InstallShield 2010 FULL: How to Create Professional Installations for Windows Applications
If you are a software developer or publisher who wants to create reliable and flexible installations for your Windows applications, you need InstallShield 2010 FULL. InstallShield 2010 FULL is the industry standard for authoring Windows Installer (MSI) and InstallScript installations, as well as App-V virtual packages. It supports the latest technologies, such as Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Installer 5, and SQL Server 2008 SP1. It also offers many new features and enhancements that help you save time and improve the quality of your installations.
In this article, we will show you how to use InstallShield 2010 FULL to create a basic MSI installation project, add files and folders, configure features and components, set installation properties, add a custom dialog, build and test the installation, and distribute it to your customers.
Creating a Basic MSI Project
To create a basic MSI project in InstallShield 2010 FULL, follow these steps:
- Launch InstallShield 2010 FULL and select File > New. The New Project dialog box appears.
- Select Basic MSI Project from the list of project types and click OK. The Project Assistant opens.
- Enter a name and a location for your project and click Create. The Application Information page appears.
- Enter the information about your application, such as the product name, version, company name, language, and icon. You can also select a template for your installation from the list of predefined templates.
- Click Next to proceed to the next page of the Project Assistant.
You have now created a basic MSI project that contains the default settings and features for your installation. You can use the Project Assistant to further customize your installation by adding application files, defining installation requirements, configuring user interface settings, specifying custom actions, and more. Alternatively, you can switch to the Installation Designer view to access more advanced settings and options.
Adding Files and Folders
To add files and folders to your installation project, follow these steps:
- In the Project Assistant, click the Application Data page.
- Select the Files and Folders view from the left pane. The Files and Folders view shows the file system of your target system.
- Right-click the Destination Computer node and select New Folder. Enter a name for the folder, such as "MyApp". This folder will be created under the Program Files folder on the target system.
- Right-click the "MyApp" folder and select Add Files. Browse to the location of your application files on your source system and select them. Click Open to add them to your project.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 to add any other files or folders that you want to include in your installation.
You have now added files and folders to your installation project. You can use the Files and Folders view to modify the properties of each file or folder, such as its destination path, attributes, permissions, compression level, etc. You can also use the Dynamic File Linking feature to automatically include files from a specified source folder in your installation whenever you build your project.
Configuring Features and Components
To configure features and components for your installation project, follow these steps:
- In the Project Assistant, click the Application Data page.
- Select the Features view from the left pane. The Features view shows the logical structure of your installation in terms of features and components. A feature is a user-selectable unit of functionality that can be installed or uninstalled separately. A component is a physical unit of installation that contains one or more files or resources.
- Right-click the DefaultFeature node and select Rename. Enter a name for your feature, such as "Main Application". This feature will be displayed in the setup wizard as an option for the user to install or not.
- Right-click the "Main Application" feature and select New Feature. Enter a name for the subfeature, such as "Help Files". This subfeature will be displayed as a child of the "Main Application" feature in the setup wizard.
- Right-click the "Help Files" feature and select New Component. Enter a name for the component, such as "HelpComponent". This component will contain the files and resources that belong to the "Help Files" feature.
- Right-click the "HelpComponent" component and select Add Files. Browse to the location of your help files on your source system and select them. Click Open to add them to your component.
- Repeat steps 3 to 6 to create any other features and components that you want to include in your installation.
You have now configured features and components for your installation project. You can use the Features view to modify the properties of each feature or component, such as its display name, description, condition, install level, etc. You can also use the Feature Prerequisites feature to specify dependencies between features, such as requiring one feature to be installed before another.
Setting Installation Properties
To set installation properties for your installation project, follow these steps:
- In the Project Assistant, click the Installation Information page.
- Select the General Information view from the left pane. The General Information view shows the basic information about your installation, such as the product code, upgrade code, package code, etc.
- Review and modify the properties as needed. For example, you can change the product code if you want to create a major upgrade for your application, or you can change the package code if you want to create a minor update for your installation.
