remove it after using the files, if user does not also specify to leave extracted files on the system( /C: ).

Examples:
ATHENA.EXE /T:"MSFILES"
This would expand files to MSFILES run command embedded in CabPack and clean up files in MSFILES folder.

ATHENA.EXE /T:"MSFILES" /C:
This would exapnd files to MSFILES but run no command and not clean up files from MSFILES folder.

By default without the /T: switch, wextract will extract files to a unique (random created) subdir under the Temp dir or the current dir if temp dir does not has enough space.


/N:[egv]

Makes Wextract skip various portions of the installation process.

e -  This switch makes Wextract skip the file extraction process.  Wextract will launch all install commands with the temporary directory set to the same directory as itself. This feature is useful for doing server-based installations.  Installations are faster and require a smaller footprint on the client.

g -  This switch keeps group converter (grpconv.exe) from being launched.  This switch is useful if a series of IExpress packages are being installed in a batch process.

v -  This switch allows for no version check.


/C:

"App name"
Calls different INF, INF section or app then the default one specified in the CAB.

This allows for author put in other INFs for a install.  Default would run the one specified in the CAB.  Command line offers a way to ship many files and INF in one CAB but use command line to start different EXE or INF.  This leads down the path of eventually being able to have the CabPack pick which INF file or section to run based on machine language selected. /C without a colon will just expand the files to the current directory.

Examples:
SP1.EXE /C:"German.inf"
SP1.EXE /C:"German.inf [Only.Install.Shell]" (This is not implemented yet)

This also allows for a somewhat "custom" mode which administrators would want.

/C:"app comand"
Specifies the command to execute which overwrite the command defined in running cabpack authoring time.  If the command is blank, wextract just extracts files to defined temp dir and leaves files there without executing a command or deleting any files.

If there is no blank /C: switch (user does not request to keep the extracted files), Wextract adds RunOnce entry "wextract /D:<subdir path>" before RunCommand phase, in case the RunCommand phase never returns (failed install).  This way the next reboot will clean up the leftover files in TEMP folder from the failed process.

If RunCommand phase returns, wextract will clean-up the temp subdir and delete the RunOnce entry entered earlier.  Otherwise if RunCommand phase never returns to wextract, runonce will call wextract with /D option at reboot time to clean up process.

Mike Whalen (MS)

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Dec 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/8/99
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I cut that from a local document on our intranet by the way. Those links work for me, but your mileage may vary 8). They are simply links to headers in the same document, so you aren't missing anything. Just page down to see the full descriptions.
 
Mike Whalen
Windows Script Dev
Interesting that this is only barely in the MSDN - it's under article Q200007. But, I think the descriptions from the IExpress docs (which apparently aren't in MSDN... hmmm) are better.
 
Cheers,
  Mike Whalen
  Windows Script Dev
<snip>

Klaatu

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Dec 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/8/99
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In article <uVrrFZXQ$GA.266@cppssbbsa05>, an...@anon.net says...

> but then the user has to click on all the dialog boxes during your
> installation. much better to simply copy the files and register them.

Not necessarily. If he runs it with the right command line switches it'll
do a silent install.

Kyle Alons

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Dec 10, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/10/99
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The KB article you mention is in reference to the IE5 automated setup, and does its syntax doesn't match (/Q:1 doesn't appear to be available for it).  Could you provide a MSDN reference to the document you included in your message.  Is it specific to wscript setup?
 
Interesting that this is only barely in the MSDN - it's under article Q200007. But, I think the descriptions from the IExpress docs (which apparently aren't in MSDN... hmmm) are better.

Michael Harris

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Dec 10, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/10/99
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Note that /Q:1 is actually documented as obsolete ("not used any more") which certainly explains why a new KB article wouldn't mention it.

--
Michael Harris

Mike Whalen (MS)

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Dec 10, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/10/99
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As I mention in my previous post, this document isn't in MSDN (or I couldn't find it - MSDN is getting big 8). It is from the IExpress documentation. Many of the setup packages you get from Microsoft use IExpress, so it isn't specific to any particular product.
 
Mike Whalen
Windows Script Dev

Anon

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Dec 10, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/10/99
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I don't recall what the "1" refers to (/Q:1), but /R:N is usually
"reboot/no", i.e., don't display the reboot prompt. If I remember, :A is
"always".

Many MS exe's have undocumented switches, and most of'em follow a
pattern. If you see it on one, try it on another.

Michael Harris

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Dec 10, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/10/99
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I guess you missed Mr. Whalen's post of the full docs for the switches...

--
Michael Harris
 

 

Michael Harris

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Dec 12, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/12/99
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In case anyone's interested, the IE 5.x Administration Kit is included in the Office 2000 Resource Kit's core toolset which can be downloaded (all 9MB of it ;-) from
 

--
Michael Harris
 

 
Michael Harris <Please...@To.NewsGroup> wrote in message news:#0ig3l6Q$GA.259@cppssbbsa05...

Dale Strickland-Clark

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Dec 14, 1999, 3:00:00 AM12/14/99
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I take the view that if it's freely downloadable without registration it's OK to distribute for free. I'm just helping spread the Microsoft word...
 
Dale Strickland-Clark
 
John Druffel <IMCEAEX-> wrote in message news:143C6B82A8F1D211BBC200105A67CEF810ED80@JIM...

I had the same question.  I've recently found out that some of the workstations in our organization have WSH installed, and some don't.

Now that we know HOW to distribute it, back to the original question:

What are the conditions for redistribution of Microsoft Scripting
Engines
5.1 ?
The license agreement in the ste51en.exe says that
"...Microsoft grants you a nonexclusive, royalty-free right to reproduce
and
distribute the object code version of the following files <...>:
jscript.dll <...>, vbscript.dll, scrobj.dll, scrrun.dll, dispex.dll,
cscript.exe, wscript.exe, wshom.ocx, and wshext.dll."
However it's not clear for me may I distribute the ste51en.exe itself
along
with my product and launch it during the installation of my product?

Thanks for all the good info,
John

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