This partial chapter is an excerpt from the Learning MSI Projects

Using InstallShield 2013 training manual. For information about

4
purchasing this training manual and to learn about other
Flexera Software training manuals, please visit
http://www.flexerasoftware.com.

Building Releases

This chapter contains covers information on building releases, including:

• Using the Release Wizard to build release images

• Building releases from the command line

• Automating builds

• Creating a standalone build system

• Using the MSBuild option

• Integrating with source control

Release Wizard
The Release Wizard generates Windows Installer packages for distribution from a network, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM,
or Web site. You run the Release Wizard to make distribution images; you can also run the Release Wizard to
rebuild a project after changing its properties in the IDE.

To launch the Release Wizard, click the Release Wizard toolbar button, pull down the Build menu and select
Release Wizard, or right-click the Release icon in the Releases view of the IDE. After viewing the Welcome
panel, click Next to specify the properties of the current release.

The Product Configuration panel of the Release Wizard is where you specify a name for the current build
configuration.

The product configuration name is used as the name of a folder in which release images are placed. By changing
the configuration name from a previously defined build, the earlier build will be preserved.

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Figure 4-1: Release Wizard: Product Configuration

The Specify a Release panel is where you specify a name for the current release. Like the product configuration,
the release name is the name of a folder (inside the product configuration folder) in which the Release Wizard
places the release image it builds.

The release name is also the collective name for all the Release Wizard settings you enter in the following panels.
To rebuild a particular release using its existing settings, select the name of the existing release.

Figure 4-2: Release Wizard: Specify a Release

You can build some or all of the releases under a particular release configuration in the Releases view of the IDE
by right-clicking the desired release configuration icon, selecting Batch Build, and then selecting the check boxes
next to the desired release names.

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The configuration and release names are simply two subfolders that define where the build image is stored. By
changing either, the built image is stored in a different location—preserving previous builds in other folders.
Rebuilding an already defined configuration and release overwrites the existing image.

The Filtering Settings panel allows you to specify features and components to include in the current release.

If you gave any features in the current project a value in their Release Flags property, that feature’s files and data
will be built into the current release only if you specify the flag in the Release Flags field of this panel.

For example, if you used a feature a release flag called FULLVERSION in the Setup Design (or Features) view, the
feature’s files and data will be built into the current release only if you specify FULLVERSION in the Release Flags
field. If you do not specify a release flag in this panel, no feature filtering will be performed.

Similarly, you can specify the languages on which you want to filter application data during the build. If you
specified particular languages in a component’s Languages property, the component’s files and data will be built
into the current release only if you check the appropriate language in the Application Data Language Settings
field.

A component’s Languages property has no effect on run-time component filtering. To handle run-time component
filtering, for example, you can create a component condition that uses the predefined MSI property
ProductLanguage, as described in Chapter 9, “User Interface”.

Figure 4-3: Release Wizard: Filtering Settings

Tip • While release flags are used primarily to filter features at build time, InstallShield defines a property called
ISReleaseFlags, which is set to a comma-separated list of release flags used in the current build. If you want, you
can use this property at run time in conditions, as described in Chapter 8, “Conditions and Actions”.

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The Setup Languages panel allows you to specify which user interface languages you want the current release to
support. You can also specify whether to display the setup language dialog box to the end user, and indicate which
language you want the setup program to use as the default. Localization issues are discussed in Chapter 9, “User
Interface”.

Figure 4-4: Release Wizard: Setup Languages

The Media Type panel is where you specify for what type of media—CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, network image, and so
forth—you want to build the current release. The media type you select affects the size of each disk image folder
(Disk1, Disk2, etc.) created by the Release Wizard.

Figure 4-5: Release Wizard: Media Type

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For media types that do not appear in the list, you can select the Custom media type, entering the capacity and
cluster size for the custom media type.

In the Disk Spanning Options panel, select Automatic to specify that the Release Wizard should automatically
distribute your data files across multiple disk images (assuming the installation program does not fit on a single
disk), or select Custom to manually specify the disk image in which a given feature’s files should be placed.

Figure 4-6: Release Wizard: Disk Spanning Options

The Release Configuration panel allows you to specify whether to compress all or some of the files included in
the current release.

Figure 4-7: Release Wizard: Release Configuration

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If you choose to compress files for a CD-ROM build, the compressed data files will be placed in cabinet (CAB) files
outside Setup.exe. To compress data files inside Setup.exe, you can select the Network media type or a One
Executable Web build.

If you choose Custom, you can specify which features you want to compress. You can specify whether to create
one .cab file per component or one .cab file per feature.

In the Setup Launcher panel, specify whether to include the Windows Installer 3.1 redistributable with your
installation. All Windows versions later than Windows 2000 ship with a version of the Windows Installer service,
though in some cases it might be desirable to update it. In general, settings introduced in a given version of
Windows Installer are ignored in earlier versions. For example, Windows Vista-specific settings are ignored on
systems running an MSI version earlier than 4.0.

