No-admin Zip packaging of Graphiviz 2.26.3

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MilesT
Posts: 7
Joined: 10 Jul 2015, 09:08

Enhancement request for the install:
Can Essential provide a no-admin rights zip packaging of Graphviz 2.26.3, (or make Essential EA work with latest Graphviz which does have an .zip no admin install package)

I already have a JVM in my work machine (without admin rights), so the I think the only admin rights needed in the current install is Graphviz

I may have a workaround (install graphviz at home and zip it up and hope that works, maybe with a hand-rolled .reg file if the registry is not too locked down) but it would make life easier if I don't have to resolve the problem that way.
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neil.walsh
Posts: 444
Joined: 16 Feb 2009, 13:45
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Hi MilesT,

Viewer reports are currently built using XSLT and individual reports leverage additional technologies depending on what they're attempting to show. Some views, e.g. Business Process Flows, use third party libraries such as PlantUML to help render the content. It is PlantUML which has the GraphViz dependency not Essential Viewer specifically. We're constantly looking for Open Source libraries which we can use as part of the Essential toolkit and ideally, libraries which do not require installation packages. Graphviz is the exception here. There has been discussion on the PlantUML site of GraphViz-less support but as of yet is not come to fruition.

yFiles is an interesting product and one we've looked at before, however the licensing model prevents us from distributing it as part of any Essential release. This does not prevent you or your organisation from using that product in the creation and development of your own Views. GraphML, whilst potentially useful for Essential requires additional server configuration which increases installation complexity but is something we continue to monitor and review.

Thanks for getting involved. These discussions add real value to the community and help keep us aware of what our users are looking for.

Cheers

Neil
MilesT
Posts: 7
Joined: 10 Jul 2015, 09:08

I'm engaged in an ongoing discussion about this in GraphViz support forum.

Watching an install on my home machine (where I have admin rights :mrgreen:) it seems that GraphViz only installs files in it's "own" directory in Program Files (x86), and only does the minimum basics of registry edit for installing software: PATH variable (to bin subdirectory in Program Files(x86); Installed software registration; Program Menu shortcuts (but not explorer menu or file registration). Graphviz does also install a private copy of the MS Studio2005/Visual C++ 8.0 C runtime dlls including amd64 bit extensions, along with a registration of the C runtime so that MS Software update can securirity patch it.

When I have time I will try and complete a no-admin install on my work machine for all of Essential EA and will report back.
MilesT
Posts: 7
Joined: 10 Jul 2015, 09:08

Hi Neil,

I think your reply belongs to my "other" post...this one is about installation issues....
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jonathan.carter
Posts: 1087
Joined: 04 Feb 2009, 15:44

MilesT wrote: When I have time I will try and complete a no-admin install on my work machine for all of Essential EA and will report back.
Thanks, that would be great. We've tried hard to manage everything on a single, cross-platform code-base - including the installer, but recent versions of Windows seem to make this harder and harder!

Jonathan
Essential Project Team
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neil.walsh
Posts: 444
Joined: 16 Feb 2009, 13:45
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MilesT wrote:Hi Neil,

I think your reply belongs to my "other" post...this one is about installation issues....
Thanks MilesT. Indeed it did.

As I mentioned in that post however, it's PlantUML which requires GraphViz. A cross platform GraphViz is unlikely right now, Admin-less install might be possible but would still need to register an environment variable to define the path for DOT files.

A better long term solution is probably to not require GraphViz at all and is something we're always looking to resolve. For us, that may mean replacing PlantUML with a different library or creating a better approach for these types of diagrams.

Thanks again

Neil
islam_sayed
Posts: 1
Joined: 17 Jul 2015, 07:37

hi All,
I installed GraphViz with no admin rights .. was actually quite easy.. just unpackaged the msi using the admin msiexec /a and it is now already installed !
I did not have to even set %GRAPHVIZ_DOT% environment variable or anything prior to installing Protege...
prior to installing Protege, use
set __COMPAT_LAYER=RUNASINVOKER and then run the java command

you may get errors by end of installation but just ignore them, everything works as expected..
hope it helps..
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