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User's Guide - Introduction
Visual Patch is a fast and efficient system for creating software patches. This unique solution features state-of-the-art binary differencing and compression algorithms, combined with a powerful full-history patching engine. Visual Patch makes an excellent addition to the toolbox of any software developer or IT manager.
In Visual Patch, we’ve improved the development environment to streamline your workflow and continued the unprecedented flexibility of the scripting engine and action library. We’ve also maintained a customizable screen manager, project themes (skins), action plugins, MD5 security, and many other powerful and timesaving features.
You’ll find that Visual Patch simplifies software version management. It turns the otherwise complicated task of managing point-releases into a fast and automated process. There is no easier way to make professional-quality, full-history binary patches for your software and other electronic content.
It doesn’t matter what kind of electronic content you’re distributing. Whether it’s application software, databases, spreadsheets, video, audio or any other data, the likelihood is that it will change over time. That’s why you need Visual Patch.
Visual Patch makes it easy to create professional, rock-solid software patches. As you release new software (documents, data, etc.), simply drag-and-drop the files into Visual Patch and it will automatically track and package the differences for you.
Using a sophisticated combination of binary differencing, data compression and MD5 fingerprinting, Visual Patch is able to create compact full-history software patches that outperform any comparable tool on a value and feature-by-feature basis.
Visual Patch is an integral part of a complete and effective approach to software lifecycle management. Software developers, network administrators and IT departments all require a professional tool for building software patches. As such, Visual Patch integrates seamlessly with other Indigo Rose products like Setup Factory (software installation) and TrueUpdate (automated updating/patch delivery) to provide a complete solution for all aspects of software delivery.
Visual Patch's design workspace and generated patches are compatible with Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, including a configurable "requested execution level" setting for the patch's manifest.
Visual Patch allows you to use your own product icon and provides full control of the version information that you want written into the patch's resources.
Protect the integrity of your company and products by code signing your patches with your own certificate during the build process.
Visual Patch makes it easy to manage your software releases. You can quickly and easily add, remove and organize product versions, and see all of the important details about your files. The toolbars, columns, sort-order, color-coding and other interface elements are fully customizable, allowing you to view only the information that is important to your workflow.
Visual Patch features state-of-the-art binary differencing and compression algorithms. This ensures smaller and better performing software patches. The algorithms used by Visual Patch were developed specifically for their impressive speed characteristics. Whereas software patching was once a notoriously slow and cumbersome process, companies choosing Visual Patch have a distinct advantage.
With Visual Patch, you have full control over which versions of your software can be patched with a single executable. While some vendors will choose to include only a single version update, others may offer a patch that can update any version that has ever been released. Visual Patch can handle either extreme, or anything in between. Unlike some other products, Visual Patch’s full-history patching ability can update any version of your software to the latest release. By only having one file to download, Visual Patch brand patches are much more user friendly. Your users won’t have to worry about finding multiple patches and applying them in the correct order as they would if you used other, less sophisticated patch builders.
Smaller and faster means a better experience for your customers, and Visual Patch delivers. Compare our tiny ~500 KB runtime overhead to the competition and see for yourself. Patches created with Visual Patch are faster to initialize and install than those created by competitive tools. What’s more, our Publishing Wizard walks you through the build process with a few easy steps. The single-file patch executable (patch.exe) is perfect for distribution by web, email, LAN, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
You can rest assured that patches are only applied to files you’ve specified. Using a combination of 128-bit MD5 hashing, CRC-32 checksums and industry standard data encryption protocols, Visual Patch helps you keep your applications and data safe from unauthorized use, transmission errors and other threats.
Visual Patch makes quick work out of locating your target application. Using a flexible combination of starting-point techniques (registry keys and file/folder searches) and key-file identification, Visual Patch can quickly locate the application files and folders on the system that require patching. Definitively identifying the target folder greatly simplifies the patching process and is a key requirement for ensuring that your software is updated quickly and correctly.