Note • Windows Installer versions later than 3.1 are not listed on the Setup Launcher panel. Windows Installer 4.0
works only on Windows Vista systems, on which it comes pre-installed. You can install Windows Installer 4.5 in the
Prerequisites view, described in Chapter 3, “Installing Files”.

Figure 4-8: Release Wizard: Setup Launcher

The Setup.exe installation launcher is required if you include one or more of the Windows Installer redistributables,
any InstallShield prerequisites, or include multiple languages in your project and build settings.

Tip • InstallShield defines a run-time property called SETUPEXEDIR, which contains the directory from which
Setup.exe was launched. For any release in which the MSI database is stored inside Setup.exe, this property will be
different from the run-time SourceDir property, which specifies the directory from which the MSI database is
running. If the MSI database is stored inside Setup.exe, SourceDir will refer to the temporary directory into which
the MSI database is uncompressed.

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Windows Installer 3.x requires that the target operating system be Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or
Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.

If you specified that the Windows Installer 3.1 redistributable should be included with the current release image, the
Windows Installer Location panel lets you specify where the redistributable is in relation to the disk images.

Figure 4-9: Release Wizard: Windows Installer Location

You can choose any of the following locations:

• Download engine from the Web—Select this option to download the Windows Installer engine installer
from the URL that is specified in the Release property sheet’s MSI 3.1 Engine URL setting.

• Extract engine from Setup.exe—The Windows Installer redistributable will be placed inside Setup.exe.

• Copy from source media—The Windows Installer redistributable will be left uncompressed at the root of the
build location.

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If you selected any of the InstallShield prerequisites, the InstallShield Prerequisites panel lets you specify
additional parameters.

Figure 4-10: Release Wizard: Prerequisites Location

You can choose any of the following options:

• Download prerequisites—Select this option to download the prerequisite at install time. The download
location is specified within the definition of the individual prerequisite.

• Extract prerequisite from Setup.exe—Select this option to extract the prerequisite from the setup
executable itself. This option requires that the prerequisites be available locally when the image is built.

• Copy prerequisites from source media—The prerequisites will be left uncompressed in the install image.
This option requires that the prerequisites be available locally when the image is built.

• Follow individual selections—The location specified within each prerequisite is used.

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In the Digital Signature panel, you can specify digital signature information for your package and the files in your
package.

If you specify digital signature information, the Digital Signatures Options panel is the next panel displayed in
the Release Wizard. This panel is where you specify which files in your installation should be digitally signed at
build time.

All executable files (including .exe, .dll, .ocx, .sys, .cpl, .drv, and .scr files) in an installation must be digitally
signed for the Certified for Windows program.

Figure 4-11: Release Wizard: Digital Signature

Tip • For more information about digital signatures, including the differences between using .spc and .pvk file
certificates versus .pfx file certificates, refer to “Digital Signatures and Security” in the InstallShield Help Library.

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If you specified to create the Setup.exe installation launcher, you can specify a password that the user must enter
before running the installation, and can specify your own copyright information for the Setup.exe executable.

Figure 4-12: Release Wizard: Password & Copyright

In the .NET Framework panel, you can specify whether to include the .NET Framework redistributable with your
disk images.

If you select to include the .NET Framework, the choices for its location are the same as for the Windows Installer
redistributables described above.

You can also specify the version of the .NET Framework that you want to be included with your release image. For
.NET Framework 2.0, 1.1, or 1.0 redistributables (32-bit), configure the .NET settings through the .NET
Framework panel of the Release Wizard.

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Figure 4-13: Release Wizard: .NET Framework

Note • The .NET Framework redistributable (dotnetfx.exe) adds approximately 20 MB to the install image.

If you include the .NET Framework version 2.0, the Release Wizard displays the additional panels, but the
language options are disabled as the .NET 2.0 Framework includes all of the language support.

Similarly, if you select to include the .NET Framework version 1.1 redistributable, the Release Wizard displays
additional panels (not displayed) for .NET run-time options and .NET language pack run-time options, as well as a
panel for installing the Visual J# components.

To include a .NET Framework version later than version 2.0, or to include a 64-bit version of the .NET Framework,
you can add the corresponding redistributable to your project. Redistributables were discussed in Chapter 2,
“Creating an Installation Project”.

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In the Advanced Settings panel you specify additional settings for the release, such as the build location and
whether to build the release image to use long file names.

For a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM installation, you should select Generate Autorun.inf, which enables AutoPlay for the
disc.

Figure 4-14: Release Wizard: Advanced Settings

The Optimize size option improves the compression used when compressing data files into cabinet files (using
LZX instead of MSZIP compression), but it can cause the build process to take more time. For quicker, testing-only
builds of large releases, you might want to leave Optimize size unchecked.

The Build UTF-8 Database option generates a Windows Installer database that supports the UTF-8 encoding.
The UTF-8 encoding enables the database to support characters from all languages simultaneously. In the event
that multiple languages are contained within the database or any UTF-8 transforms, each of the language strings is
displayed correctly independent of the current language of the operating system.

