Hey guys, today I'll try to teach you how to do a really basic "auto update" type thing.

First off, this script does not automatically download the file, but checks its versioning and prompts the user.

First of all, this is a function that i use to open a file, and read its contents.

Public Function GetFileContents(ByVal FullPath As String, Optional ByRef ErrInfo As String = "") As String Dim strContents As String Dim objReader As StreamReader Try objReader = New StreamReader(FullPath) strContents = objReader.ReadToEnd() objReader.Close() Return strContents Catch Ex As Exception ErrInfo = Ex.Message End Try Return "" End Function

Fairly straightforward stuff. Just reads an entire file.

Dim WC As New System.Net.WebClient Dim ver() As String Dim RunUpdate As Boolean If File.Exists("newversion.txt") Then File.Delete("newversion.txt") End If wc.DownloadFile("http://kingsley.themeparktrips.co.uk/warhammerclient/newversion.txt", "newversion.txt") While Not File.Exists("newversion.txt") End While newVersion = GetFileContents("newversion.txt") ver = Split(newVersion, ".") newMajor = Int(ver(0)) newMinor = Int(ver(1)) newBuild = Int(ver(2)) newRev = Int(ver(3))

We dim wc as a new System.Net.WebClient, ver as an array, and runupdate as Boolean.

We check if the version file exists, if so, delete it.

Then we download the new file.

I just threw the while in there just incase it wasn't as instant as i'd hope.

Then we split the version information up.

Now, this is the part i like, where we detect the version of our client, and compare that to the server.

If newMajor > verMajor Then MsgBox("Your copy of Warhammer Army Calculator needs updating. I will update now") RunUpdate = True End If If newMinor > verMinor And verMajor = newMajor And RunUpdate = False Then If MsgBox("It is highly reccomended that you update the Warhammer Army Calculator" + vbNewLine + vbNewLine + "Would you like to update?", vbYesNo, "Update?") = 6 Then RunUpdate = True End If End If If newBuild > verBuild And verMinor = newMinor And verMajor = newMajor And RunUpdate = False Then If MsgBox("You should update your copy of Warhammer Army Calculator" + vbNewLine + vbNewLine + "Would you like to update?", vbYesNo, "Update?") = 6 Then RunUpdate = True End If End If If newRev > verRev And verMajor = newMajor And verMinor = newMinor And verBuild = newBuild And RunUpdate = False Then If MsgBox("It is reccomended that you update the arhammer Army Calculator" + vbNewLine + vbNewLine + "Would you like to update?", vbYesNo, "Update?") = 6 Then RunUpdate = True End If End If

Just rememeber to change the string when you decide to use this!!

Then, finally, we detect if RunUpdate has been set to true, if so, we update!

If RunUpdate Then wc.DownloadFile("http://kingsley.themeparktrips.co.uk/warhammerclient/newclient.exe", "newclient.exe") While Not File.Exists("newclient.exe") End While Process.Start("newclient.exe") Application.Exit() Else MsgBox("Your Warhammer Army Client is up to date!") End If

Now, in the form load section of your application, (Possibly) after all this code. We would have something to detect the client name and update accordingly.

Dim MyExeName, Path() As String Path = Split(Application.ExecutablePath, "\") MyExeName = Path(Path.Count - 1) If MyExeName.ToLower <> "warhammerarmycalc.exe" Then If File.Exists("warhammerarmycalc.exe") Then File.Delete("warhammerarmycalc.exe") End If File.Copy(MyExeName, "WarhammerArmyCalc.exe") Process.Start("warhammerarmycalc.exe") Application.Exit() ElseIf MyExeName.ToLower = "warhammerarmycalc.exe" Then If File.Exists("newclient.exe") Then For i = 1 To 5 Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000) Application.DoEvents() Next File.Delete("newclient.exe") End If Else If File.Exists("warhammerarmycalc.exe") Then Process.Start("warhammerarmycalc.exe") Application.Exit() Else 'donno wtf happened, copy me over it! File.Copy(MyExeName, "WarhammerArmyCalc.exe") Process.Start("warhammerarmycalc.exe") Application.Exit() End If End If

As you can see, if its the real client, we delete newclient.exe, else if its a differentname, such as 'newclient.exe', it will delete the orignal, and copy itself over it. Which in turn, will delete the newclient.exe

I hope somebody found this helpful!

Please leave a comment if you have any questions.