Customer question on choosing between versions of JMP for IT testingHey, all!
I got a question yesterday about testing new or existing versions of JMP when multiple versions are on the same machine (assume it's windows for the sake of this question).
The customer's IT department wants to know if there is a way to select a certain installed version of JMP from those installed via the windows registry. I was wondering if anyone has any insight into how other customers are managing this or even how we manage this on our own testing machines (i.e. testing 17.0, 17.1, 17.2, and 18.0)
Thoughts?
M
Re: Customer question on choosing between versions of JMP for IT testingThis may not be a direct answer, but KBOX has the ability to determine and manage installed applications across a company's devices. It can generate a list of which computers have which versions of JMP installed.
Re: Customer question on choosing between versions of JMP for IT testingThe design of JMP on Windows will allow the installation and use of multiple versions of JMP products, but not multiple releases of a particular JMP product. Best explained with an example. Versions are 15, 16, 17, etc. Releases are 16.0, 16.1, 17.1, etc.
It is possible to have JMP 17.0 co-exist with JMP Pro 17.1, but JMP 17.0 and JMP 17.1 cannot co-exist.
It is possible to have JMP 16.1, JMP 17.0 installed at the same time.
When multiple JMPs are installed, there are some Windows issues to note, such as the file associations. The last JMP installed will be the JMP launched by default when a .jmp file is clicked.
With respect to Windows registry, the different products/versions write to different parts of the registry, so a customer could determine which products are installed and where they are installed to. This is how the JMPInstallChecker program works.
Re: Customer question on choosing between versions of JMP for IT testingThe software used to build Windows installers is InstallShield. The installer lays down files and folders that allow for JMP products to work properly and allow the updaters to be installed.
The key value is a software GUID, 32-character alphanumeric, that is unique for each version/product of JMP. (i.e., JMP 17.0 and JMP 17.1 have the same GUID, while JMP 17.0 and JMP Pro 17.0 differ).
The inventory of past, present, and future GUIDs is maintained at https://jmpdiscovery.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/JMPDEVOPS/pages/17204658/Installshield+GUIDs+for+Windows+installers
Using JMP 17.0 as an example, the GUID is 6667B9B6-645D-4155-BBFD-60C4DDF926F9
After successful installation, each user will have this folder with important files. If this folder is removed, updaters will certainly not install properly.
C:\Program Files (x86)\InstallShield Installation Information\{6667B9B6-645D-4155-BBFD-60C4DDF926F9} (see image below)
Registry entries after installation include
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{6667B9B6-645D-4155-BBFD-60C4DDF926F9} (see image below)
The presence of this key implies that JMP 17 has been installed. That key also has the location of where program is installed and other points of information.
Someone could write code to check the registry for the GUID, then note the location of the installed folder, then execute JMP.
Just a reminder that the windows registry is extremely sensitive and unforgiving to edits. I don’t advise anyone to mess with editing the registry without backups and proper guidance. Many customers will not have edit access to the registry, which is a good thing.
Re: Customer question on choosing between versions of JMP for IT testing@Bob_Hickey
Perfect! Thanks so much for this!
Best,
M
Re: Customer question on choosing between versions of JMP for IT testing@Bob_Hickey ! Thank you for the detailed answer! If I could ask, can you expand a little on your last point a little? Are there any notes or resources we can point users to on what our registry entries look like? I'm guessing that some breadcrumbs will help address this going forward.
Re: Customer question on choosing between versions of JMP for IT testingPlease further note that all Windows installations of JMP products will place a file named JMPInstallChecker.exe at the root install level. Please make yourself aware of this tool. This tool searches the PC and report on every installation found on that PC.