The Previous package field in the Patch optimization (Optional) group lets you specify the MSI database for
an earlier version of your product, which ensures an update installer uses the same identifiers in the File,
Component, Media, and other tables as a previous release. Doing so ensures that a subsequent patch functions
effectively.

The procedures and issues involved in creating update packages are described in Chapter 10, “Updates and
Patches”.

To build your release image after viewing the Summary panel (not pictured), click Finish, verifying that the Build
the Release check box is selected.

As a release is building, InstallShield displays progress messages in the Build tab of the output window at the
bottom of the IDE. Among other things, the entries in the progress messages describe the database tables being
built into the MSI database.

The MSI database tables are described in Chapter 8, “Conditions and Actions”.

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To stop a running build, pull down the Build menu and select Stop Build, press Ctrl+Break, or click the Stop
Build icon in the toolbar.

When the build process is complete, the output window contains a hyperlink to the build log file, in which you can
review the messages created by the current build.

If an error occurs, one or more error messages appear in the output window. For example, InstallShield cannot
perform a release build if the build folder is open in Windows Explorer or a command prompt. The InstallShield
Help Library topic “Troubleshooting Build Errors” lists error codes and troubleshooting tips.

Figure 4-15: Output window

Any build errors or warnings will also appear in the Tasks tab of the InstallShield output window. The Tasks tab
displays a list of hyperlinks to the Flexera Software knowledge base, giving up-to-date information about how to
address these errors and warnings.

You can configure InstallShield to abort a build when the first error occurs by pulling down the Tools menu,
selecting Options, and checking Stop build process when first error is encountered on the General tab.

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Files Created by the Release Wizard

By default, your release images are placed in the folder:

Projects Folder\Project Name\Product Configuration Name\Release Name\DiskImages\Disk1

Figure 4-16: Example of files included in a release image

Tip • You can click the Open Release Folder toolbar button to open your release folder in Windows Explorer.
However, InstallShield cannot build a release if the release directory is open in Windows Explorer or a Command
Prompt window, or if an instance of the installation program is running or otherwise locked.

If your release images span multiple disks, folders called Disk2, Disk3, and so forth, are created in the same build
location.

The files included in a compressed build release are the following:

Table 4-1 • Files Included in a Compressed Build Release

File Description

Setup.exe Checks if Windows Installer exists on a target machine, and

launches the ANSI or Unicode version of the MSI redistributable if
necessary. Depending on your settings in the Release Wizard,
Setup.exe can also launch the .NET Framework and other
redistributables and prerequisites. For a multi-language installation
program, Setup.exe can also display the language-selection dialog
box, as described in Chapter 9, “User Interface”. After it has
displayed any necessary dialog boxes and launched associated
redistributables, Setup.exe launches the MSI database, described
below.

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Table 4-1 • Files Included in a Compressed Build Release

File Description

ProductName.msi The MSI database built by the Release Wizard. By default, the
name of the MSI file is based on your ProductName value. You can
override the MSI name by selecting a product configuration icon in
the Releases view and specifying the desired name in the MSI
Package File Name field.

Data1.cab Your compressed data files.

WindowsInstaller-KB######-x86.exe Windows Installer 3.1 redistributables, if selected.

If you choose Uncompressed and separate from the installation package in the Release Configuration
panel of the Release Wizard, uncompressed application files are copied into folders called Program Files,
Windows, and so forth, also located in the Disk1 folder. Prerequisites will be found in the ISSetupPrerequisites
subfolder.

To minimize the amount of data in the disk images, you can specify URLs from which to download the Windows
Installer and .NET Framework redistributables in the Windows Installer Location and .NET Framework panels
of the Release Wizard. The same thing can be done for .NET InstallShield prerequisites.

Note • When burning a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, you must make the volume label the same value that appears in the
VolumeLabel field of the Media table of your built MSI database. By default, the volume label is DISK1 (for a single-
disk installation; subsequent discs must be labeled DISK2, DISK3, etc.). You can modify the volume label to use in
the custom spanning options.

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Additional Product Configuration Properties

While the Release Wizard covers the main options for defining a configuration/release image, there are other
properties available through the build configuration name and release name. The build configuration properties are
shown in the figure below.

Figure 4-17: Product Configuration properties

The majority of these settings override MSI database values such as ProductName, ProductVersion, and
UpgradeCode. You can also specify a different name for the MSI database or setup executable. Other settings
override information stored in the Summary Information Stream, such as PackageCode, Title, Template
Summary, Comments, and Schema.

