4 replies to this topic

[ggorp]

Hi,

we have a little discussion about using merge modules or not.

We are at a big project where we need to repackage a lot. A lot of the apps are using "common DLL's like DAO, MDAC". A collegue of mine is telling us that we should NOT use the eg the DAO merge module because this is not good enough and we should repackage it ourself. This method should be used every time.

My thinking is to use Merge modules as much as possible.

Who can give me a lot of arguments Pro or Contra Merge modules.

Thanks

GERT

[luke_s]

If a company provides merge modules then i would use these. I would not try to repackage these yourself.

There might be exceptions to this rule - has anyone else worked with the files/merge modules that ggorp is using?

[Kurt Brecheisen]

I created a project that is just Merge moudles that goes to all of our customers. It is a baseline group of dll files that are required by our various products in our software suite. Once that product is installed, I know we will have at least our bare minimum requirements for running our software on every pc. In this project, I have .Net Framework 1.1, MDAC, DAO, Jet 351, and many more. I have been using this approach for a couple of years now. It seems to work well. It helps our customer support sort out many hardware/opsys issues. The theory here is "If your pc can't run an update of basic MicroSoft components, then that pc has issues." This also has the benefit of making sure we have a properly functioning pc before we actually install any of the software we create on it.

One suggestion to this approach: You must test your installation on every operating system you intend to support. I have found some issues with some operating systems and some merge modules. For example: One merge module for MDAC 2.6 SP2 would halt an installation on a 2003 server. I got a more recent one from InstallShield and it now behaves well for an installation on 2003 Server.

[huckey]

i would also be cautious with merge modules if you have already package a large amount of package, as switching half way through a project may prove a little troublesome.

its a catch 22 situation, do you risk switching late and fix all your upcoming work at the risk of damaging the old stuff..

the idea behind them is great ! .

[Petch]

I generally try to avoid them. There are too many inconsistencies between them and some of them are downright dodgy. But this is just my opinion.