Open topic with navigation

Naming Billboard Files in an InstallScript or InstallScript MSI Project

InstallShield 2015

Project: This information applies to the following project types:

Note: The Adobe Flash application file support that is described here is applicable if the billboard style that you are using is the windowed style with progress, not the billboard style with a full-screen background window. If you want to use Flash file support with a full-screen background window, use the PlayMMedia function; with this support, the following naming conventions do not apply to the Adobe Flash file. For more information, see PlayMMedia. To learn how to display the background window for this implementation, see Displaying a Background Window in InstallScript and InstallScript MSI Installations.

You can add more than one image billboard to a project, but only one Adobe Flash application file billboard.

Note that if a target system does not have the Adobe Flash Player, which is used to display Flash application files, the installation can detect that and display image billboards in place of the Flash billboard. Therefore, if you include a Flash billboard in your project, it is recommended that you also include one or more image billboards in your project.

The first step in adding billboards to your project is to create the Adobe Flash application file (if applicable) and image files (.bmp, .gif, .jpg, or .jpeg) that serve as your installation’s billboards. When your files are properly named, you can add your billboards to your project. Note that if a target system does not have the Adobe Flash Player, which is used to display Flash application files, the installation can detect that and display image billboards in place of the Flash billboard. Therefore, if you include a Flash billboard in your project, it is recommended that you also include one or more image billboards in your project.

Billboard files must follow a designated naming convention. Each file name must begin with bbrd, followed by the number of the billboard (from 1 through 99); each must end with a supported file extension (.swf, .bmp, .gif, .jpg, or .jpeg). You can include a maximum of one Adobe Flash file (.swf) in your project; if you do include an .swf file, its name must contain the lowest number in the list of billboard files (for example, bbrd1.swf) that you are including in your project.

The billboards are displayed according to the sequential order of their file names. For example, a billboard file named bbrd2.bmp is displayed before bbrd4.gif.

Note that it is not necessary for the file name numbers to be contiguous; that is, you can add bbrd1.jpg, bbrd3.jpg, and bbrd5.jpg to your project, and each image is displayed at run time in order.

Tip: The length of time that an image billboard is displayed depends upon the number of image billboards in your installation project. The percentage of the display time is approximately 1 divided by the number of billboards. For example, if you have four billboards in your installation, each billboard is displayed for 25% of the file-transfer time.