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Installation |
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Installation |
To use Montage, you must download and install it. Depending on what is already on your computer, you may be able to save time by using one or more of the smaller downloads. Also you have a choice of installation method based on your personal preference and level of experience. The easiest and officially recommended approach is a standard setup, which assumes the least experience and handles the whole job most reliably. If you are a moderately experienced Windows user, you may prefer to try the alternative quick installation procedure, which reduces the download size and gives you more control. In either case, the following sections cover the preliminaries, and the installation is simple.
Montage should operate on any computer running Window 95 or a later version of Microsoft Windows. You'll need at least about 10 MB of free disk space to run the installation, although the total size may end up consuming less.
If you have an older computer, certain standard Windows components may not yet be installed on your machine. Montage should still be usable, but some useful features may be unavailable. You can install these optional Windows components separately by obtaining free downloads from Microsoft. If you foresee the need for them, it would probably be best to install these components before Montage. It should not be necessary to obtain any of these downloads from Microsoft to use Montage if you already have Internet Explorer 4.0 or later installed on your computer.
Whenever you run a Windows application setup program, it's a good idea to take some precautions, because conflicting changes to the Windows Registry and System directory files can interfere with other applications. While there is nothing especially risky about installing Montage, we wouldn't want to be so foolish as to suggest that you should be any less careful than usual. That's why we don't discourage trying the faster "no-setup" installation, because it avoids the risk of touching Windows System files and registry entries. If that quick approach doesn't work, it's very unlikely to have done any harm, and you can just proceed with the standard full setup.
The following steps are recommended for running any Windows setup program:
You can choose either the standard setup program or an abbreviated installation procedure. The standard setup requires the largest download, but it is the easiest and most reliable approach. This is the recommended approach if you are unfamiliar with Windows Explorer. In many cases, especially on newer computers, you can get away with a quick installation from a much smaller download.
Once you've downloaded the full installation program, MOSETUP.EXE, all you need to do is run it. (Please be sure to review the preceding general precautions, though.) From the Windows Start menu, choose Run... and enter the full path to your downloaded copy of MOSETUP.EXE, or use the Browse... button to navigate to this file and select it. Then click OK to begin the installation. After you've gone through the initial full setup, a faster procedure (and a much smaller download) will generally suffice for Montage program updates.
If you are comfortable with basic use of Windows Explorer, a simple "no-setup" installation procedure may be all that's needed to run Montage on your computer. This will substantially reduce the size of the files you need to download, and it avoids having to run any sort of Windows application setup program. The quick installation typically entails downloading two ZIP files, MONTAGE.ZIP and VFP6LIBS.ZIP, and extracting their contents into the Montage program directory. In other words, the quick-install procedure is simply a matter of manually copying files (also referred to as XCOPY deployment), with no need for any changes to the Windows registry or System directory.
MONTAGE.ZIP contains the following files:
In addition to the above files, you will need the Visual FoxPro (VFP) runtime libraries in VFP6LIBS.ZIP. As with MONTAGE.ZIP, you can simply extract the ZIP file contents into your Montage program directory. Use TESTVFP.EXE to confirm that the basic VFP runtime, as well as support for context-sensitive help, are working properly.
Visual FoxPro (VFP) runtime libraries
Unless you have already installed the Visual FoxPro (VFP6 SP5) runtime, you'll also need to download VFP6LIBS.ZIP and extract the following basic VFP runtime support files into the Montage program directory. (Should you later run the standard full setup, or otherwise perform an installation that puts these libraries into the Windows System directory, you no longer need to keep the extra "unregistered" copies in the Montage program directory.)
Name Version Last Modified Size (bytes) FOXTOOLS.FLL 6.0.8161.0 06/09/1998 12:00:00 AM
41,548
VFP6R.DLL 6.0.8961.0
08/18/2000 12:00:00 AM
3,373,328
VFP6RENU.DLL 6.0.8961.0
08/18/2000 12:00:00 AM
876,032
In addition the the basic VFP runtime libraries listed above, Montage requires the following runtime support files, which also are included in VFP6LIBS.ZIP and should be extracted to the Montage program directory. Note that these additional files were not used in older versions of Montage (build #559 and earlier).
