Installing The Software

 

To install AcroPlot or AcroPlot Pro the user must be logged on as the Administrator.

Due to the unique low impact install program we use AcroPlot Pro, AcroPlot, AcroPlot Jr., and even the AcroPlot Matrix programs are compiled into the same executable file they are distributed in the same setup typically called acroplotcommonsetup.exe.

 

This program will start the installation routine that will install the required files for the program as well as the shortcuts under the AcroPlot Program Group in the Windows [Start > Programs] menu.

 

After the main installation program runs the Admin program should start which will check for the required files and also install the required Printer Driver.  If you are running the full version of AutoCAD 2000 or newer you will be able to select the profiles that you want to add the AcroPlot Jr. menu and toolbars to.

 

If the user does not have the ability to add/remove printers under Windows then the Administrator must also run the AcroPlot Admin program to install the PDF-XChange for AcroPlot Pro Printer Driver.  This program is tarted by using the /ADMIN startup switch (AcroPlot.exe /ADMIN) with the AcroPlot.exe program in the installation folder that you selected and there is also a shortcut to it in the Windows Start menu [Start > Programs > AcroPlot > AcroPlot Admin] .

The acroplotsetup.exe is an Installshield MSI setup package.  If you would like to extract the MSI you can use the /a command line switch to install it in Administration mode which allows you to provide a path to save the acroplotsetup.msi file but this method will install the product also.

 

The other method is to just run the acroplotsetup.exe and then when the first dialog comes up just search your temp folder for it.  It's going to be in a weird GUID named folder like {7B7756EF-5057-4870-87C9-03BBE8E0558E}.  You can then copy the msi over to a folder and then cancel the install.

 

There are several Public Variables that can be passed to the exe to control the options in the setup.  To pass these you either pass 1 to turn it on or \"\" to turn it off.

APADD_DESKTOP_SHORTCUT - This controls if the desktop shortcut is created for all users.  Default=1.

APADD_MENU_AUTOCAD - This controls if we add our menu system into your AutoCAD installations.  Default=1.

APPINSTALL_PRINTER_SILENTLY - This controls if we display a dialog box while the printer is installing or if just the standard Installshield dialog is displayed.  Default=1

APINSTALL_PRINTER_SHOWERRORS - This controls if we display a dialog box if an error occurs during the printer install.  When this is turned on it will halt the installation process until the user closes the dialog box.  Default=1

 

So say we want to add the desktop shortcut but not the AutoCAD menu.  If we are running it from a batch file we can pass the parameters using the /V command line switch and wrap it in quotes.

acroplotsetup.exe /V"APADD_MENU_AUTOCAD=\"\""

or

acroplotsetup.exe /V"APADD_DESKTOP_SHORTCUT=1 APADD_MENU_AUTOCAD=\"\""

If you want to not add either the desktop shortcut or the AutoCAD menus then it would be.

acroplotsetup.exe /V"APADD_DESKTOP_SHORTCUT=\"\" APADD_MENU_AUTOCAD=\"\""