diff --git a/_Sidebar.md b/_Sidebar.md index 42c89b2..444e32f 100644 --- a/_Sidebar.md +++ b/_Sidebar.md @@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ **[Downloads](downloads)** +**[Windows without admin rights](windows_without_admin)** — the portable archive, no installer + **[Quick Start Guide](quick_start_guide)** **[User Manual](user_manual)** diff --git a/ai_assistants.md b/ai_assistants.md index f98153d..f964c3e 100644 --- a/ai_assistants.md +++ b/ai_assistants.md @@ -222,53 +222,30 @@ The server speaks MCP over standard input and output. ## Not merged yet -Four changes will make this simpler. Until each lands, the setup above is -the way. +Four changes make this simpler. All four merged on 29 September 2026, so +they are in builds made after that (on Windows, nightlies newer than +git10275). With an older build, the setup above is the way. ### Windows: exports and edits -> **Status: pending.** This section describes -> [PR #1135](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1135), -> not yet merged. Nothing here works until that lands — check the PR -> before trying any of this against your own build. This section will drop -> this notice once it does. - Without it, on Windows only the reading tools work: every export, edit, check and query fails, because the server could not start QElectroTech there. ### The server installed with QElectroTech -> **Status: pending.** This section describes -> [PR #1136](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1136), -> not yet merged. Nothing here works until that lands — check the PR -> before trying any of this against your own build. This section will drop -> this notice once it does. - `qet_mcp.py` comes with QElectroTech (`share/qelectrotech/mcp/` on Linux, `mcp\` in the Windows installation folder) and finds that QElectroTech and its symbols by itself, so no download and no `QET_BINARY` are needed. ### Python with the Windows installer -> **Status: pending.** This section describes -> [PR #1137](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1137), -> not yet merged. Nothing here works until that lands — check the PR -> before trying any of this against your own build. This section will drop -> this notice once it does. - The installer offers "Python for the AI assistant" (unticked by default), so Windows users need not install Python themselves. The command becomes `C:\Program Files\QElectroTech\mcp\python\python.exe` (in JSON, each `\` is written `\\`). ### Help → Connect an AI assistant -> **Status: pending.** This section describes -> [PR #1138](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1138), -> not yet merged. Nothing here works until that lands — check the PR -> before trying any of this against your own build. This section will drop -> this notice once it does. - **Aide → Connecter un assistant IA...** (*Help → Connect an AI assistant*) writes the setup for your assistant with this installation's paths filled in: diff --git a/downloads.md b/downloads.md index 0cccac0..14ca9e9 100644 --- a/downloads.md +++ b/downloads.md @@ -58,10 +58,14 @@ Get QElectroTech running on your system. Choose your platform below for specific **No installation required; run from USB or folder.** -1. **Download** the portable ZIP from downloads page -2. **Extract** the ZIP file to a folder -3. **Run** `QElectroTech.exe` directly from the folder -4. No registry changes; safe to run from USB +**Also the way to install without administrator rights.** + +1. **Download** the archive whose name ends in `-readytouse` (`.7z` for 0.100.0, `.zip` for the 0.200.1 nightly) +2. **Extract** it to a folder you can write to +3. **Run** the launcher in the top folder: `Lancer QET.bat` (0.100.0) or `Lancer QET_qt6.bat` (0.200.1), not `bin\QElectroTech.exe` +4. Your own symbols and title blocks stay in `conf\` inside the folder, so it runs from a USB stick too + +Full steps, where things are stored, file associations and updating: **[Installing on Windows without admin rights](windows_without_admin)**. ### Option 3: Microsoft Store @@ -351,7 +355,7 @@ sudo snap refresh qelectrotech ### When to Use Portable - ✅ Running from USB drive -- ✅ No admin rights on computer +- ✅ No admin rights on computer — see [Installing on Windows without admin rights](windows_without_admin) - ✅ Temporary installation - ✅ Trying before full install - ✅ Multiple versions diff --git a/windows_without_admin.md b/windows_without_admin.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..597491c --- /dev/null +++ b/windows_without_admin.md @@ -0,0 +1,131 @@ +# Installing on Windows without admin rights + +Both Windows installers need administrator rights: the `.exe` installer asks for them outright and installs into `Program Files`, and the `.msi` installs for every user of the machine. On a company PC where you are a standard user, neither will run. + +You don't need them. Every release also comes as a **portable archive**: a folder you extract anywhere you're allowed to write, and start from a launcher script inside it. It is the same program as the installed one. + +--- + +## Which file to download + +| Version | Where | File | +|---|---|---| +| **0.100.0** (latest stable) | [Release 0.100](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/releases/tag/0.100) | `qelectrotech-0.100.0+git8590-x86-win64-readytouse.7z` | +| **0.200.1** (development, Qt 6) | [Nightly build](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/releases/tag/nightly) | `qelectrotech-0.200.1-qt6+git-x86-win64-readytouse.zip` | + +Take the name ending in **`-readytouse`**, not `Installer_…exe` or `….msi`. + +On the nightly page, files with `-qt6` in the name are the current build. Files without it are the last Qt 5 build, kept frozen and no longer updated. + +The stable `.7z` opens in Explorer on recent Windows 11 (23H2 and later). On Windows 10 you need 7-Zip; if you can't install that either, use the nightly `.zip`, which Windows opens natively. + +> **0.200.1 is a development version.