- Select the Media view from the left pane. The Media view shows the options for distributing your installation, such as creating a single-file setup.exe, creating multiple CAB files, creating a Web download setup, etc.
- Review and modify the options as needed. For example, you can select the compression level for your installation files, or you can specify a digital signature for your setup.exe file.
- Select the Summary Information Stream view from the left pane. The Summary Information Stream view shows the metadata about your installation, such as the author, title, subject, keywords, etc.
- Review and modify the information as needed. For example, you can enter keywords that describe your application, or you can enter a URL for your support website.
You have now set installation properties for your installation project. You can use the Installation Information page to access other views that let you configure more settings and options for your installation, such as adding install conditions, defining registry entries, creating shortcuts, etc.
Adding a Custom Dialog
To add a custom dialog to your installation project, follow these steps:
- In the Project Assistant, click the User Interface page.
- Select the Dialogs view from the left pane. The Dialogs view shows the sequence of dialogs that are displayed during the installation process.
- Right-click anywhere in the Dialogs view and select New Dialog. The New Dialog Wizard appears.
- Select a template for your dialog from the list of predefined dialog templates and click Next. For example, you can select a template that lets you display a license agreement or collect user information.
- Enter a name and an identifier for your dialog and click Next.
- Select where you want to insert your dialog in the dialog sequence and click Next. For example, you can insert your dialog after the Welcome dialog or before the Ready to Install dialog.
- Review the summary of your dialog settings and click Finish. Your custom dialog is added to your project.
You have now added a custom dialog to your installation project. You can use the Dialogs view to modify the appearance and behavior of your dialog, such as changing its title, text, buttons, controls, events, etc. You can also use the Behavior and Logic view to define more complex logic for your dialog, such as validating user input or setting property values.
Building and Testing Your Installation
To build and test your installation project, follow these steps:
- In InstallShield 2010 FULL, select Build > Build. The Build window appears and shows the progress of building your installation project. If the build is successful, you will see a message that says "Build finished with no errors or warnings".
- In the Build window, click the Release Wizard button. The Release Wizard appears and guides you through the steps of creating a release for your installation project.
- Select the type of release that you want to create, such as a CD-ROM release or a Web download release, and click Next.
- Select the build configurations that you want to include in your release, such as Debug or Release, and click Next.
- Specify the location where you want to save your release files and click Next.
- Review the summary of your release settings and click Finish. Your release files are created and saved in the specified location.
- To test your installation, go to the location where you saved your release files and double-click the setup.exe file. The setup wizard will launch and guide you through the installation process.
- Follow the instructions on the screen to install your application on your test system. You can also use the InstallShield 2010 FULL debugger to monitor and troubleshoot your installation.
You have now built and tested your installation project. You can use the Build window to access other tools that help you analyze and optimize your installation, such as the Validation tool, the Log File Viewer, the Update Service, etc.
Distributing Your Installation
To distribute your installation to your customers, follow these steps:
- Copy your release files to a media that is suitable for your distribution method, such as a CD-ROM, a DVD, a USB drive, or a network share.
- Provide your customers with the media and instruct them to run the setup.exe file on their systems. Alternatively, you can upload your release files to a web server and provide your customers with a download link or an HTML page that launches the setup.exe file.
- If you have enabled the Update Service feature in your installation project, you can use InstallShield 2010 FULL to create and publish updates for your application. Your customers will be notified of any available updates and can download and install them automatically.
You have now distributed your installation to your customers. You can use InstallShield 2010 FULL to manage and monitor your installations, such as tracking installation statistics, generating reports, creating feedback forms, etc.
Conclusion
In this article, we have shown you how to use InstallShield 2010 FULL to create professional installations for Windows applications. We have covered the basic steps of creating a basic MSI project, adding files and folders, configuring features and components, setting installation properties, adding a custom dialog, building and testing your installation, and distributing it to your customers. We have also mentioned some of the advanced features and tools that InstallShield 2010 FULL offers to help you create more complex and customized installations. We hope that this article has helped you understand how InstallShield 2010 FULL can help you deliver reliable and flexible installations for your Windows applications.
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