Starting with InstallShield 2013, the Architecture Validation setting enables you to create a pure 32-bit or 64-bit
installation package, based on the value of the Template Summary setting. If Architecture Validation is set to
“Lenient” (the default), you can use a mix of 32-bit and 64-bit files in your installation project. If set to “Strict”,
InstallShield consults the value of Template Summary, either in the project’s Summary Information Stream settings
or any override value you provide in the product configuration settings: If Template Summary is set to “Intel”,
InstallShield validates that only 32-bit files are included in the project, and if Template Summary is set to “x64”,
InstallShield validates that only 64-bit files are included. At build time, InstallShield reports build warnings and
errors if any files do not match the target architecture:

ISDEV : warning -7326: Including 32-bit PE file C:\Example\Sample.exe in a strict 64-bit package.

When strict validation is used, InstallShield provides 32-bit or 64-bit versions of custom action DLLs, based on your
desired architecture.

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Additional Release Properties

A number of other build settings are available for each release. If you select a release icon in the Releases view,
you can view and modify the properties you set in the Release Wizard. In addition, there are some properties that
are available only in the property list in the Releases view. The release settings are spread across six tabs: Build,
Setup.exe, Signing, .NET/J#, Internet, and Events.

Build Tab
The Build tab provides access to settings specific to the build image itself. The settings are shown in the picture
below.

Figure 4-18: Build tab in release properties

Some of the additional build release properties are:

• Compression—Specifies whether to compress the product application files.

• Build UTF-8 Database—Specifies whether to generate a Windows Installer database (.msi) that supports the
UTF-8 encoding. The UTF-8 encoding enables the database to support characters from all languages
simultaneously. In the event that multiple languages are contained within the database or any applied UTF-8
transforms, each of the language strings is displayed correctly independent of the current language of the
operating system.

• Generate File Hash Values—Specifies whether to populate the MsiFileHash table of your MSI database at
build time. Windows Installer uses the contents of the MsiFileHash table to determine whether to overwrite an
unversioned file that exists on the target system. For details, see the MSI Help Library section “Default File
Versioning”.

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• Shallow Folder Structure—Specifies whether your release image files should be built into the
ReleaseName\ProductConfig\DiskImages\DiskN directory structure. The default value is No; if you set this
property to Yes, the disk images will be placed directly in the release’s Release Location folder. When this
setting is set to Yes, the build log and report files are still generated. However, instead of being placed in the
target folder with the build image, a similarly named target folder with the string Data appended is created.
This new folder contains the build output data and files.

• Keep Unused Directories—Specifies whether you want InstallShield to remove unused directories from the
Directory table of the .msi file when you build this release. Available options are:

• No—This is the default value. If a directory that is listed in the Directory column of the Directory table is
not referenced in any known location in the .msi file, InstallShield removes it from the Directory table of
the .msi file that it creates at build time. This occurs after any merge modules are merged, but only
directories that are present in the .msi file are removed; therefore, if a merge module contains new
unused directories in its Directory table, the new unused directories are added to the installation.

• Yes—InstallShield does not remove any directories from the Directory table of the .msi file that it creates
at build time.

Note • Under some conditions, predefined directories cannot be resolved, causing an installation to fail.
Removing unused directories from the Directory table enables you to avoid unnecessary failures. Therefore, it
is recommended that you select No for this setting.

• Path Variable Overrides—Specify individual overrides to defined path variables. The override occurs at
build time for the selected release. You can override any user-defined path variables, environment variables,
and registry variables that are configured in the Path Variables view. You cannot override predefined path
variables.

• Disable Trialware Build—The default value is set to allow the settings supplied in the Trialware view to take
effect. To temporarily disable those specified settings, set the Disable Trialware Build property to Yes.

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Setup.exe Tab
The Setup.exe tab contains settings for packages built to include the install executable.

Figure 4-19: Setup.exe tab in release properties

Some of the additional Setup.exe release properties are:

• Setup.exe Icon File—Specifies an alternative Setup.exe icon. To use your own icon for the Setup.exe file,
specify the fully qualified name of the file that contains the icon. To specify a file, type an absolute path or a
path that is relative to a path variable, or click the ellipsis button (...) to browse to the file from within the
Change Icon dialog box.

• MSI Command-Line Arguments—Specifies command-line arguments and property values to pass to

msiexec.exe when the user launches Setup.exe. Msiexec.exe is described in Chapter 5, “Deploying an
Installation”.

• Required Execution Level—Defines the minimum level required by your installation’s Setup.exe file (the
setup launcher, any setup prerequisites, and the .msi file) to run on Windows Vista and later operating
systems. Note that an end user’s installation experience is most secure when the installation runs at the lowest
permission level it requires.

• Minimum Initialization Time—Controls the amount of time (in seconds) that the Initialization dialog is
displayed. Because the splash screen is displayed at the same time as the Initialization dialog, this setting
effectively sets the minimum time the splash screen is displayed. This is especially helpful when initialization is
very brief.

• Expiration Date—To prevent end users from being able to run Setup.exe on or after a certain date, enter the
expiration date, or click the arrow in this setting to select the date from a calendar. To remove the expiration
date, click the Delete button in this setting. If you specify an expiration date in this setting, use the Expiration
Date setting to specify the message that you want to be displayed at run time if an end user tries to launch
Setup.exe on or after the expiration date.

