Creating Features

InstallShield 2025

Project: This information applies to the following project types:

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Basic MSI

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InstallScript

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InstallScript MSI

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InstallScript Object

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MSI Database

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Transform

You can use the Setup Design view or the Features view to create features, as well as subfeatures, for your project.

To create a feature:

In the View List under Organization, click Setup Design or Features.

Right-click the top-level item in the explorer and click New Feature. InstallShield adds a new feature with the default name New Feature_n (where n is a successive number).

Enter a new name, or right-click it later and click Rename to give it a new name.

Configure the feature’s settings in the right pane.

Project:In Basic MSI, InstallScript MSI, MSI Database, and Transform projects, feature names must contain only letters, digits, underscores (_), and periods (.), and they must begin with a letter or an underscore.

In InstallScript and InstallScript Object projects, the following characters are invalid in feature names:

\ / : * ? " ’ < > |

Tip:To add a subfeature, right-click the parent feature and click New Feature.

You can create multiple nested features at one time by adding a new feature and typing Feature 1\Feature 2\Feature 3 for the feature’s name. InstallShield creates a nested feature structure where Feature 3 is a subfeature of Feature 2, which is a subfeature of Feature 1.

After you have created all of your product’s features and subfeatures, you need to create components and then associate them with your features.