Featuring a library of over twenty different screen templates, Visual Patch makes it easy to control your project's user interface. There are pre-built layouts to handle just about any task you can imagine, and it's easy to adjust them to fit your needs exactly. You'll find everything from check boxes, radio buttons and edit fields to popular screens like license agreements and folder selection. The Screen Manager allows you to add and remove screens at will and adjust the sequence with a simple drag-and-drop motion. Each screen features a real-time preview so you can see the results of your changes as you work.
Visual Patch supports the creation of both fully-interactive "wizard based" patches or completely automatic "silent" patches that operate without displaying user interface dialogs, prompts and other messages. You can choose to dynamically enable the silent mode through a command line switch, or configure the patch to always run in this unattended mode. Either way, patches made with Visual Patch are suitable for use in both consumer/standalone applications and corporate/network patch management solutions.
Visual Patch includes an incredibly powerful free-form scripting engine, giving you unprecedented control over your software patching system. This easy to understand scripting language features everything from "for, repeat and while" loops, to "if/else" conditions, functions, variables and arrays. Paired with the built-in action library, full mathematical evaluation and Boolean expressions, there’s simply nothing you can’t achieve. We’ve also built in an Action Wizard so even complete novices can create powerful projects that handle the most demanding patching tasks.
To make the most out of Visual Patch scripting engine, we’ve included a library of over 250 high-level actions. With everything from registry editing to file copying to web file downloads, this complete scripting environment contains everything you need to automate complex tasks and handle even the most sophisticated software and system patching requirements. No other tool can match it!
Visual Patch is an integral component of software lifecycle management. For a complete and fully integrated end-to-end solution, we’d recommend using Visual Patch in conjunction with Indigo Rose’s Setup Factory (software installation) and TrueUpdate (automatic updating/patch delivery); however you’re certainly not locked into doing so. If your company has standardized on other tools for software installation, patch deployment and patch management, Visual Patch will still add significant benefit, being a best-of-breed solution.
Visual Patch isn’t just for software vendors. It’s also an extremely valuable tool for use in corporate, government and educational IT departments. Visual Patch helps you get the most out of your network patch management and software management/SMS infrastructure. As a network administrator responsible for keeping hundreds or thousands of computers and servers up to date, being able to create your own bulletproof software patches is invaluable. Simply add them to your patch deployment solution of choice (TrueUpdate, SMS, etc) and manage them just like any other OS or application patch used on your network.
Thousands of companies trust Indigo Rose software tools. In fact our products, such as Setup Factory, TrueUpdate and AutoPlay Media Studio, are used to distribute and manage software on millions of customer and client systems around the world. Additionally, all of our products are backed up by world-class technical support services.
Visual Patch's design workspace and generated patches are compatible with Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, including a configurable "requested execution level" setting for the patch's manifest. Other features enhanced for Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1/Windows 10 include: System.GetOSName, System.GetOSVersionInfo, System.GetUserInfo and File.Run actions, and file OS conditions.
Visual Patch allows you to use your own product icon and provides full control of the version information that you want written into the patch's resources.
Protect the integrity of your company and products by code signing your patches with your own certificate during the build process.
Visual Patch now includes Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 in the list of file OS conditions.
Reduced the loading time of the Visual Patch design environment and added additional memory preferences for the build process.
Made several enhancements to the HTTP actions for wider compatibility and increased stability.
Visual Patch features an unbeatable development environment that puts you in control of your files. Each point release gets its own version tab – then you simply drag and drop your files and folders onto the project window and you’re ready to build. Visual Patch is smart enough to maintain your folder structure, automatically query version resource information, determine what has been added, changed or deleted and ensures 100% data integrity with reliable MD5 hashing and CRC-32 checksums.
Visual Patch features a cutting-edge binary differencing engine. By way of a sophisticated byte-granular analysis of your file data, Visual Patch is able to extract only the "delta" between one file version and the next. Rather than having to distribute a full copy of changed files, Visual Patch will only package up the parts that have changed. The result is a significant reduction in patch sizes, more security, reduced transmission time and lower bandwidth costs.
