[Gdal-dev] win32 binary gdal distribution

[Matt Wilkie]

Ben Discoe wrote:

> Matt,
> 
> 'SETUP_GDAL.BAT' is vestigial, it was included by accident as i was 
> using an old script of Frank's.  IMHO it's not useful since it would
> have to be (1) edited once for every installation, then (2) run every
> time you open a shell on Windows... far better to simply put the GDAL
> bin dir on your path, a one-time operation.

1) unfortunately, yeah. at least it's only one line though.

2) If you CALL the batchfile from autoexec.bat you don't need to run it 
for every shell. Adding the gdal\bin directory to path is insufficient; 
the other variables need to be set as well (I think? they used to be 
necessary anyway).

I guess I like the batch file approach because I find the tiny dialog 
Windows gives you for adding and changing environment variables hard to 
use. I find it easier to edit a file. rebooting sucks big-time though 
((I believe there is a mechanism to run specified batch files everytime 
cmd.exe is started, obviating reboots, but I've never been suffciently 
motivated to track the procedure down.))


-matt