Creating .inf files

[bhunter]

I was wondering if there is a tool available that will help create .inf files for Windows 2000. If not, where is the best place to look for documentation on how to write an .inf file?

Thanks,

Bennett

 

[mcconmw]

Not knowing your specific goals this is a hard question to answer. All that an .inf file is is a text file that contains information that a program needs for configuration. It is fundamentally an outmoded way of supplying custom or customizable information to a program. In that regard, it's structure and data therein is completely at the mercy of what the programmer needs or wants. The proper way to handle this data in NT or 2000 is to add it to the registry. The registry is functionally a consolidated location for all inf files that also carries security.

http://www.msdn.com

is the primary resource for developers on MS products. I hope this helps.

 

[bhunter]

Thanks for the response. Let me explain a little bit more about what I want to do. I have been assigned to create an install program that loads device drivers and registers them for a piece of hardware. I have been using InstallShield to create the install. All that the install does is copy a few files to locations that I specify, imports a .reg file to the registry, and asks for a reboot. Is it possible to perform at least the file copy and the registry changes in an .inf file. That way the user installing the driver for the hardware just points to the .inf instead of running an installshield setup program. I'm not very familiar with the sections of the .inf, and I was trying to determine if we could do one of the following:

1 - Put the file copy and registry changes in the .inf

or

2 - Call the setup.exe from an .inf

Hopefully that gives you a better idea of what I would like to do.

 

[mcconmw]

OK. I'm out of my depth on this question. Maybe someone else can tell you more.

 

[PAndersen]

Maybe you will find some help here :

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/NTDRIVERS/w2inf.htm

P.Andersen