Spend five minutes with Visual Patch’s easy to use Project Wizard and come away with a complete and ready to build project. You’ll be walked through each option so you can get your project started as quickly as possible. The new wizard helps you to add versions, associate your files, configure the user interface, and much more.
Visual Patch is considerably more customizable than before. Included are over twenty different screen templates - easily adjustable to fit your particular needs - that handle just about any task your project requires. There's everything from check boxes, radio buttons and edit fields to popular screens like license agreements, folder selection and many more. The Screen Manager allows you to add and remove screens at will and adjust the sequence with a simple drag-and-drop motion. Each screen features a real-time preview so you can see the result of your changes as you work.
Visual Patch includes the same scripting engine as Setup Factory, TrueUpdate, and AutoPlay Media Studio. Based on the popular "Lua" language, this all-new and incredibly powerful free-form scripting engine gives you unprecedented control over your software patching system. This easy to use language features everything from "for, repeat and while" loops, to "if/else" conditions, functions, variables and associative arrays. Paired with the built-in action library, full mathematical evaluation and Boolean expressions, there is simply nothing you can’t achieve. We’ve also built in an "Action Wizard" and "Quick Scripts" feature so you can get right up to speed creating powerful projects to handle even the most demanding tasks.
Visual Patch includes a built-in library of more than 250 powerful, yet easy to use actions. There are high-level actions to handle everything from text file editing to system registry changes. You can execute programs, call DLL functions, query drive information, manipulate strings, copy files, enumerate processes, start and stop services, interact with web scripts, display dialog boxes and much more. Whatever you need your software patch to do, Visual Patch can make it happen!
You don’t have to be a wizard to create powerful patching systems with Visual Patch. We’ve built the wizard into the software! Simply choose the action you want from a categorized list (complete with on-screen interactive help), fill in the requested information fields and the wizard does the rest. You don’t have to know anything about scripting or programming - just fill in the blanks, and you’re done! Making changes is just as easy. Click on the line you want to change and press the "edit" button to go back to the original form. It’s really that easy!
If you’ve outgrown the Action Wizard interface or simply want to get the most out of the Visual Patch scripting engine, we’ve got you covered. The Visual Patch action editor features all of the professional features you’d expect. There’s color syntax highlighting, code completion, function highlighting, as-you-type action prototypes, Ctrl+Space function listings and even context-sensitive help. If you’re used to programming in Microsoft® Visual Basic, Microsoft® Visual C++ or any other modern development language, you’ll be right at home.
Once you’ve got your project ready to go, the Publishing Wizard will help you package it up into a compact single-file executable. Compare our tiny ~500 KB runtime overhead to the competition and see for yourself - patches created with Visual Patch are smaller and faster than ever before. What’s more, the single-file patch executable is perfect for distribution by web, email, LAN, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
Choose from dozens of pre-made themes (skins) for your screens or even make your own. It’s as easy as viewing a live dialog preview and picking your favorite style. You can configure everything from fonts (face, color, size, style) and banner images to body/background graphics, control colors (buttons, check boxes, radio buttons) and more. If you like, you can even customize the desktop background with gradients, images, color washes, headlines and footer text with 3D effects.
Visual Patch supports the creation of both fully-interactive "wizard based" patches or completely automatic "silent" patches. Silent patches operate without displaying user interface dialogs, prompts and other messages, making them perfect for use in corporate networks and managed infrastructures. New options let you enable silent operation via a command line switch, or even configure the patch to always run in unattended mode. Visual Patch patches automatically return command line status codes and are ready for use in automatic deployment processes and corporate patch management consoles.
Visual Patch includes a variety of features designed to help you manage access to your software, including the ability to ask for a serial number or password. Visual Patch automatically restricts use of your patch files through the use of binary differencing, key files and sophisticated message digests calculations.
Visual Patch can be easily expanded with Action Plugins. These add on modules can extend the product in infinitely powerful ways, such as adding support for databases, XML, data encryption and FTP file transfers. Tight integration with the design environment, including IntelliSense style code completion and syntax highlighting, makes Plugins just as easy to use as built-in actions. Plugins are available through Indigo Rose as well as third-party developers thanks to Indigo Rose’s freely available plug-in development kit.
