Dev Update 11/20

Development has been resumed and i have done the first svn commit already. I am closing in on releasing a major update, hopefully before the end of the year. Also Seven Update has been published on softpedia and brothersoft.

The next update will be a “1.0″ release and it will consist of the following changes:

• WPF, which means an updated UI, see the screenshot section to see the updates (they are subtle but useful.
• Optimized Auto updates on Vista/7
• A new SUI format to ensure forwards/backwards compatibility
• Performance enhancements

Development Break

I am in the middle of moving into a new apartment so i haven’t been working on it. I won’t be able to work on Seven Update until i get settled down in my new place and my new job.

The last SVN commit i made however did bring some nice security upgrades. Instead of downloading a SUI to a file, then reading it. I changed it to a webhttprequest to prevent any 3rd parties from reading or modifying the SUI.

I will continue work asap.

Dev update – 9/11

I have posted updated screenshots of Seven Update, see them now!

The only thing left ahead to do now before work on the SDK begins is to bug fix and add/enhance a few features. After that i will focus on the SDK, port that to WPF and i got some great ideas to improve the interface and make it easier to use, it will be a complete overhaul.

I won’t release the new version to the public until i am confident and extensive bug tests are performed. You can always help test by downloading the source from the svn trunk.

Dev Update – 9/6

I been hard at work and i am making progress.  The UI is pretty much done, there are some things i still need to do, but they are minor. Right now i am commenting and optimizing the code-base and have made several improvements in performance and the UI, but more can be done. The svn trunk does build and run and function 100%. Now i will working on further optimizations, bug hunt, and add some missing features. After that, work on the SDK will begin.

Update: 9/6/09

I have completed the code commenting and optimizations for now. I am not adding features and enhancing existing features. I just added the ability to focus on important, or optional updates depending on which link the user selects. I also added grouping by update importance.

What i like to add/enhance:

• When Seven Update is closed during  installation, it continues in the background. The UI will be closed, but the admin process remains until it’s done with what it needs to do. I would like to make it so if the admin process is running doing something, weather it be a auto search, downloading or installing updates, it will reconnect to it and display the progress as if you never closed the program
• Remove the need for /temp storage. The way it is right now, having temp storage leaves it open as a potential security vulnerability, because a 3rd party can read and modify SUI’s in the time in takes them to be processed and deleted.

Dev Update – 8/18

I am still doing the conversion to WPF, and it is proving to be a BIG PITA. WPF is rather new, a lot of cool new functionality is available but the basics seem to be missing. Here are some of the pitfalls i had to overcome because existing code was not working.

listView.Items[x].Checked, in WPF Enabled and Checked is now IsEnabled, IsChecked. However the ListView control for WPF for some reason is lacking IsChecked.
It is also missing the ability to sort columns easily. You would think this would be a standard feature, after all is 2009. Nope, you got to write code for it,
just the same as Min/Max Width and Min/Max Height properties, they are non-existant. Header Alignment, not there either.

The biggest complaint i have with WPF is ListView, they did a lot of great things, but they forgot the simplest things. Now what i love is Data Binding. This is making it either, i can virtually eliminate all of my code to add items to listViews. Plus the user can enable/disable items and the data gets updated, which eliminates more of my code. I am gaining progress, the UI groundwork is done, now it’s porting in UI code and getting it to function, which is what i am working.

I haven’t touched the SDK yet, that will be a challenge. Hopefully it will be easier since i learned a lot, but the SDK is a different breed since i got to code in the SUI locale support. Which allows language selection and to translate SUI’s.

Anyway, i won’t be committing to a release date or even month now. I am going to get this to 1.0, extensively test, bring in some testers so they can test, then release. It should be before 2010

1.0 will be:

• WPF
• Full Translation support both SUI/SUA and the Program UI
• and whatever else it’s missing.

Conversion to WPF update 8/15

I am converting Seven Update and the SDK to WPF and leaving behind WinForms. It’s some time re-designing the UI in WPF considering i have to learn it as i go along. The next update should be out in September, that will also bring full translation support to Seven Update and the SDK.

WPF is Microsoft’s new technology for application development. Seven Update and the SDK will be converted to it, and it will require 3.5, by now most computers should have it.

The update will be dubbed 1.0 since it seems there isn’t any known bugs and the move to WPF shouldn’t cause any. There will be little improvements and changes to the UI, but the design will stay the same.

I am done with designing all of the forms and pages, now i just need to code the UI and import the existing code.

Seven Update RC2 is out!

RC2 is ready to be public but is still missing some features which will be in RC3 or 1.0 release, which are detailed below.

What is Seven Update:

Seven Update is an open source update platform for windows. It allows an easy way to keep your software updated. Much like windows update, it offers automatic update notification and installation. If your familiar with linux, think of a package manager for Windows, the difference being Seven Update does not officially support Installation of programs. Seven Update is also great for developers with an easy to use SDK to create “.sui” and “.sua” files. The SDK allows the developer to easily use Seven Update for their update distribution needs.Seven Update is OPEN SOURCE and FREE to consumers, Open source projects, and non-profit organizations. Commercial use does require a license, which does have a fee.

Seven Update Release Candidate 2 Information:

RC2 brings numerous bug fixes and UI updates that make it easier to update your favorite software. There have been several memory and speed optimizations as well as architectural changes as well.

