Each time you open Paquet Builder, it displays the welcome page where you can decide to create a new project, load an existing one, or directly access to the easy-to-use wizard called Package Express.
| Package Express is recommended for beginners; with it, you can create a fully functional package within minutes. |
Paquet Builder lets you create Self-Extracting packages (or Self-Extracting archive files): in this documentation we will say "the package" to designate the Self-Extracting package file (.exe extension) created by you with Paquet Builder.
Use the help contents tree on the left side to browse though the different help topics and discover the features of Paquet Builder.
You may also press F1 or the Help buttons in Paquet Builder to directly access to the related help topic.
Navigating through the interface
All related features are grouped into categories belonging to one of the three following panels: General, Functionality and Build.
- Under "General" you will find all the basic options for the package: it is enough for beginners.
- The "Functionality" panel contains advanced and powerful features that lets you customize the behavior and appearance of your package.
- Finally with the "Build" panel you can access to options related to the output file (the package .exe file).
To navigate through the different features, you need to use the navigation bar on the left side of the main window. This "Windows XP style" bar is divided into the three panels as specified above: these panels contain links that open the related options. Clicking on a link will open the related page.
Under some screen resolutions, the built-in dimensions of the three navigation panels may cause some options not to be displayed correctly. In this case, use the mark at the right-bottom to change the height of the navigation panel. To ensure the new dimensions are saved and then restored in future sessions of Paquet Builder, enable the "Save my custom dimensions" option in the Environment Options panel.
Please note that some of these links may change depending on the type of project you are working on.
Getting started
At any time, if you have questions, do not hesitate to use the help center: it can be opened using the menu command "Help|Help Center" in Paquet Builder. It offers direct links to some useful help resources.
To begin, please have a look at the small tutorial; it covers the first steps "creating a project", "adding files" and "building the package". After all, your first goal in Paquet Builder is to learn how packages are created...
Otherwise you always begin a new package by creating a project; Paquet Builder actually supports up to 4 different types of packages! Don't worry: everything is explained here.
And finally did we already mention Package Express? It's a good mean to create a project (and even a completed one, ready to be built). You're free to use it or not...