Install Sets, Features, and Components

InstallAnywhere 2024 R2

Install sets, features, and components are some of the most important concepts to understand when using the InstallAnywhere installer development environment.

InstallAnywhere provides levels of granularity for end-user installation options. Install sets and features may be selected by the end user. Install sets are groupings of features such as Typical Install or Minimal Install. Features are meant to identify specific units of functionality of your product. While both install sets and features are made up of files, there is not necessarily a direct correlation between these larger organizational groupings and the files.

Components are groupings of the specific files and actions of your product, and are invisible to the end user. A component may also include a group of registry changes or other elements needed to make a feature work properly. Components are used for the organized sharing of resources, for versioning, are uniquely identified, and are the organization tool of the installer developer, not the installer end user. A developer could create a component for each feature in the application, a component for shared libraries used by all the features, and a component for the help system.

Though developers may assign files, folders and actions directly to product features, it is best to think of features as groupings of components. Install sets such as Typical Install or Minimal Install are groupings of features. The interaction between the three levels should be addressed when planning the options to present to the end user.