Name Version Last Modified Size (bytes) MSVCP71.DLL 7.10.3077.0 03/18/2003 9:14:52 PM
499,712
MSVCR71.DLL 7.10.3052.4
02/21/2003 3:42:22 AM
348,160
VFP2C32.FLL 2.0.0.3 09/26/2006 6:23:58 AM 245,760 VFPCOMPRESSION.FLL N/A 12/05/2008 9:59:00 AM 81,920 VFPENCRYPTION71.FLL N/A
08/09/2009 4:42:00 PM
140,800
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Craig Boyd (sweetpotatosoftware.com) for VFPCOMPRESSION.FLL and VFPENCRYPTION71.FLL, and to Christian Ehlscheid for VFP2C32.FLL. Also thanks to George Tasker for LNKFILES.DLL (used only during the standard installation procedure). All other runtime libraries were provided by Microsoft.
VFP runtime support for context-sensitive help
The first prerequisite for Montage to support context-sensitive help is that you have a working installation of HTML Help. You can confirm this simply by opening any .CHM file, e.g. MONTAGE.CHM, through Explorer. If you performed a successful standard setup of Montage, you should also be able to obtain context-sensitive help from within Montage, for example by pressing the F1 key. However, if you did a quick-install and your computer has never had a "proper" installation of VFP runtime, Montage's context-sensitive help will probably not function, even though you can use HTML Help in other respects. In order to fix this, short of running the full, standard setup, you may extract the files, FOXHHELP.EXE and FOXHHELPPS.DLL, from VFP6LIBS.ZIP into the Windows System directory, and run the following Windows command line via the Start, Run... dialog:
FOXHHELP /REGSERVER
An installation of Montage places the program, MONTAGE3.EXE, and the Help file, MONTAGE.CHM, into the Montage program directory, which would typically have a path such as C:\MONTAGE3 or "C:\Program Files\Montage3". The quick installation procedure mentions some other files also placed this directory. These are essentially static files, altered only by installing a Montage update.
In addition to the Montage program directory, a working installation of Montage generally uses files stored in the Montage application data directory and its subdirectories. The Montage application data directory is created automatically, when needed. This is a per-user directory whose path typically would be something like "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Montage3". The standard Montage setup optionally creates a shortcut on the Windows desktop that opens a default montage in your application data directory, so this becomes the default folder for montages that you create. However, you should feel free to create and store your montages at any convenient location in the Windows filing system. Aside from providing a place to store your personal montages, the Montage application data directory may contain a number of additional files that are created automatically. These include Montage's cache of icons, downloaded samples, and authentication table, stored under the user's Montage application data directory by default, but optionally configurable to reside elsewhere.
Tip: Use Help, About Montage... to see details about Montage program and application data directories, runtime libraries, and related files.
When MONTAGE3.EXE is launched without specifying the name of a specific montage to open, the program looks for an existing montage named "MONTAGE.MO3" in the Montage application data directory. If this directory and/or default montage are not found, they are created automatically.
Tip: Avoid storing your personal files in the Montage program directory, by using the Montage application data directory or some other directory to keep your data. Storing user data separately from installed programs can provide a higher degree of security and convenience. The Montage program directory should be used only for the Montage program, help file, global configuration files, and other static support files.
The icon specification in the Shortcut Properties dialog allows you to see which icon file a Shortcut is using, or choose a different one. If the specified icon file is missing, a default icon will be substituted. If the icon file is not a valid image type, or if the icon is missing but fetchable, the Shortcut displays as an X-ed out gray box.
