PortableApps.com Development Suite (Jun 25, 2019)

PortableApps.com Development Portable, the open portable software standard!

PortableApps in the News...

PortableApps.com/PA.c Development suite are tools we use to make portable applications.
They are customized version of PortableApps.com official releases.
We release these tools in compliance to GNU license.

PortableApps.comLauncher_2.2.1_thumbapps_edition_Dec_17._2017.paf
Size: 12.3 MB (12,996,608 bytes) Packed Size: 2.50 MB (2,629,632 bytes)
SHA-256: 247DC0177B2C84D8B583E14AEF899BF3F13635B077957F7946B3462DEC3F4F04

PortableApps.comInstaller_3.5.12_thumbapps_edition_Apr_27._2019.paf
Size: 11.4 MB (12,050,432 bytes) Packed Size: 2.33 MB (2,445,312 bytes)
SHA-256: 11050D7C2C41EAF630CCF404EEB3706642C5939951DA3BE499DB9CE7A1087C11

thumbapps_Application_Template_3.5.20190107_rev01.7z
Size: 356 KB (364,544 bytes) Packed Size: 68.0 KB (69,632 bytes)
SHA-256: 1E63B79A3CE45935AC5F6B40E6FD87EC8CC0297E17FF9CEFCE4252A1AD931B8B

NSISPortable_3.04_thumbapps_edition_Apr_27._2019_English.paf
Size: 10.0 MB (10,510,336 bytes) Packed Size: 2.05 MB (2,154,496 bytes)
SHA-256: 46A5E51A1F5CC57EC2657B44EDB70C8A99F406F0C3882CBC7BD2F99FFE97B37A

Release Details

Developer: PortableApps.com & thumbapps.org
Requirements: Windows XP or later
License: Open Source (GPL under PortableApps.com EULA)
Source: Included in the package (.ini, .nsh files)

Additional Softwares

We recommend these utilities in addition to the above *awesome* development suite:

Application installation logging:
- VMware Workstation Player.
- Regshot or zSoft Uninstaller, since the Unicode Regshot won't run on Windows 10—and the ANSI version is way too slow.
- SysInternals: Strings, Process Explorer, to find out application's command line switches, environment variables, and more.
Portable binaries preparation:
- 7-Zip, innounp, InstallShield, MSI (MSDN, MSDN2) OR LessMSI, CreateInstall Free, UniExtract—to unpack lots of installer formats.
Launcher preparation:
- Greenfish Icon Editor Pro.
- Bat2Exe Converter, sometimes we need to convert a batch file to executable with administrator rights.
- ResEdit resource editor, to beautify icons of some really *ugly* executables.
- Nirsoft: DLL Explorer, to find out what DLL functions are available.
Path portablization:
- DB Browser for SQLite, for applications that stores settings in SQLite database.
- HxD Hex Editor, for applications that stores settings in binary files, eg. uTorrent.
Upload/publishing:
- MultiHasher file hash calculator.
- WinSCP SFTP/FTP/WebDAV/SCP resumable uploader—for Sourceforge.net uploading—or FileZilla, Cyberduck.
General:
- WebMon web page update monitoring—to keep update on new sofware releases—or the ChangeMon website.
- Notepad++ or Sublime Text, and Tablacus Explorer or XYplorer.
We'll add more later insha-Allah (si Deus voluntatem)...

Essential readings

Registry topics:
- WOW64 file system trick, to find out how Windows mirror 32 bit app. data folder (%appdata%, %localappdata%) on a Windows 64 bit environment.
- How to insert registry entries from a .reg file into 32-bit registry, on 64-bit Windows, same as above only it's about registry mirroring.
DLL:
- How Do I Register ActiveX Controls, ActiveX Servers, and Type Libraries?
- How to use the Regsvr32 tool and troubleshoot Regsvr32 error messages, a reference for our custom DLL loader segment.
Windows service:
- How to delete a Windows Service in Windows 7, Vista or XP, a reference for our custom Svc/service loader segment or if you have to load/unload service from custom segment.
Create custom start up run that bypass UAC:
- Create administrator mode shortcuts without UAC prompts in Windows 7 or Vista, how to eliminate UAC pop up on start up run of portable app. that requires administrator privilige.
Application based on Chromium-based frameworks:
- NW/Node.js: path portablization for NW.js-based apps.
More later insha-Allah (si Deus voluntatem)... ;)

Release History

Apr 27, 2019:
- Updated PA.c Installer to 3.5.12.
- Updated portable application template to the latest PortableApps.com Format™ 3.5 (2019-01-07).
- Changed MD5 to SHA-256—though we wonder why we have to abandon that simpler MD5 hashing, but let's just follow John, after all he's *awesome*, right?
Dec 31, 2018:
- PA.c Launcher generator bug—can't write/save HKCU registry without administrator privilege—fixed, by reverted back to older registry plugin.
- The PA.c Launcher generator is now packed with NSIS Portable (Unicode) 2.46 Rev 2, so you don't need separate NSIS portable.
- NSIS Portable 3 is PA.c release with some routine (.nsh) and plugins added. You need this to compile PA.c Launcher (ta.o edition); or if you need to create any wholly custom portable application launcher.