Advanced Settings for a Component

InstallShield 2015

Project: The Advanced Settings area for a component is available in the following project types:

Basic MSI
DIM
InstallScript MSI
Merge Module
MSI Database
MSM Database
Transform

The Advanced Settings area under a component in the Components view (and in the Setup Design view) enables you to fulfill installation requirements for special component types. For example, when you copy an .ocx file to the target system, you must register its classes, ProgIDs, and type libraries so that the file’s methods can be properly accessed. Advanced settings use Windows Installer’s built-in functionality for registering COM servers; setting up ODBC drivers, data sources, and translators; installing or controlling Windows services; and registering a file association.

By specifying the advanced settings, you can publish your component and register COM servers, file extension servers, and MIME types. If the component is selected, an advanced setting is made on the target system when the component is installed or advertised. That way, the file is ready to execute once it is installed. Publishing components—a type of advertising—is accomplished through the Publishing advanced setting.

Categories of Advanced Settings

The Advanced Settings area under a component in the Components view (and in the Setup Design view) is organized into the following main categories:

Categories for the Advanced Settings of a Component

Category

Description

Application Paths

Use this advanced setting to specify the paths to your component’s files and folders. When you run your installation, it will create an App Paths key for your component under the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\ProgramName.exe.

Assembly

Use this advanced setting to install a Win32 or .NET assembly when its component is installed.

COM Registration

In the COM Registration area, you can enter or modify registration information for the COM server that you have set as your component’s key file. The COM Registration advanced setting is intended to replace self-registration, which is a violation of Setup Best Practices.

The recommended way to specify file registration is to use the Component Wizard and have it automatically extract the necessary information for you. Use the COM Registration explorer only if you need to make advanced modifications.

File Types

This advanced setting registers information about a file type on the target system when the component is installed or advertised.

Services

Use the Services area to install, configure, start, stop, and uninstall Windows services during installation and uninstallation.

As an alternative, you can use the Services view to install, configure, start, stop, and uninstall Windows services. If you configure service information in either of these areas, the other area is automatically updated accordingly.

Publishing

Use this advanced setting to publish your component. Publishing is a type of advertising (just-in-time installation) in which no user-interface elements are created for the component during installation, but the component can be installed through the Add or Remove Programs or when an installed component requests the published component from the installer.

Device Driver

The Device Driver advanced setting enables you to specify whether the current component includes a device driver, the type of driver, and the order in which the project’s device drivers (not just the current component’s device drivers) should be installed.

Other Data

The Other Data advanced setting lists various Windows Installer tables that are related to the component.

See Also