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Signing Tab
Signing your setup requires purchasing a Digital Signature from a Digital Certificate provider. The Signing tab
contains settings that control applying certificates to your package.

Figure 4-20: Signing tab in release properties

Some of the additional signing release properties are:

• Sign Output Files—Specifies which file(s) to sign (Setup.exe and/or Windows Installer package).

• Sign Files in Package—Specifies that files within the install image are to be signed. This setting uses the
Include/Exclude patterns and files settings.

• Sign Files That Are Already Signed—Specifies that files that have been previously signed should be
re-signed using the provided certificate. This setting uses the Include/Exclude Patterns and Files settings.

Note • When signing application files, a temporary copy of the file is made. The temporary file is then signed and
added to the media image. The original source file is never modified or signed.

Through the use of the Signing tab, you can select which files should be signed in your MSI package. The
signature can also be applied to the MSI itself allowing for automatic support of elevation free patching.

Note • InstallShield supports Microsoft’s Signtool.exe. This tool minimizes modal dialogs during builds allowing
for cleaner unattended builds. To use the Signtool.exe, instead of Signcode.exe for signing, you must specify a .pfx
Digital Certificate file (as opposed to a .spc and .pvk file).

On Windows Vista and Windows 7 systems, signing your setups has a direct impact on how your setup will be
presented to the end user. Without a signature, the UAC dialog specifies that “an unidentified application” requires
elevated permissions. With a digital signature, the UAC dialog displays the actual product and company name.

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.NET/J# Tab
While the Release Wizard provides a .NET Framework panel, there are a number of additional options that can be
configured. The .NET/J# tab contains settings modify the redistribution of .NET and J#.

As with the Release Wizard, this tab controls installation of early versions of the .NET redistributable (through .NET
2.0). For more recent versions, use the Redistributables view.

Figure 4-21: .NET/J# tab in release properties

Some of the additional .NET/J# release properties are:

• Command Line to Pass to Dotnetfx.exe—Enter any command line values that should be passed to the
.NET redistributable. This property applies only if .NET 1.1 is selected for the .NET Framework Version
property.

• Display .NET Option Dialog—Specifies whether the end users have the option to install the .NET
redistributable.

• .NET and J# Framework URL—Specifies the URL from which to download the .NET/J# redistributable. This
property is required only if the .NET Framework Location or J# Redistributable Location property (if
included) for the current release is set to Download from the Web.

• Command Line to pass to the J# Redistributable—Enter any command line values that should be
passed to the J# redistributable.

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Internet Tab
The Internet tab contains settings that control distribution of an MSI package distributed over the Internet. This tab
uses the information gathered from the Media Type panel in the Release Wizard. When you select the Web media
type from the Media Type panel of the Release Wizard, the following options are available: One Executable,
Downloader, and Install from the Web. Any of these can also be deployed as a One-Click Install. The Internet
tab enables you to change and configure the Web media type options.

Figure 4-22: Internet tab in release properties

Some of the additional Internet release properties are:

• IFTW .cab Size (KB)—Controls the cabinet size for the Install for the Web image. Setting this property to 0
generates a cabinet file for each component.

• Generate One-Click Install—Specifies file names for the One-Click Install.

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Events Tab
The Events tab provides a means of launching events and distributing the image after the build is finished. There
are three events available: Prebuild, Precompression, and Postbuild. The distribution options are to copy to a
folder or FTP site.

Figure 4-23: Events tab in release properties

Unlike the other tabs, none of the commands or properties in the Events tab are available through the Release
Wizard.

• Commands—Specifies commands that you want to run at various stages of the build process. To specify
more than one command, click the ellipsis button (...) associated with the event. In the subsequent Event
dialog box, enter each command on a separate line. InstallShield runs each command in the order that they
are listed. When you are entering a command, you can use any path variables and environment variables that
are defined in your project, instead of using a hard-coded path.

• Prebuild Event—Specify the command that you want to be run before InstallShield starts building the
release. This event runs after InstallShield creates the release folder and log file, but before InstallShield
starts building the release

• Precompression Event—Specify the command that you want to be run after InstallShield has built the
.msi package and the .cab files (if your product’s data files are to be stored in .cab files). Note that this
event occurs after .cab files are streamed into the .msi package, but before the .msi package has been
digitally signed and streamed into the Setup.exe file.

• Postbuild Event—Specify the command that you want to be run after InstallShield has built and signed
the release.

• Copy to Folder—Defines a folder location (fixed, mapped, or URL) to copy the media image. This can be
done as part of the build, or at any time by right-clicking the build release name and selecting Distribute.

• FTP Location—Defines an FTP location to copy the media image. This can be done as part of the build, or at
any time by right-clicking the build release name and selecting Distribute.