Icons directory configuration options
While the default location of the Icons subdirectory is under the Montage application data directory, there are several ways of configuring Montage to use a different default icons directory. This could be useful, for example, if several different users share a common set of montages on the same machine: they might as well share a common Icons directory. The following mechanisms are supported for determining the Icons directory location, in order of precedence (i.e. the first condition satisfied is the one that prevails):
- Windows environment variable named "M3_ICONDIR"
If this environment variable is defined (non-blank), its value specifies the Icons directory path.
- user-specific configuration file, M3ICONSDIR.TXT
If the user's Montage application data directory contains a file of this name and its contents are non-blank, its contents specify the Icons directory path.
- existing ICONS subdirectory in Montage application data directory
If the user's Montage application data directory contains a subdirectory named "Icons", then this directory is used.
- global configuration file, M3ICONSDIR.TXT
If the Montage program directory contains a file of this name and its contents are non-blank, its contents specify the Icons directory path.
- default ICONS directory
If none of the preceding yield a non-blank Icons directory path specification, the "Icons" subdirectory of the user's Montage application data directory will be created and used by default. (Under old versions of Windows for which there is no concept of user-specific application data directories, i.e. where the APPDATA environment variable is undefined, the default Icons directory is created under the Montage program directory.)Note that the Icons directory path specified by methods 1, 2, and 4 above may be either a relative path or an absolute path. Relative paths are relative to the directory containing the montage.
When you first attempt to access the samples, the Samples subdirectory is created automatically, and the individual sample montages are downloaded into this directory (or one of its subdirectories) as needed, through the process of dynamic fetching. Once downloaded, a sample will not be downloaded again unless you deliberately force it to be re-fetched, for example by deleting the previous copy, or by deleting the entire Samples subdirectory.
Regardless of the installation method used to install the Montage program, i.e. whether you use the standard, full setup or the quick install procedure, the Samples are not obtained until needed. If the main sample montage, SAMPMAIN.MO3, is missing, a confirmation dialog is presented before proceeding with the initial download. Subsequently, when a requested sample has not yet been fetched, it is automatically downloaded (in compressed form), extracted, and opened with no additional action or confirmation required from the user.
Tip: If you are using a firewall, which is generally advisable, it may be necessary to explicitly enable permission for Montage to access data across the Internet, in order to fetch samples.
Samples directory configuration options
The following mechanisms are supported for determining the Samples directory location, in order of precedence (i.e. the first condition satisfied is the one that prevails):
- Windows environment variable named "M3_SAMPDIR"
If this environment variable is defined (non-blank), its value specifies the Samples directory path.
- user-specific configuration file, M3SAMPDIR.TXT
If the user's Montage application data directory contains a file of this name and its contents are non-blank, its contents specify the Samples directory path.
- existing SAMPLES subdirectory in Montage application data directory
If the user's Montage application data directory contains a subdirectory named "Samples", then this directory is used.
- global configuration file, M3SAMPDIR.TXT
If the Montage program directory contains a file of this name and its contents are non-blank, its contents specify the Samples directory path.
- default SAMPLES directory
If none of the preceding yield a non-blank Samples directory path specification, the "Samples" subdirectory of the user's Montage application data directory will be created and used by default. (Under old versions of Windows for which there is no concept of user-specific application data directories, i.e. where the APPDATA environment variable is undefined, the default Samples directory is created under the Montage program directory.)Note that the Samples directory path specified by methods 1, 2, and 4 above may be either a relative path or an absolute path. Relative paths are relative to the directory containing the montage.
Tip: To access subscriber-only samples in the password-protected part of the Montage web site, use Help, Register to enter your registered username and password into the authentication table.
Authentication table configuration options
The following mechanisms are supported for determining the Authentication table location (path and filename), in order of precedence. The first condition satisfied is the one that prevails:
- Windows environment variable named "M3_AUTHDBF"
If this environment variable is defined (non-blank), its value specifies the Authentication table path and filename.
- existing MOAUTH.DBF in the current directory
If the current directory containing a given montage also contains a file named MOAUTH.DBF, then this is the Authentication table to be used in conjunction with openings of that montage.
