Auto-AutoRun

Auto-AutoRun is an auto-run for those who want to distribute apps using CDs/DVDs and have no programming knowledge.

It uses a tree view to show apps, which is populated depending on the contents of the disk.

To use this auto-run you (distributor) need to be able to:

• Work with file explorer
• Write markdown files (markdown is an easy to learn markup language)
  OR HTML files (The markup language for 99.9% of the Internet pages)

The window contains:

• A tree view on the left showing the apps, which content is populated depending on the contents of the disk
• A tabbed documentation in the middle, which changes according to the selected app
• An optional version selector next to the tree view and above the documentation, which changes according to the selected app
• A list of button for setup, activation, etc. which changes according to the selected app and version
• An icon and a title showing the name and icon of the selected app

How to make a folder tree for use with Auto-AutoRun

Docuentation pages

You can learn markdown here.
OR HTML here

Markdown files should end with .md (recommended) or .markdown
HTML files should end with .html or .htm
You can use plain text files, with .txt extension

The markdown files appear the same as they do in github.com. (This document you are reading is a markdown file viewed on github.com)

HTML files are shown as they do in a browser (Auto-AutoRun uses something like internet explorer)

Links inside documentation files can have special URIs, which can link to:

• Nodes: use this format: node://path/to/node. If the user clicks on this link, the target node will be selected and viewed, as if it was clicked in nodes tree.
• Actions: There are to types:
  • runaction://path/to/node/action-name: If the user clicks on the link, the action will be invoked (it's file will be opened), as if it's button was clicked.
  • showaction://path/to/node/action-name: If the user clicks on the link, the action's file will be shown in file explorer, as if it's button was middle-clicked (clicked with middle mouse button).

Note: replace path/to/node in URIs with the path to your node, for example in this node tree the node Chrome is the target:

• Apps
  • Browsers
    • Chrome

The path to Chrome is Browsers/Chrome. Note that Apps isn't included in the path.

Nodes

Description

Nodes can be either folder or apps. They appear as items in the apps tree.

Contains

Actions, versions and documentation

Creation

1. make a folder in the apps directory. A node's name is the same as it's folder's name

   Any name is accepted, except those staring with either an underscore ( _ ), or the letter v. These letters are reserved for actions and versions

Folder tree example

• Auto-AutoRun.exe
• MarkdownSharp.dll
• Browsers -> Node
  • Chrome -> Node
    • ...
  • FireFox -> Node
    • ...
  • Edge -> Node
    • ...

Appearance in AutoRun interface

They appear as items in the apps tree.

Actions

Description

Actions are files that can be opened by clicking a button on the Auto-AutoRun window. Each action has it's own button. The buttons appear on the top-right of the window.

Creation

1. Inside a node folder, create a new folder starting with an underscore ( _ ). The action's name is the name of it's folder's name excluding the underscore.

   Note: Do not use the name _docs because it is reserved.

2. Inside the action folder, create or paste the file to be opened when the action is invoked (e.g. setup.exe) and make sure it's name (excluding extension) is the same as the action name.

   Acceptable file types are:

   1. Executable files (.exe)

   2. Windows installer files (.msi)

   3. Zip files (.zip)

   4. RAR files (.rar)

   5. Text file (.txt):

      Text files are not opened. They are considered as pointers to the actual file, which can be of any type. these files should contain a relative path to the actual file. An example is the Visual Studio setup, which wont't work if it gets renamed. (e.g. It should be always vs_community.exe)

Folder tree example

• Google Chrome -> Node
  • _Install -> Action
    • Install.exe -> Opens when 'Install' button is clicked
• Visual Studio 2015 -> Node
  • _Community -> Action
    • Community.txt -> content: vs_community.exe
    • vs_community.exe -> Opens when 'Community' button is clicked
    • packages
      • ...
  • _Professional -> Action
    • Professional.txt -> content: vs_professional.exe
    • vs_professional.exe -> Opens when 'Professional' button is clicked
    • packages
      • ...
  • _Enterprise -> Action
    • Enterprise.txt -> content: vs_enterprise.exe
    • vs_enterprise.exe -> Opens when 'Enterprise' button is clicked
    • packages
      • ...

