Install View

InstallAnywhere 2020 SP1 » Advanced Designer » Sequence

Use the Install view on the Sequence page to schedule actions that occur as the installer is transferring files to the target system; this view is also where you assign files, launchers, and actions to components and features. Actions that are scheduled for the Install sequence make changes to target systems, such as creating folders, expanding archives, or moving files.

Important • Actions (including files, launchers, folders, and other actions) that occur in the Install sequence are uninstalled by the project’s uninstaller. Actions that occur in the Pre-Install and Post-Install sequences are not automatically uninstalled.

The Install view contains the following controls:

Install View Controls

Control

Description

Visual Tree

The Visual Tree displays the hierarchy of hosts, files, folders, and actions that comprise the Install sequence. The items are organized according to destination folder. Instead of displaying hard-coded destinations, destinations are represented by magic folders such as $USER_INSTALL_DIR$, which represents the main product installation directory on a target system.

You can add files to the Visual Tree by clicking the Add Files button in this view or dragging and dropping directly from your file manager. (Windows Explorer, the macOS or OS X Finder, and some UNIX/Linux File Managers are supported.)

Once an action is listed in the Visual Tree, you can move items around in the hierarchy by dragging and dropping them or by clicking the arrow buttons.

Right-clicking in the Visual Tree shows a context menu that you can use to manage the files and actions in the sequence. For example, right-clicking a file enables you to specify a magic folder where you want to place the file.

Assign To

This setting lets you specify whether the items in the Visual Tree are displayed according to the product features with which they are associated, or according to the components with which they are associated. Depending on what you select in this list, the columns to the right of this setting display the names of features or components.

Note that you can associate a file with a maximum of one component. When you add a file to the Visual Tree, InstallAnywhere automatically associates it with a component. You can override the association if appropriate.

Set Classpath

The Set Classpath button determines the folders and archives that should be on the project’s classpath. If the classpath has been set previously, this command overrides those settings. This feature works for any .zip, .jar, or class files in the project.

Add Files

The Add Files button opens the Add Files to Project dialog box. In this dialog box, you can add files or directories to your project.

The files and directories that you select in the Add Files to Project dialog box are added to the Visual Tree:

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If a file is currently selected in the Visual Tree, the added files or directories are inserted immediately after the selected file.

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If a top-level folder is selected in the Visual Tree, the added files or directories are inserted into that folder (after the last file in that folder).

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If a subfolder is selected, the location of the added files depends on whether the subfolder is expanded or collapsed: The files are inserted into the subfolder when the subfolder is expanded but they are inserted into the parent folder if the subfolder is collapsed.

For details about the Add Files to Project dialog box, see Add Files to Project Dialog Box. For instructions about adding files to your project, see Adding Files to a Project.

Add Launcher

The Add Launcher button adds a Create LaunchAnywhere for Java Application action (and adds a shortcut that point to the launcher) to the Visual Tree. This action creates a LaunchAnywhere application for the Java application that your installer deploys.

Note • LaunchAnywhere applications make it easy for your end users to launch your Java application because they allow end users to invoke your application in a way that is natural for their platform.

A LaunchAnywhere application must point to a file with a main class.

For more information about LaunchAnywhere, see LaunchAnywhere and Creating Launchers for Java Applications.

Add Action

The Add Action button opens the Choose an Action dialog box.

For more information about actions, see Actions, Customizing the Pre-Install Sequence, and Action Customizers and the Action Execution Sequence.

Remove

The Remove button deletes the currently selected action, file, or directory from the Visual Tree.

Properties Tab

The Properties tab displays the customizers for the selected project element.

Rules Tab

Use the Rules tab to add rules to the selected project element.

Tags Tab

Use the Tags tab to add build configuration tags to the selected category or action. To learn more, see Assigning Tags to Project Elements.

Rollback Tab

If the Enable Rollback check box is selected in the Advanced view of the Project page, you can select the check boxes on this tab to specify rollback behavior for the selected project element:

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If rollback is triggered at install time, uninstall this action/resource—If you want the selected project element to be uninstalled if the product installation is cancelled or encounters a fatal error, select this check box. If this check box is not selected and a rollback occurs, the project element is not uninstalled.

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If a fatal error occurs on this action/resource at install time, trigger uninstall—If you want a rollback to be triggered if the selected project element fails to execute properly or to be installed properly, select this check box. If this check box is not selected and the execution of this action results in a fatal error during installation, a rollback is not triggered.

Install View

InstallAnywhere 2020 SP1 Help Library

January 2020