** It is what most new work goes into, but it is not tagged as a stable release yet (see [issue #1112](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/issues/1112)). If your company only allows released software, use 0.100.0. + +--- + +## Installing + +1. **Unblock the download.** Right-click the downloaded file → **Properties** → tick **Unblock** at the bottom of the *General* tab → **OK**. Without this, Windows marks every extracted file as "from the internet" and SmartScreen warns about each one. +2. **Extract it to a folder you own**, for example: + ``` + %LOCALAPPDATA%\QElectroTech + ``` + (paste that into Explorer's address bar; it expands to `C:\Users\\AppData\Local\QElectroTech`). `Documents\QElectroTech` or a USB stick work too. Avoid `Program Files`, which you can't write to. +3. **Start QElectroTech with the launcher** in the top folder: + + | Version | Launcher | + |---|---| + | 0.100.0 | `Lancer QET.bat` | + | 0.200.1 | `Lancer QET_qt6.bat` | + + ("Lancer" is French for "launch".) +4. Optional: right-click the launcher → **Send to** → **Desktop (create shortcut)**. That needs no special rights either. + +If SmartScreen shows *"Windows protected your PC"*, click **More info** → **Run anyway**. The builds are not code-signed, so this warning is expected. + +### Always use the launcher, not `bin\QElectroTech.exe` + +The launcher tells QElectroTech where everything in the folder is. Run the `.exe` directly and it can start without its symbol collection, title blocks or translations. + +What the launcher does: + +| Step | Effect | +|---|---| +| `cd` to its own folder | The paths below work wherever you extracted it | +| `attrib +r elements/* /S /D` | Makes the shipped symbol collection read-only, so it can't be edited by accident | +| `--common-elements-dir=elements/` | Shipped symbol collection | +| `--common-tbt-dir=titleblocks/` | Shipped title block templates | +| `--lang-dir=lang/` | Interface translations | +| `--config-dir=conf/ --data-dir=conf/` | Your own symbols, title blocks, logs and config files stay in `conf\` inside the folder | + +Anything you add after the launcher's name is passed on to QElectroTech. So a project file dragged onto the launcher opens in QElectroTech. + +--- + +## Where things are stored + +| What | Where | Needs admin? | +|---|---|---| +| The program, shipped symbols and title blocks | The folder you extracted | No, it's your folder | +| Your own symbols, title blocks, logs | `conf\` inside that folder | No | +| Preferences (the *Settings* dialog) | Registry, `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\QElectroTech\QElectroTech` | No, it's your own part of the registry | +| Your projects (`.qet`) | Wherever you save them | No | + +Nothing goes into `Program Files` or the machine-wide part of the registry. + +--- + +## Opening `.qet` files by double-click + +The archive includes `register_filetypes.bat`, which makes Windows open `.qet` projects, `.elmt` symbols and `.titleblock` templates in this copy of QElectroTech when you double-click them. + +It registers them for your account only, which needs no admin rights. This works in builds **newer than the git10275 nightly** ([PR #1149](https://github.com/qelectrotech/qelectrotech-source-mirror/pull/1149), merged 29 September 2026). In 0.100.0 and in nightlies up to git10275 the script is broken; see *Older downloads* below. + +1. Run `register_filetypes.bat` from the top folder. +2. It should say *"Les associations de fichier ont bien ete crees."* ("the file associations were created"). Press a key to close it. + +The associations point at this folder. If you move or rename it, run `register_filetypes.bat` again. + +**Older downloads:** in 0.100.0 and nightlies up to git10275, the script doesn't work for a standard user. In the 0.200.1 nightlies it stops at once; in 0.100.0 it tries to write to the machine-wide part of the registry. With those, open a project like this instead: + +- use **File → Open** inside QElectroTech, or +- drag the `.qet` file onto the launcher (`Lancer QET_qt6.bat` or `Lancer QET.bat`). + +Don't use *Open with → Choose another app → `bin\QElectroTech.exe`*: that starts the program without the launcher, so it can come up without its collection (see above). + +--- + +## Updating + +1. Extract the new version to a **new** folder, next to the old one. +2. Copy the old folder's `conf\` into the new one, so your own symbols and title blocks come with you. Preferences are in the registry, so they carry over by themselves. +3. If you registered file associations, run `register_filetypes.bat` in the new folder. +4. Delete the old folder when you're happy. + +--- + +## Removing it + +1. If you registered file associations, double-click `qet_uninstall_file_associations.reg` in the folder and confirm. (In builds newer than git10275 this also removes the per-user entries.) +2. Delete the folder. +3. Optional: remove your preferences. Run `regedit` and delete `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\QElectroTech`. If your company blocks `regedit`, you can leave the key: it's only settings. + +--- + +## When it still won't run + +| Symptom | Cause | What to do | +|---|---|---| +| *"Windows protected your PC"* | The build isn't code-signed | **More info → Run anyway**, or unblock the download before extracting | +| *"This app has been blocked by your system administrator"*, or nothing happens | The company allows only approved programs (AppLocker or similar) | Only your IT department can allow it. Point them at the release page. | +| The symbol collection is empty | QElectroTech was started as `bin\QElectroTech.exe` | Start it with the launcher | +| `register_filetypes.bat` says *"…Lancer QET.bat n'a pas été trouvé"* | Bug in nightlies up to git10275 | Use a newer nightly, or open files as described above | + +--- + +## See also + +- **[Downloads](downloads)** — every platform and package +- **[FAQ](faq)** — general questions +- **[Preferences reference](preferences)** — what the settings stored in the registry control +- **[CLI Reference](cli_reference)** — the command-line options the launcher uses