After figuring out the previous problem (DLL dependencies), I decided to install the .NET Framework SDK into the VPC image (a Windows Server 2003). No such luck: "Extracting file failed. It is most likely caused by low memory (low disk space for swapping file) or corrupted Cabinet file." No, not again a memory issue...
Wait a second! That image has 400 megs of memory assigned plus a 1.2 gig growth limit for the swap file. That can't be. As usual, I used Google to search for solutions. One (older) suggestion was to update Windows Installer - I gave it a shot anyways, and installed Windows Installer 3.0. No change, but that was expected. At least I am now up2date in that respect.
To spare myself further waste of time, I decided to take the easy route and ran
setup /c
on my XP box, copied the extracted setup files to the VPC image - and presto! The SDK is installing like a charm.
Once again it pays off to be in this game... erm industry for so long: I got a weird Fusion loading error for an assembly:
System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of
an invocation. ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: File or assembly name ConsoleControl,
or one of its dependencies, was not found.
File name: "ConsoleControl" at ConsolePad..ctor()
=== Pre-bind state information ===
LOG: DisplayName = ConsoleControl, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
(Fully-specified)
LOG: Appbase = C:\SharpDevelop\Repository\SharpDevelop\bin\
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = NULL
Calling assembly : ConsoleAddin, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null.
===
LOG: Policy not being applied to reference at this time (private, custom, partial,
or location-based assembly bind).
LOG: Post-policy reference: ConsoleControl, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=null
LOG: Attempting download of new URL
file:///C:/SharpDevelop/Repository/SharpDevelop/bin/ConsoleControl.DLL.
The assembly of course was right smack where the above URL is pointing to. So what was going on? First, I mailed the dev - no such luck, it was working on his machine (as if I would care: "I don't care if it runs on your machine, we are not shipping your machine!", Software Testers Anonymous).
As the test machine is a non-SDK machine (runtime installed only), fuslogvw was also out of the question. Mer...veilleux. Fallback to tools a C++ programmer loves and knows: Dependency Walker. This guy produced the following output:
A-ha! The dev checked in an assembly that was written in C++ (and thus he had all the runtime assemblies on his box), but he forgot the two beauties msvcp71 and msvcr71. Chalk one up for the old dogs.
Installed the latest version of X1 Desktop Search today. Why ain't I using one of the free desktop search offerings you ask? I need support for Eudora Mail as well as Mozilla, not just Outlook as offered by the freebies. And the preview pane just rocks.