• Distribute after build—Specifies whether the Copy to Folder or the FTP Location should be used after
performing a build. If this property is set to No, the distribution can still be performed by right-clicking on the
build release name and selecting Distribute. If you specify a folder location and an FTP location, InstallShield
copies the release to only the FTP locaton.

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Rebuilding Releases
To rebuild a release after specifying its properties, click the Build toolbar button, pull down the Build menu and
select Build, or press F7. You can also rebuild a release from the Releases view of the IDE by right-clicking a
release name and selecting Build. In addition, you can rebuild some or all of the releases under a product
configuration by right-clicking the product configuration icon and selecting Batch Build. You can also clone, or
duplicate, an existing release by right-clicking its icon and selecting Clone.

Figure 4-24: Building a release in the Releases view

For testing purposes, you can build a release without updating any files by pulling down the Build menu and
selecting Build Tables Only, or by right-clicking a release icon in the Releases view and selecting Build Tables
Only. You can also rebuild your MSI database and update only those files that have changed since the previous
build by selecting Build Tables & Refresh Files from the Build menu.

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Web Builds

Web Builds
InstallShield also supports various Web media types. For any Web build type, you begin by selecting Web in the
Media Type list on the Media Type panel of the Release Wizard. Next, select the desired Web type from the Web
Type panel of the Release Wizard.

Figure 4-25: Release Wizard: Web Type

The Web types you can use are:

• One Executable—This media type creates a single Setup.exe that the user can download from a Web site or
FTP site. The advantage to a One Executable build is that the installation program is self-contained, and not
associated with a specific URL.

• Downloader—This media type creates the Setup.exe installation launcher and a separate MSI database. The
user downloads and launches Setup.exe, which in turn downloads and runs the MSI database from a URL you
specify. You can also specify whether the Downloader should use external .cab files, and if so, whether to
create .cab files based on features, components, or file size.

For this media type, you can optionally specify a directory where your data files will be cached on the target
system. Selecting this option is strongly recommended for a One Executable build: when the user launches
Setup.exe for a One Executable build, the MSI database and data files are expanded into a temporary
directory, the installation runs from the temporary directory, and then the temporary directory is deleted.

When the user runs Repair for an application, the Windows Installer service will prompt for the original source
location, which no longer exists. At this point, the user must again download the executable image and
decompress the executable to expose the MSI database and data files. Specifying a cache path in the Local
Machine panel avoids this issue by caching the data files on the target system.

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Web Builds

Note • If you use the option to cache files on the local system, the cached files are not removed when the user
uninstalls your product. They must be manually removed by the user when the image is no longer needed.

• Install from the Web—This media type creates the Setup.exe installation launcher, the MSI database, and
one or more external cabinet (CAB) files containing your application data. The user launches Setup.exe, which
downloads the MSI package from the URL you specify, and then downloads only the cabinet files required by
the user’s setup-type and feature selections. For this media type, you specify whether to create a single
cabinet file for each component or for each feature, or else to create cabinet files of a specific size.

Note • The definition of the Media table of an MSI database requires the cabinet files to be created with short
filenames. While handled automatically by InstallShield, the cabinet filenames must conform to the short
filename convention—eight characters followed by a dot and a three-character file extension.

One-Click Installs
For any Web build type, you can create a One-Click Install, which uses an HTML page as the initial user interface of
the installation program.

Figure 4-26: Initial user interface for One-Click Install installation

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Building Releases from the Command Line

To build a One-Click Install, select Generate a One-Click Install in the One-Click Install panel of the Release
Wizard.

Figure 4-27: Release Wizard: One-Click Install

In this panel, specify the name of the HTML file to generate (the .htm extension will be added to the name you
specify), and the name of the cabinet file to generate. The .cab extension will be added to the name you enter in
the CAB base file name field.

Building Releases from the Command Line

To build releases from a batch file or command prompt, you can use IsCmdBld, located in the System subfolder of
the InstallShield distribution folder. While IsCmdBld can be used to create new product configurations and releases,
it is most commonly used to rebuild product configurations and releases that you previously configured with the
Release Wizard.

To be able to run IsCmdBld from any directory, you must add the InstallShield System subfolder to the PATH
environment variable or specify the absolute path to IsCmdBld in your batch file or other build script.

When building a release with IsCmdBld, the following command-line arguments are required or recommended:

• The -p project_location switch specifies the full path to the InstallShield project file (.ism file) that you want
to build. A typical value is C:\MySetups\ITA.ism. The project location must be an absolute path; you can use a
UNC path, if desired.

• The -r release_name switch specifies which release (FirstBuild, for example) you want to build. You can
build a new release by specifying a name not used for an existing release. (The -r switch is optional.) Release
names are case sensitive.

• The -a product_config switch specifies the product configuration to use. (The -a switch is optional.) Product
configuration names are case sensitive.

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Building Releases from the Command Line

For example, to rebuild the ITA release called dvd in the product configuration Version 1, you can use the following
command line.

iscmdbld -p "C:\MySetups\ITA.ism" -r dvd -a "Version 1"

Status, warning, and error messages for the build process are displayed in the command-prompt window. These
are the same messages displayed in the output window when you build from the IDE. You can suppress these
status messages by adding the -s argument to the IsCmdBld command.

