Hidden

Here's a quick overview tutorial of how Puchisoft Dispatcher is used to create an Updater for your software, and how to then release updates. For an in-depth guide, check out the Manual's Tutorial.

Also check out the Video Tutorial!


Initial Release of Your Software in Full
1) Make your software. Put the program and all files you usually release with it into one folder. Recommended: ...\SoftwareName\Version\

2) Click "Add Version", in the Versions tab of Dispatcher. If you are using Sync Mode, there will only be a "Latest Version". Either way, select the Folder from Step 1.

3) Add as many Update Mirror URLs (where the Updater will get updates from) as desired. To save effort, specify an FTP Auto-Upload URL, so Puchisoft Dispatcher can auto-upload update data to your mirrors for you. If needed, check out this list of supported Free Website Hosts that work with Dispatcher.

4) Click "Release in Full and Release Update Data". This will place everything from your latest version's folder, as well as a generated Updater, into the "Full Release Folder".

Now you can release your software! If you checked "Create Installer", an installer has been created for you to distribute. It's in your Project folder by default.

If you didn't leave "Create Installer" checked, you should now release your software as you are accustomed to. Everything you need to release is in the "Full Release Folder".




Releasing Updates
1) Make a new version of your software, placing everything into a new folder (You may also use the same folder with Patch Mode's Auto-Archive enabled, or Sync Mode).

2) Add this new version to Puchisoft Dispatcher.

3) Click "Release Update Data Only". This will generate the update data (and auto-upload it to your mirrors via FTP, if configured).
Next time your user runs the Updater.exe, the user will see this:

Done!

If you also want to create a new Installer for this new version, click "Release in Full and Release Update Data" instead of clicking "Release Update Data Only".

For more user convenience, you can make your own software run the Updater.exe when it's most appropriate. For example, you can program your own software to always run the Updater.exe right away, but with the -quiet paramter, which causes the Updater to not show itself unless an update is available.


NOTE: It's important to create a new updater (by clicking "Release in Full and Release Update Data", as instructed above) if you are releasing a new version in full, because the Updater stores your software's current version. If you include an old Updater in a new version, it will make poor decisions about updating (but probably still update properly in the end).

NOTE2: To be sure that your Update Mirrors always perfectly reflect the the Update Data generated by Dispatcher, we recommend using Dispatcher's Auto-Upload feature. If you choose to manually upload the Update Data and you forget to upload some of the files, the Updater will fail to update your software.

The Updater updating itself is fully supported and automatically done for you. If you use a newer version of Dispatcher after your software's initial release, the improvements will automatically be propagated to your users right before your own updates are applied.