Some of the highlights include:

• More secure updating, you must have admin privileges to download updates now, previously admin was only needed for installation.
• Better automatic update options
• Uses less resources especially for automatic updates.
• Easier to translate the program UI
• Software updates for Seven Update no longer need a reboot (after the RC2 update)
• Various bug fixes

Release Candidate 2 Install Notes:

If you have Seven Update RC1 installed, Seven Update will notify you of the RC2 Update. Please note this process is a 2 part update. The first part will be installed and a reboot will be needed. After you have rebooted your computer, run Seven Update and check for updates again to install the 2nd part. The 2nd part will not need a reboot and complete the RC2 update. After RC2 is installed, other software updates may be available.

After RC2 is installed, please re configure your automatic update settings as this feature has been updated and may need updated.

RC2 does introduce the ability for Seven Update to update itself without a reboot. Most of the updates will not need a reboot, however while in dev status you may need to reboot after updates more often. I will try to minimize that and already have taken the necessary steps do to so.

What if i have problems (crashes, bugs) after the RC2 update?

Please run this file, must be an admin to make it work and Seven Update should be closed. Now run Seven Update and check for updates and install them. If that does not work, or you want to avoid any more hassle. Uninstall Seven Update, run the program, download the new installer and reinstall. The reason for the crashes is due to the update history, hidden updates, and application list. The format has changed since RC1 and an outdated SU cannot read them correctly. Sorry for the inconvenience, however i do not anticipate any issues as long as the user updates without first going into the history, hidden, or option pages. Once Seven Update has been updated, it will delete any old files (just like that that program does) to avoid any issues.

What didn’t make it in RC2:

Full locale support will be out sometime in july.

Close file/program and retry prompt may appear in the next release

Seven Update SDK RC2 Information:

SDK RC2 brings enhancements to the SUI format, i have already implemented locale support in the SUI, which will make it easier to transition and update the program UI’s when full support is ready.

SUI files created from previous releases are not compatible and will cause issues if you try to use them. This should be the last breaking change. Future SUI updates will be backcompat and updatable without recreating them. Also in RC2 is the ability to add multiple files at once, it also pre fills in all of the required info, making it easier and faster to create an update.

The format support is now implemented for locale’s (allowing translation and multiple languages for Update and App Info strings). As the user base grows and the existing user base updates to RC2, it is going to make the transition for locale support smooth.

The only thing i need to implement for full SUI locale support would be to code the UI to select, save and switch languages, which is going to be a bit tricky, but should be done sometime in july.

The program UI’s are already able to be translated.

Seven Update SDK Beta

In case anyone was wondering, the reason why the SDK is still in Beta because it’s not as feature complete as i would like it. I am going to add a SUI Verifier tool that will basically run through the SUI and simulate an update to make sure everything is working and to verify directories, files, download locations, etc.

Release Candidate 1 and SDK Beta 2 Released!

I have released RC 1 of Seven Update, and a Beta 2 update of the SDK. If you have Seven Update installed previously, please uninstall (don’t upgrade). Normally Seven Update will update itself, however there were some breaking changes with the format so it may not work. Also there is a 64 bit version, if your running Windows x64, you must have the new 64 bit edition installed, you can’t run x86.

You may know, .Net apps can run x86 and x64 nativley in the same exe, however Windows Installer MSI’s don’t allow a hyrbid installation. Since i don’t want Seven Update to install in c:\programs files (x86) on a 64 bit os, i have to make 2 installers so they both will end up in %PROGRAMFILES%. I may look into another install solution to get around this stupid limitation.

Changes for Seven Update:

• Updated UI
• Hidden Updates bug fixes
• Update History bug fixes
• Fixed Seven Update not being able to recover from a download error (BITS issue)
• Fixed Seven Update from not installing any updates after an error occurs unless a reboot is performed in some cases
• Fixed Misc UI bugs
• Updated Resource strings and fixed spelling mistakes
• Removed support to allow download suspension.
• Updated the Update History to show reason if update failed
• Memory and Performance Enhancements
• Embedded Program List into the Options page.
• SUA/SUI format Updates
• Added proper x64 support
• Added list sorting to Program List
• Misc Bug Fixes

Changes for Seven Update SDK

• Fixed crash on loading corrupted SUI files
• Memory and Performance Enhancements
• SUA/SUI format Updates
• Added proper x64 support
• Misc Bug Fixes

Seven Update Beta 2 Released!

Seven Update Beta 2 and the SDK has been released to the public. Download Here

Beta brings numerous enhancements to features and performance. Seven Update is now Vista UAC compliant and provides better code security. Beta 2 brings a new SUI format that is not only faster to read and write, but allows upgrade maintanability between older versions. It also introduces the SUA format, which allows software publishers to add their application to Seven Update with ease, either automated or by the user. SUA contains specific details needed to allow SU to update an application.

Applications that can be updated with Seven Update are virtually unlimited. Publishers, download the SDK and add support for your application, no code changes needed!

Anti-Corruption feature, SU verifies files by their SHA1 hash, so users will always have a valid file, if the file is corrupted or modified, SU will detect it and can update the file.

Beta 2 removes the ability to install applications, this was done as a security measure, but for standards as well. We think Windows Installer does a great job already.

So whats next? We have some great features planned including:

• SUI validator for the SDK, detects any problems and presents solutions.
• List Sorting
• Prompt to close files in use that need updating, this will prevent needing a reboot in these circumstances
• Seven Update updates won’t require a reboot.
• Code Cleanup
• Help documentation