InstallShield (R)
Release Builder
Copyright (c) 2013 Flexera Software LLC.

All rights reserved.

Build started at Sep 24 2013 07:02 AM

Building Release: dvd
[...lines omitted...]
Resolving strings...
Language English (United States) built
Building CAB files...
Data1.cab built
Files built
Media table successfully built
Performing Upgrading and Patching Validation
Setup.exe created
Version 1\dvd build completed with 0 errors, 0 warnings
Log file has been created: <file: C:\MySetups\ITA\...>

Build finished at Sep 24 2013 07:04 AM

If a build is successful, IsCmdBld sets ERRORLEVEL to 0, and if the build fails, ERRORLEVEL is set to 1. To stop a
command-line build if an error occurs, pass IsCmdBld the -x switch. To treat build warnings as errors, use the -w
switch.

Other command-line arguments available with IsCmdBld are described in the InstallShield Help Library topic
“Building a Setup from the Command Line”, or by launching IsCmdBld with no arguments at a command prompt.
You can also build a release using the Build method of the InstallShield Automation interface, described in the
following section.

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Automation

Automation
Throughout this course, you have seen how to modify project properties using the different views and wizards of
the InstallShield environment. Another way to read and modify the properties of your installation project is using
the Automation interface.

The Automation interface enables you to change properties of your project, or build your project, from a VBScript
file or other language or process that can call COM methods, without needing the InstallShield environment to be
open.

Project Properties
The ProgID for the InstallShield 2013 Automation interface is ISWiAuto20.ISWiProject. (Earlier product versions
used different ProgID values: Consult your product documentation if you have an earlier version of InstallShield.)
The general framework for a VBScript file that queries or modifies a project file is the following.

Set oProject = CreateObject("ISWiAuto20.ISWiProject")

oProject.OpenProject "C:\MySetups\ITA.ism"
' perform changes here
oProject.SaveProject
oProject.CloseProject
Set oProject = Nothing

For example, the following script sets the value of the ProductVersion property of your project.

Set oProject = CreateObject("ISWiAuto20.ISWiProject")

oProject.OpenProject "C:\MySetups\ITA.ism"
oProject.ProductVersion = "1.2.3"
oProject.SaveProject
oProject.CloseProject
Set oProject = Nothing

Using the same technique, you can read or modify the following global project settings, which are exposed as
read-write properties of the ISWiProject object:

• INSTALLDIR

• ProductName

• ProductCode

• ProductVersion

• PackageCode

• UpgradeCode

• ActiveLanguage

The InstallShield Automation interface also provides a GenerateGUID method, which generates a new, random
GUID for use in project properties such as PackageCode and ProductCode.

You can also read and modify your project’s Summary Information Stream properties using the ISWiSISProperties
collection.

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Features, Components, and File Links

An ISWiProject object contains collection objects that represent all of the features, components, and files
contained in your project. Each of the collections—ISWiFeatures, ISWiComponents, and ISWiFiles—contains
Count and Item properties, which enable you to enumerate all of the individual items in the collection.

The ISWiFeatures collection lists only the project’s top-level features. To enumerate a feature’s subfeatures, you
can use the Features property for each individual ISWiFeature object. For example, the following VBScript
recursively enumerates all the features contained in a project.

Set oProject = CreateObject("ISWiAuto20.ISWiProject")

' open project as read-only
oProject.OpenProject "C:\MySetups\ITA.ism", True
' loop over all top-level features
For Each top_feature in oProject.ISWiFeatures
WScript.Echo top_feature.Name
EnumFilesInFeatureAndSubfeatures(top_feature)
Next ' top_feature
oProject.CloseProject
Set oProject = Nothing

' recursively list a feature's subfeatures

Sub EnumFilesInFeatureAndSubfeatures(m_Feature)

For Each feature In m_Feature.Features

WScript.Echo feature.Name
EnumFilesInFeatureAndSubfeatures(feature)
Next ' feature
End Sub

Furthermore, you can add features and subfeatures to your project using the AddFeature method; add
components to a feature using the AddComponent method; and add file links to a component using the AddFile
method.

Building from the Automation Interface

You can also build a release using the Build method of the InstallShield Automation interface. A sample VBS file
(build.vbs) that builds a release using the Automation interface might appear as follows:

Set oISM = CreateObject("ISWiAuto20.ISWiProject")

' open the project as read-only
oISM.OpenProject "C:\MySetups\ITA.ism", True
' build the named product configuration and release
oISM.ISWiProductConfigs("Version 1").ISWiReleases("dvd").Build( )
' close the project
oISM.CloseProject
Set oISM = Nothing

After creating the VBS file, you can double-click it (or run the command cscript /nologo build.vbs in a batch file)
to build the release. After you build a release with the Build method, the release object’s BuildErrorCount and
BuildWarningCount properties will contain the number of build errors and warnings generated.