- user-specific configuration file, M3AUTHDBF.TXT
If the user's Montage application data directory contains a file of this name and its contents are non-blank, its contents specify the Authentication table path and filename.
- existing MOAUTH.DBF in Montage application data directory
If the user's Montage application data directory contains a file named "MOAUTH.DBF", then this is the Authentication table that is used.
- global configuration file, M3AUTHDBF.TXT
If the Montage program directory contains a file of this name and its contents are non-blank, its contents specify the Authentication table path and filename.
- default MOAUTH.DBF
If none of the preceding yield a non-blank Authentication table specification, an "MOAUTH.DBF" file will be created in the user's Montage application data directory and this will be used used by default. (Under old versions of Windows for which there is no concept of user-specific application data directories, i.e. where the APPDATA environment variable is undefined, the default Authentication table resides in the Montage program directory.)Note that the Authentication table specified by methods 1, 3, and 5 above may have either a relative path or an absolute path. Relative paths are relative to the directory containing the montage.
You can do some things to make Montage fit in well with the Windows desktop and Explorer interface, collectively referred to as the Windows Shell. One of the first things you'll need is an easy way to launch Montage by clicking or double-clicking on an icon. Another thing you're likely to want, once you start creating multiple montages, is the ability to open a specific Montage metafile by double-clicking on its .MO3 file in Windows Explorer. Finally, if you're a real Montage fanatic, you might consider adding support for the Shell New command (we plan to make this much simpler in a future version.)
After Montage has been installed, it's convenient to have a Windows shortcut (i.e. a link) for launching the program. Typically, you'd place this link somewhere on the Windows desktop and/or in the Start menu. (The standard setup can do both of these things for you automatically, but a simple manual procedure is required if you did a quick-install.) The link target may be either the Montage executable program, MONTAGE3.EXE in the Montage program directory, or a particular montage, whose name ends with the .MO3 extension. Launching MONTAGE3.EXE opens your default montage, which will be created automatically if it doesn't yet exist.
Creating a link to Montage on the Windows desktop
In case you're a beginner at creating Windows shortcuts (which we prefer to call links, to avoid confusion with Montage Shortcuts), here's what you need to do. Right-click over an unoccupied part of your Windows desktop, and from the context menu that appears, choose New, Shortcut. In the Windows dialog that comes up, specify C:\MONTAGE3\MONTAGE3.EXE (or adjust for your Montage program directory path, if you chose something else). For convenience, you can use the Browse... button to navigate to this program and select it. Then proceed to the next step in Windows' Create Shortcut "wizard", which asks you to supply a name for the shortcut. Specify any name you like and click Finish - the new link's icon should then turn into the Montage icon. You can open the default montage simply by double-clicking on this icon.
In order to launch Montage by double-clicking in Explorer on a Montage metafile or a link to such a file, an association must established between the .MO3 file type and your installed copy of the program, MONTAGE3.EXE. If no such association is yet defined, Explorer will ask you what program to use when opening .MO3 files. Simply specify the path to your copy of MONTAGE3.EXE in the Montage program directory, e.g. C:\MONTAGE3\MONTAGE3.EXE, and check the box indicating that this program should always be used to open files of this type. This will update the Windows Registry accordingly, so you shouldn't need to do this again unless you move the Montage program directory, which would be very unusual.
Windows Explorer has a "New" submenu, which can be customized to include Montage among the choices listed. While this is not essential, it's a reasonable and appropriate convenience. In any case, you can also create new montages through Montage's menus, e.g. via File, New Montage... or File, Save As....
Currently Montage does not automatically integrate itself into the "New" command of the Windows Shell, however you can accomplish this yourself by editing the registry, if you are so inclined. (Such manual procedures really shouldn't be necessary, but we haven't yet incorporated this feature into the program.) In the meantime, for the benefit of those who are comfortable making registry changes, all that's required is to add an entry under the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mo3\ShellNew specifying a REG_SZ type value named Command whose value data is C:\MONTAGE3\MONTAGE3.EXE /new "%2", assuming C:\MONTAGE3 is the Montage program directory path.
