If your Basic Option Graph Project passed the testing in the
previous step, it is time to make the final .exe file, which turns the
Visual Basic Project into a stand-alone Windows program.
Before making the .exe, you may want to add an Icon to the Project.
If you do not add an Icon, Windows will use a default generic Icon in
the Taskbar or on your Desktop. See this page for information on adding
an Icon:
Adding an Icon.
With the Basic Option Graph Project open in Visual Basic, click on
the "Project" menu and then "Publish Basic Option Graph". A screen will
open that says "Where do you want to publish the application?".
You want to accept the default answers from all the remaining screens,
so you can just click the "Finish" button at any time.
When Visual Basic "Publishes" a program, it makes an .exe file and
a bunch of other files to enable "installing" it on your computer or
anyone else's computer.
"Installing" a program means it will show up on your Windows Start
menu, and it can be "Uninstalled" later by using Windows Control Panel
to remove it from your computer.
"Installing" is not necessary and we do not recommend it. If you write
your own programs or want to modify programs, it just adds unnecessary
steps to the process. You will find yourself "installing"
and "uninstalling" your programs over and over.
You can use the .exe file just as it is, by double-clicking it from
the directory it is in, or by dragging the .exe file from within Windows
Explorer to your taskbar and "pinning" it there, or by dragging it to
your desktop. If you ever need to get rid of the .exe you can just delete
it.
The only difference as far as using the .exe file directly will be
that it will not show up on your Windows Start menu.
If you installed Visual Basic to the default directory, the location
of the .exe file should be:
C:\Users\(User Name)\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\Basic Option
Graph\Basic Option Graph\bin\Debug\Basic Option Graph.exe
*** There will be another .exe in the same directory named "Basic
Option Graph.vshost.exe". That is not the .exe you want to use
to run the program.
The easiest thing to do is find the Basic Option Graph.exe in Windows
Explorer, drag it to your taskbar, and "pin" it there (assuming you
are using Windows 7). Then you can run it with a single click. If you
ever don't want it, right click on the icon on the taskbar, and select
"Unpin this program from taskbar".
Congratulations on your completed project! Be sure and read the next
section for several different useful ways to use Basic Option Graph.
Option-Graph.com