Distributing IronPython applications

Question

I'm thinking of developing a small application using IronPython, however I want to distribute my app to non-techies and so ideally I want to be able to give them a standard shortcut to my application along with the instructions that they need to install IronPython first.

If possible I even want my shortcut to detect if IronPython is not present and display a suitable warning if this is the case (which I can do using a simple VbScript)

The trouble is that IronPython doesn't place itself in the %PATH% environment variable, and so if IronPython is installed to a nonstandard location my shortcut don't work.

Now I could also tell my users "If you install IronPython to a different location you need to go and edit this shortcut and...", but this is all getting far too technical for my target audience.

Is there any foolproof way of distributing my IronPython dependent app?

Answer 1

I would not try to find IronPython - I would append all necessary IronPython runtime files directly to your application. Then it is 100% foolproof :-)