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Standalone Build System

There are also BuildTablesOnly and BuildTablesRefreshFiles methods that correspond to the Build Tables
Only and Build Tables & Refresh Files commands under the Build menu.

Similarly, you can create new product configurations (using the AddProductConfig method) and releases (using
the AddRelease method) using the Automation interface, specifying the properties of each using the
ISWiProductConfig or ISWiRelease object you create. For details, see the InstallShield Help Library topic
“ISWiProject Object”.

Advanced Note • InstallShield project files (ISM files) that are stored in binary format are simply renamed MSI files.
Therefore, to make project changes not exposed by the InstallShield Automation interface, you can use the MSI
Automation interface to modify a binary ISM file. The InstallShield Automation interface is supported for InstallShield
projects stored in XML format, but the Windows Installer Automation interface is not. For more information about MSI
Automation, see the Windows Installer help library.

Standalone Build System

InstallShield provides a standalone build system, which enables you to build projects on a system without having
to install all of InstallShield. (The standalone build system is included with the Professional and Premier editions of
InstallShield 2012 and later, and additional licenses are available for purchase.) An installer for the standalone build
tool is available in the Standalone folder of your InstallShield installation media. Refer to the InstallShield Help
Library topic “Installing the Standalone Build to a Build Machine” for information about obtaining the standalone
build installer if you did not obtain InstallShield on physical media.

Note • The standalone build system can be installed only on a system running Windows 2000 or later.

At the simplest level, the standalone build system does not require any changes to be made to the build system’s
registry. The standalone command-line build tool is the same IsCmdBld.exe utility described in the previous
section. The following additional command-line switches are useful when performing standalone builds:

• The -o switch should be followed by a comma-separated list of directories in which merge modules can be
found. By default, the standalone build tool does not include any merge modules; you must manually copy
any required merge modules to the build system.

• The optional -t switch should be followed by the path to the Microsoft .NET Framework redistributable. This
switch is required only if your setup program needs to install the .NET Framework on a target system. If you
use the -t switch, you can also use the -j switch, followed by the minimum version of the .NET Framework
that you want to install on the target system.

• The optional -g switch should be followed by the minimum version of the MSI redistributable that should be
installed on the target system.

The standalone build system also supports the Automation interface. The ProgID for the standalone build system is
the same as the full build system, ISWiAuto20.ISWiProject. To use the standalone build system’s Automation
interface, however, you must either run the Standalone Build tool installation program, or manually register various
InstallShield libraries as described in the help topic “Installing the Standalone Build on a Build Machine”.

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MSBuild

Note • In very old InstallShield versions, the standalone build executable file was named IsSaBld.exe. Moreover,
the standalone build system used a different Automation ProgID, such as SAAuto14.ISWiProject for the InstallShield
2008 standalone build system.

The InstallShield help library describes Automation properties that are useful for standalone builds, such as
MergeModuleSearchPath and DotNetFrameworkPath.

MSBuild
A feature of .NET 2.0 and later is MSBuild, which enables developers to build development projects without having
the entire Visual Studio system installed. With InstallShield, you can use MSBuild in conjunction with the
Standalone Build system to build your development projects and installation projects with the same build script.

If you use the InstallShield environment integrated with the Visual Studio environment, you will find an .isproj file
along with your .ism project file. The .isproj file is a build script suitable as input to MSBuild. The .isproj file is
analogous to, for example, a Visual Studio .csproj C# project file, which can also be used as input to MSBuild.

MSBuild functionality can be extended using tasks, and the InstallShield and Standalone Build installations install
the task that defines how MSBuild should interpret the elements inside your .isproj file. The task DLL should be
located in the same directory as msbuild.exe, typically C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\version\.

To build your Visual Studio project and your InstallShield project, you can simply execute msbuild.exe, passing it
the path to your solution (.sln) file and any required arguments:

msbuild C:\Projects\SampleApp3000.sln /property:Configuration=Release

For information about the parameters of the InstallShield task for MSBuild, refer to the InstallShield Help Library
topic “Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild).”

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Source Control

Source Control
You can integrate your project files with any source control system that uses the Microsoft Source Code Control
interface. If your development system has a compatible source control system installed, you can launch and
configure the source control system by pulling down the Project menu and selecting the desired operation from
the Source Control submenu.

The InstallShield Help Library topic “Using Source Code Control” describes the steps to perform to set up your
source control system for integration with InstallShield. For example, the Source Control submenu of the Project
menu contains commands for adding and unlinking your project from source control, and for checking your
project in and out of your source control system (as well as getting the latest version of the project without
checking it out).

You can also configure how InstallShield interacts with your source control system by pulling down the Tools
menu, selecting Options, and selecting the Source Control tab. The settings in the Source Control tab enable
you to automatically add new projects to your source control system, get the latest project version when you open
a project, and check out the project when you make changes to it.

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