Visual Patch gives you everything you need to support your customers and clients around the world. Patches created with Visual Patch can automatically determine the language of the client operating system and adjust the display of screens and messages appropriately. Whether you need to support English, French, German, Spanish, Italian or any other language recognized by Windows, simply provide the text and Visual Patch takes care of the rest!
Now it’s easier than ever to make sure that typos don’t creep into your projects. Just about anywhere you can type, you can perform a spell check to ensure error-free text. Dictionaries are available for over a dozen languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Croatian, Czech, Polish and Slovenian.
Keeping track of the essential details of your patching project is now just a couple of clicks away. With improved HTML-based project reports (featuring CSS formatting) and text-based run-time log files, you’ll have an accurate record of everything you need. New options let you control the level of detail being logged, including options for recording errors and script execution details.
Visual Patch fits seamlessly into your automated build processes. Software development teams and network managers will appreciate features such as build constants and pre/post build processes. You’ll find that Visual Patch projects integrate right into your daily builds.
Patches created with Visual Patch work just fine on every Windows operating system from Windows 95 to Windows 10. Compare that to competitive tools and you’re sure to be surprised at their requirements. If you need to support legacy systems, your choice is clear!
Visual Patch simplifies your product management and makes it easy to manage your software releases. There is no easier way to make professional quality, full-history patches for your software and other electronic content. Unlike other products, Visual Patch combines sophisticated binary patching with the flexibility offered by full-history patches. These patches can update any older version to the latest release with a single executable patch file.
Anyone who needs to create compact and secure software patches needs Visual Patch. This includes software developers, network administrators and IT managers, among others. Regardless of the type of data being distributed – executables, documents, databases, videos, etc. – Visual Patch can figure out what files have changed, the exact changes within each file and how to update any previous version to the current version.
Visual Patch's point-and-click design takes the difficulty out of building even the most sophisticated full-history patches. With the same ease of use and interface style that has made Setup Factory famous, Visual Patch makes it easier to get from "no patch" to "patch" than ever before.
Distributing smaller files is good for both you and your customers. Visual Patch will help you save money on bandwidth, server hardware and network congestion. Your customers and clients will benefit from faster downloads, a reliable and easy to use patching process and increased satisfaction with your product and company.
Yes. Visual Patch features state-of-the-art binary differencing and compression algorithms. Combined with a powerful full-history patching engine, Visual Patch offers a unique approach unequaled by any other product, making it an excellent addition to the toolbox of any software developer or IT manager.
Yes. Visual Patch gives you full control over which versions of your software can be patched with a single executable. Unlike some other products, Visual Patch’s full-history patching ability can update any version of your software to the latest release. This makes patches created with Visual Patch easier to apply and friendlier to use than those created with less sophisticated patch builders.
Yes. Visual Patch includes a number of features designed to help you manage access to your software. Asking for a password or serial number is no problem. Additionally, Visual Patch automatically restricts use of your patch files through the use of binary differencing, key files and sophisticated message digests calculations.
Visual Patch builds patches with 100% support for all 32-bit Windows platforms. This includes Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Server 2003, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2 and Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016.
Visual Patch gives you everything you need to support your customers and clients around the world. Patches created with Visual Patch can automatically determine the language of the client operating system and adjust the display of screens and messages appropriately. Whether you need to support English, French, German, Spanish, Italian or any other language recognized by Windows, simply provide the text and Visual Patch takes care of the rest!
When preparing a new release, you will certainly want to use Setup Factory to build an installer for new customers; however, you can save money and ensure the security of your updates by using patch files. Patch files are smaller as they only distribute the files that have changed and – more importantly – they are absolutely useless to anyone who doesn't already have a valid version of your software installed.