Appearance in AutoRun interface

Actions appear as buttons in the Auto-AutoRun interface in the top-right position.

Clicking them opens the exe/msi/zip/rar file

Clicking it with middle mouse button shows the exe/msi/zip/rar file in file explorer.

Documentation

Description

A documentation can contain one or more markdown / HTML / plain text files to be displayed, an icon, and a list of screen-shots.

Creation

1. Create a folder inside of the node folder, named _docs

Pages

1. Create/paste any markdown/HTML/plain text file to the _docs folder.

   Markdown file should have the extension .md or .markdown
   HTML files should be .html or .htm
   Plain text files should be .txt

Icon

1. Create/paste the icon file and rename it to icon. Supported formats are: .png, .ico, .jpg, .jpeg, .jfif, .bmp

   Example: icon.ico, icon.png

Screen-shots

1. Create a folder named Screenshots inside the _docs directory

   Note: You can use any name for the folder, which will be the tab name.

2. Inside the folder, insert image files. Most popular formats except .webp and .svg are supported.

Folder tree example

• Visual Studio -> Node
  • ...
  • _docs -> Documentation
    • icon.png ->
    • description.md -> markdown file
    • _screenshots -> screen-shots folder
      • code editor.png
      • UWP designer.png
      • image editor.png
      • debugger.png
      • start page.png

Appearance in AutoRun interface

Pages

Displayed in the center of the app, each documentation file has it's own tab, with the file name (without extension) shown as tab name

Icon

Shown on the left of the node name, with 32px size

Screen-shots

Shown in a separate tab named 'Screenshots'

Versions

Description

Versions are used to have different versions of a software in a single node. They are a bit similar to nodes in folder structure as they contain actions, but are completely different.

Contains

Actions, a markdown file

Creation

1. Inside the node folder, create a new folder starting v. The rest of the name is the version's name. For example a version with folder name v5.4.3 has the name 5.4.3. (Any name can be used as long as it doesn't contain illegal characters for paths (\/:*?"<>|))
2. Create the actions inside the version folder, as you did when creating nodes.
3. [Optional] Create a documentation file named info (valid formats and extensions were explained earlier) to show it as a separate tab named "version: <version name>". You can insert a changelog or breaking changes warning there.

Folder tree example

• Visual Studio -> Node
  • _docs -> Documentation
    • ...
  • v2015
    • info.md -> Contains new features in vs2015
    • _Install
      • ...
  • v2017
    • info.md -> Contains new features in vs2017
    • _Install
      • ...
  • v2019
    • info.md -> Contains new features in vs2019
    • _Install
      • ...

Appearance in AutoRun interface

A drop-down (combo-box) appears below the title of the node, with which you can select the version you want to install.

Version actions are shown as node actions, but with a little difference:

• Only the actions of the selected version can be seen
• They appear below the node actions (a bit lower in position)

How to use it inside a CD or DVD

NOTE: Step 4 does not have any effect if you're not using a CD/DVD.

1. Download Auto-AutoRun executable (Auto-AutoRun.exe) from the releases page and copy it to the root of the CD/DVD with the name autorun.exe

2. Download MarkdownSharp.dll from the releases page and copy it to the root of the CD/DVD with the name MarkdownSharp.dll

3. [Optional] Copy the icon with .ico format to the root folder with the name Icon.ico

4. Create a file named autorun.inf, open it with notepad (which is usually default) and copy-paste the following into it:

   [AutoRun]
   OPEN=autorun.exe
   ICON=Icon.ico

5. Change the label of the CD/DVD because it will be root node's name and Auto-AutoRun window title.

6. Copy the contents of the root node into the root folder (not the folder itself)

7. Now your app CD/DVD is ready! (Test it before publishing)

   The CD's folder tree should look like this:

   • autorun.exe
   • MarkDownSharp.dll
   • Icon.ico
   • autorun.inf
   • <root nodes>