Even though you may not have made any direct changes to the registry, when you tell Windows to associate .MO3 files with Montage, this information is stored in the Windows Registry. The following table illustrates some of the essential Montage-related registry entries, assuming you have also integrated Montage into the Windows Shell New command. (Most users will never need to do anything with this information, but we provide it here as a technical reference.)
| Key | Type | Value Name | Value Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mo3 | REG_SZ | (Default) | ft000002 |
| HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mo3\ShellNew | REG_SZ | (Default) | (value not set) |
| REG_SZ | Command | C:\MONTAGE3\MONTAGE3.EXE /new "%2" | |
| HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ft000002 | REG_SZ | (Default) | Montage |
| HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ft000002\DefaultIcon | REG_SZ | (Default) | C:\MONTAGE3\MONTAGE3.EXE,0 |
| HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ft000002\shell | REG_SZ | (Default) | open |
| HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ft000002\shell\open | REG_SZ | (Default) | (value not set) |
| HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ft000002\shell\open\command | REG_SZ | (Default) | C:\MONTAGE3\MONTAGE3.EXE "%1" |
Note that ft000002 is an internal file type identifier, which was assigned automatically by Windows when the .MO3 association was defined. This value may be different on your computer.
After successfully installing Montage, program updates generally require nothing more than replacing MONTAGE3.EXE with a newer version, leaving the rest of the Montage program directory as it was. Also it is advisable (though not strictly necessary) to update the accompanying Montage Help file, MONTAGE.CHM, in order to keep a local copy of Montage Help in synch with the current program version. If an update requires any more than this, appropriate installation instructions will be provided. For example, there may be updates or additions to the runtime libraries that must accompany the new version of MONTAGE3.EXE. Check the online Montage Version History and Montage Downloads pages to keep abreast of new releases and details about the latest available program updates.
Montage metafiles have versions, corresponding to the program version with which they were last saved. Your old metafiles will be converted automatically, if necessary, when you open them with a newer version of Montage. (A dialog requests confirmation before performing metafile version updates, which you may decline.) If you wish to continue using old montages without converting them to a newer version, retain a backup of the corresponding program, MONTAGE3.EXE (and its Help file), for use with those files.
Tip: Make periodic backups of your montages as a general precaution against losing any of your work. This is especially advisable before making any Montage program updates.
Montage samples are maintained and distributed separately from Montage programs. The samples are independently created and updated, generally with the latest Montage program version. Samples are retrieved automatically, the first time you access them. If your version of MONTAGE3.EXE is too old, you are prevented from opening a newer sample, unless you update to a more recent version of the program.
Newer versions of sample montages also may be available, but those you have already downloaded will not be updated automatically. To force all of your samples to be updated, you can simply delete your existing Samples directory.
Tip: To update samples on a more selective basis, delete only the sample montages and accompanying files that you want to force to be re-fetched. Avoid deleting any Internet shortcuts (links) that may be needed for dynamic fetching to work.
If you used the standard setup (which also created a Setup subdirectory), you should be able to do a proper uninstallation via the Window Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs facility. (It's a good idea to take the usual precautions that apply to installing Windows programs when you uninstall any Window program.) If you did a quick-install, you can uninstall Montage simply deleting the Montage program directory and any Montage-related registry keys, if any were added. You can safely delete the Montage program directory and its contents to complete the uninstallation.
Whichever method you use to uninstall Montage and its program directory, you should be aware that there will generally be a residual Montage application data directory, containing icons, samples, and possibly some of the montages that you created. You may wish to retain some or all of these files, in case you should later decide to reinstall the program, or you can simply delete the entire directory.
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Montage Help page, last edited:
12/31/10 16:20
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