Installer builders (such as Indigo Rose’s Setup Factory) have a different purpose than patch builders (like Visual Patch). A software installer is used to setup and configure a full software application on a computer system. Once it’s installed and working, the installation program’s job is done. In a perfect and unchanging world, that would be the end of the story. However, we all know that change is a constant. Software and data need to be updated periodically (bug fixes, features etc), but such changes seldom require the complete overhaul of a program. You need a method that synchronizes the data "in-the-field" with your current release.
Visual Patch greatly simplifies product maintenance by taking care of this for you. Whenever you have a new version ready, Visual Patch figures out what files need to be added, changed or replaced to bring any older version of your software up to date.
Visual Patch saves you time by making the design process as easy as possible. Visual Patch is also incredibly accurate; by automating much of the decision process, it eliminates opportunities for human error compared to developing patches "by hand" with other methods. Also, with the addition of binary differencing, Visual Patch can actually determine the areas of difference within a file and only distribute those particular changes – something that is impossible to do without sophisticated algorithms.
Yes. Visual Patch generates a compact, single-file, self-executing patch that is easy to distribute, and easy for your users to use. It’s perfect for distribution using web, email, LAN, TrueUpdate, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. It’s also Authenticode-ready, so you can digitally sign your patches.
None. As a standalone product, Visual Patch can be used by anyone. It doesn't matter what installation product you use or even whether you use one at all. If you need to get newer versions of files out to users, Visual Patch will do it. However, as part of a complete solution for software deployment, you will find that Visual Patch integrates quite nicely with tools like Setup Factory and TrueUpdate.
Visual Patch will work with any kind of files. You could even use it to update a few slides in a presentation, or individual files in a library of help documents used by your sales team. With a flexible tool like Visual Patch, the possibilities are endless.
Yes. Visual Patch lets you easily drop in new wizard dialogs using the built-in Screen Manager and Gallery. Altering the display sequence is as simple as clicking on up and down arrows. You can edit text messages, use custom graphics and set conditional display options. A variety of screen types are available, from basic text displays, to check boxes, text input, radio buttons and more.
Yes. You can attach conditions to any part of the patch to make them specific to the version of Windows that the user is running. For instance, your patch might install some new files only on Windows 95, or it might check different Registry locations for values if the user is running Windows 98 or Windows XP.
Yes. Visual Patch creates standalone, single-file executable patches that you can distribute using virtually any type of media you like.
Absolutely. With Visual Patch, you aren't limited to just replacing old files with new ones. We've also included many advanced features – you can query the Registry, modify INI files, perform file searches, interact with web scripts, explore folders, delete and rename files, and more.
The easier it is for your users to update your software, the more likely it is that your users will be using the latest version. As a result, your technical support team will have fewer legacy issues to deal with. The easier it is for you to release updates, the more often you can release them. You won't have to hold back releases until you have made enough changes to justify the effort required to prepare updates using traditional update methods.
Timely software patches allow your users to benefit quickly from any new features and bug fixes you develop. Ensuring that users benefit from all the bug fixes you've released reduces the incidence of support calls. Keeping users up to date makes it easier to support them when incidents occur.
Today's users are savvy; they demand responsiveness from software companies and they want tools that meet their needs and make them more productive. In order to maintain customer loyalty and maximize the user's experience with your software, you need to make patching your software as easy as possible. Making it easy for users to patch your software shows that you're committed to supporting it.
Keeping a corporate, educational or government network up-to-date with the latest security patches, applications updates and operating system fixes is a time consuming ordeal. Without tools like Visual Patch, the task is virtually impossible. Used in conjunction with Indigo Rose’s TrueUpdate, you’ll be able to quickly and effectively roll out whatever software patches you need to throughout your organization. The TrueUpdate client software can analyze the computer system, decide what is currently installed and then take action to download and install the patches you’ve made with Visual Patch to bring that system up-to-date. It’s fast, easy and automatic.
Absolutely! You don't need to be a software developer to benefit from Visual Patch. You can use Visual Patch to update product catalogs, databases, price lists, help files, quarterly reports, training videos or whatever else you want.
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