Components View

InstallAnywhere 2021 » Advanced Designer » Organization

Components are the smallest installable unit of organization from the perspective of the installation developer. Unlike features and install sets, components may be versioned. Components are uniquely identified; this enables you to update a specific component or use the Find Component in InstallAnywhere Registry action to locate a particular component.

Use the Components view on the Organization page to add, remove, and configure components. This view is also where you assign the components to the appropriate features in your project.

You can use shared components and component dependencies to create installers that leverage external components, either developed in-house or by a third party, as part of your software distribution strategy. You can include these components as part of a suite installer, use them to define prerequisite dependencies for your package, and even enable multiple applications to share common components across a system.

The settings in the Components view are organized by category on the following tabs:

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Properties Tab

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Component Subtab

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Dependency Subtab

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Rules Tab

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Tags Tab

Properties Tab

When you select a component in the Components view, the following settings are available on the Properties tab:

Settings on the Properties tab of the Components View

Setting	Description
Unique ID	When you add a new component, an alphanumeric string is automatically entered to uniquely identify this component. Click Generate Identifier to generate a new ID. The Unique ID value is a UUID that must be different from the UUID of any other component, except for a different version of the same component. Note:The Find Component in InstallAnywhere Registry action enables you to detect a component based on its UUID and version.
Name	Enter a name to identify this component in the InstallAnywhere user interface.
Short Name	Enter a short reference name, which will be used to uniquely identify the component in the registry.
Component Type	Select the type of component. Available options are: • Standard Component—This component type is always installed, regardless of previous installations or dependencies. The uninstaller for the product with which a standard component is installed removes standard components. • Shared Component—This component type is installed if it has not already been installed on the system. A shared component can be made available to other products. During uninstallation or upgrade, a shared component is removed only if no other product on the target system references it. The uninstaller for the last product that references the shared component removes it. • Dependency—If you configure a component to be a dependency, instead of installing this component, the installer requires that this component has already been installed on the system. Dependencies are not elements of your installer, but rather are prerequisite requirements that the installer enforces.
Optimize registry entry	Use this option to instruct InstallAnywhere how to update the global registry when installing a new version of a previously installed component. • Selected—Only the latest version of the component is stored in the global registry. For example, if you install version 1.0 of Component A and then install version 2.0 of Component A, the global registry would only contain an entry for version 2.0 of Component A, the latest version. • Not selected—Both versions of the component are stored in the global registry. For example, if you install version 1.0 of Component A and then install version 2.0 of Component A, the global registry would contain two entries for Component A: one for version 1.0 and one for version 2.0.

Component Subtab

When you select a standard component or a shared component in the Components view, the following settings are available on the Component subtab of the Properties tab:

Settings on the Component Subtab

Setting	Description
Version	Enter a 4-digit version.
Key File	A key file is a single file that identifies the component. A key file should always be included in a component. You can enter the name and location of the key file or click Choose Key File to select one of the project files to be the key file. Note:A component’s key file must be present in all subsequent versions of the component. The key file is used to define the component’s location when the Find Component in InstallAnywhere Registry action is used.
Comment	Enter a comment to identify the purpose of this component.

Dependency Subtab

When you select a shared component or a dependency component in the Components view, the following settings are available on the Dependency subtab of the Properties tab:

Settings on the Dependency Subtab

Setting	Description
Matches Key File Location	Enter the location of the key file of the dependent component. A key file is a single file that identifies the component.
Version at least Version at most	Optionally, specify a version number range to make the dependency search more specific.
Matched Key File Location	This variable will contain where the dependency is installed.
Dependency State Variable	You can use the this variable to see if the search was successful. • If the dependency check passes, the Dependency State Variable will be an empty string. • If the dependency check fails, the Dependency State Variable will contain the Dependency Failed Message.
Dependency Failed Message	If the dependency check fails, the Dependency State Variable will contain the message entered in this field.

Note:For more information about dependencies, review the Sample Dependencies Template that comes with InstallAnywhere. It is sample project that helps illustrate how dependencies work, and what variables are set.

Note:You can control when the installer searches for dependencies explicitly by using the Evaluate Dependencies action.

Rules Tab

Use the Rules tab of the Component customizer in the Components view to associate rules with a component. The installer evaluates rules for a component before installing the component. For more information, see Rules Reference.

Tags Tab

Use the Tags tab of the Component customizer in the Components view to associate build configuration tags with a component. To learn more, see Assigning Tags to Project Elements.

See Also

Install Sets, Features, and Components

Organization Page