Poll on installation layout in future versions

[Steven_L_Intel1]

We'd like your opinion on something. In the current (and several past) release, when you install an update it lets you select either replacing the previous update for this version or adding the new update in a "side-by-side" install, so that you can select among updates. If you are installing a new major version, and an older one is installed, we don't touch the older version (except to replace VS integration and runtime DLLs in PATH.)

On Linux, the way we handle things is to always install the new files in a separate directory, but use a "soft link" that always points to the latest installed version. The developers would like to switch to this method for Windows as well.

What this means is that there would be a single top-level folder under which the compiler (and other tools in the Parallel Studio XE universe) would be installed, and each version+update would have its own folder of files. A series of soft links would be updated to point to the latest install, but the older versions would remain present. You could choose to uninstall the older versions afterward if you wanted.

What do folks here think of this? Would it be acceptable? What if we added a choice to selectively remove older versions as part of the overall install? An advantage of using soft links is that third-party tools would have an easier time finding the Intel tools.

It wouldn't affect how you use the product but would, by default, use more disk space.

[warwickb1]

Hi, Steve.

I haven’t loaded I V Fortran 15 yet.  Hopefully it will install OK on Windows 7 rather than just the latest version of Windows.  The older version could be removed when experience shows that all is well with the current one.

It seems to me that this option could be good for cases where the new version needs work for running my applications.

Disk space isn't an issue because I store all my data on backed-up network drives.  I have hundreds of GB of free disk space.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

[rase]

I have some problems using Fortran 15, but I am not sure if these problems are not my fault, for example caused by erroneous programming. A return to version 14 "on the fly" would be a great possibility to check who is to blame.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

warwickb, Windows 7 is absolutely supported.

rase, you can already do that - see https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/using-older-intel-visual-fortran-versions-in-different-microsoft-visual-studio-versions (the title of this article is a bit misleading, in that you don't necessarily need different VS versions. I'll fix that.)

[FortranFan]

Steve,

All that you describe in terms of single top-level folder, soft links, access to previous versions with an ability to uninstall them, etc. sound quite appealing.  Considering the amount of disk space required by typical Intel Studio products which is only several GB, disk space is not a concern at all - a simpler, smoother, and a much faster installation process would be of great benefit.

Thanks much for seeking feedback.

Regards,

[Andrew_Smith]

It seams good to me. Again disk space is not a concern.

I bigger concern for me is how difficult it is to use different versions for different projects. I would like to be able to set a prefered version for a solution file and having it fall back to your latest installed verion if its not available next time you load the solution, with a warning in the output window.

[JohnNichols]

Steve:

I always uninstall the old version - if you are going to bite the update bullet you may as well just take the pain in one shot.

My only problem is the MKL libraries and getting them to run with the latest versions.

JMN

[Simon_Geard]

We always install side-by-side on windows since we can't use a new compiler on release code without testing it on the development branch first. Moving to the new scheme would be good since it would stop installation errors occuring.

What would be a really nice addition would be for the installation to include a compiler_vars.sh file on Windows so that it can be driven easily from cygwin.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions - they have been very useful.

A .sh file would be tricky as our .bat file invokes Microsoft's. I could envision a .bat file or program that generates a .sh based on the current environment. That would actually be pretty easy to write in Fortran.

[jimdempseyatthecove]

I applaud anything that makes the life of the programmer easier.

The ideal would be for the new form to live in harmony with the old form. Here is my suggestion:

Create an environment variable that specifies the new folder of all versions. This will not prevent a user from manipulating PATH etc.. to list old installation directories.

Inside the new  folder you can have the new layout as you describe with one addition: add Shortcuts (soft links) to the old versions installation folders. The new tools (e.g. VS integration would locate the proper versions using the Shortcut/SoftLink) and any old tool could still locate the files using environment variables.

Also include instructions on how a user can create these Shortcuts _after_ installation. Example: Buy new system, install new IVF, use, oops need old version, install old version (oblivious to new version), add Shortcut/SoftLink in new folder.

Jim Dempsey

[Greg_T_]

Hi Steve,

Having separate version install folders would be fine.  Using more disk space is not a problem.  Keeping older versions that could coexist with the new version install would be useful for us, especially to compare results from the old and new versions.  Being able to select some older versions to uninstall during the new version install would also be useful.

Regards,
Greg