Periodically mails on this listserv talk about how massive Csound has become 
and how many extras have been added to it.

There is an alternative: select only the files you need and make your own 
"version."

I use Windows XP (in realtime), and select my files from one of Mike Gogins' 
float installers. I assemble only the files I need into a separate 
directory, then uninstall the original. I also get rid of the few 
Csound-related environment variables that the uninstaller fails to remove 
(PYTHON_PATH and RAWWAVE_PATH).

My Csound version of choice is 5.06, for the following reasons:

1) It has all I need;
2) It requires the fewest files;
3) It exits cleanly (with CTRL-C);
4) It displays no Python popup, and
5) Shows only a couple of warning messages while running.

The files required for my work are:
csound.exe
csound32.dll.5.1
libsndfile-1.dll
pmidi.dll
portaudio.dll
rtpa.dll
rtwinmm.dll
stdopcod.dll

Note that this lists includes .dll's for MIDI input and any type of audio 
output the PC user might want. (Your list might require one or two more 
plugin .dll's.) Please note that the identical approach could be taken with 
any recent version of Csound.)

These files total 3MB; when zipped, a bit more than 1MB. Add your .csd(s) to 
the same directory (as you'll need to do), and the resulting .zip will be a 
bit larger. Important: run csound from within this directory.

The frontend I use is Rory Walsh's Lettuce. All I do is dump the above files 
and my .csd's into the Lettuce directory and go. From there I can also 
create standalone Lettuce executables. Lettuce lets me work within Windows, 
rather than from the commandline.

I can then zip the Lettuce executables with the above files minus csound.exe 
(the executable includes csound.exe). Now I have a complete performance 
package for Csound that can be run simply by clicking on the executable's 
icon.

The bottom line: Either from the commandline or from a Lettuce executable, I 
have a small .zip archive that can be downloaded by any performer (or even 
mailed to him/her). Anyone can unzip the archive to even the smallest USB 
drive and perform Csound compositions from any Windows computer. For the 
performer (indeed any Csound neophyte), *this* is user-friendly.

I distribute my Csound performance compositions this way. Complete 
portability, without tying up disk space on anyone's computer. Perform on 
any PC without reconfiguring anything. A super-compact Csound. Even "Csound 
on a Stick."

Art Hunkins 

I use the same logic for Surmulot, although I do not try to make the 
final distribution as small as possible. I strip from 5.10 for Windows 
all files possibly generating annoying pop-ups (especially python 
stuff). I write scripts allowing the system to ignore altogether any 
Csound environment variable. Like in your setup, the eventual 
distribution can be simply copied and run, possibly from an USB key.

Stef

Thanks for the info. It's useful for anyone wishing to distribute
their frontend interfaces with a minimal version Csound.

Rory.

2009/6/30 Stéphane Rollandin :
> I use the same logic for Surmulot, although I do not try to make the final
> distribution as small as possible. I strip from 5.10 for Windows all files
> possibly generating annoying pop-ups (especially python stuff). I write
> scripts allowing the system to ignore altogether any Csound environment
> variable. Like in your setup, the eventual distribution can be simply copied
> and run, possibly from an USB key.
>
> Stef
>
>
>
> Send bugs reports to this list.
> To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body "unsubscribe
> csound"
>

> It's useful for anyone wishing to distribute
> their frontend interfaces with a minimal version Csound.

I should complete by saying that, in Surmulot, the end user can turn off 
the usage of the shipped Csound version. In which case environment 
variables are considered again, and once the user has provided the 
location of its Csound binary, it becomes the one used by the system. So 
we can get the best of both worlds.

Stef