InstallShield 2016
InstallShield includes many commonly used third-party redistributables, making it easy to add support for popular technologies such as the .NET Framework to your installation. When you add redistributables to your project, the redistributables, plus all of the associated dependencies, are added to your installation. This simplifies the process of packaging redistributables and helps to facilitate consistency for internal or external use.
The Redistributables view (or in InstallScript and InstallScript Object projects, the Objects view) contains all of the InstallShield objects and third-party merge modules that are included with InstallShield. In Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI projects, this view also contains InstallShield prerequisites that you can add to your installation. In InstallScript projects, you can use the Prerequisites view to add InstallShield prerequisites to your installation.
InstallShield Prerequisites
An InstallShield prerequisite is an installation for a product or technology framework that is required by your product. You can add any of the existing InstallShield prerequisites to your installation projects and configure many of their settings. You can also create your own InstallShield prerequisites, and add them to your projects.
InstallShield includes a base set of InstallShield prerequisites. You can also use the InstallShield Prerequisite Editor in InstallShield to define custom InstallShield prerequisites or to edit settings for any existing InstallShield prerequisites.
InstallShield includes support for two types of InstallShield prerequisites:
| • | Setup prerequisite—The installation for this type of prerequisite runs before your installation runs. |
| • | Feature prerequisite—This type of prerequisite is associated with one or more features. It is installed if the feature that contains the prerequisite is installed and if the prerequisite is not already installed on the system. Thus, if a feature has a condition that is not met on the target system, or if the end user chooses not to install the feature, the feature is not installed. As a result, none of its associated feature prerequisites are installed, unless the feature prerequisites are also associated with other features that are installed. |
Project • Basic MSI projects include support for feature prerequisites.
InstallShield also includes support for including InstallShield prerequisites as packages in Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI projects. For more information, see Including InstallShield Prerequisites (.prq) in an Advanced UI or Suite/Advanced UI Project.
Merge Modules
A merge module (or .msm file) contains all of the logic and files needed to install distinct pieces of functionality. For example, some applications require Microsoft C++ run-time libraries. Instead of having to include the file in a feature and figure out its installation requirements, you can simply attach the Microsoft C++ runtime library merge module to one of your project’s features.
Note • Many of the merge modules included in the Redistributables view are authored by Microsoft or another third party. InstallShield distributes these modules as a courtesy to assist you in creating your installation project. However, InstallShield cannot modify or fix any problems that may exist within third party-authored modules. You are encouraged to contact the vendor regarding issues with specific third party-authored modules.
Objects
Like merge modules, objects contain logic and files needed to install distinct pieces of functionality. Some objects, such as the DirectX object included with InstallShield, require customization through a wizard. As soon as you add such an object to your installation, its customization wizard opens. You can either customize your object at the time you add it, or cancel the wizard and customize your object later by right-clicking the object and selecting Change Objects Settings.
Redistributables Gallery
Because the file size of many of the redistributables is so large, some that are available for use in your projects are not added to your computer when you install InstallShield. However, these redistributables are still available for download from the Internet to your computer.
Configurable Merge Modules
A configurable redistributable is a merge module or an object that has at least one row in the ModuleConfiguration table that is referenced by at least one row in the ModuleSubstitution table. This enables you to change a value in the redistributable. When you select a configurable module in the Redistributables view, the Merge Module Configurable Values dialog box is displayed to enable you to configure the module at the time you add it. To customize the merge module later, right-click it and select Configure merge module.
See Also
ModuleConfiguration Table (Windows Installer Help Library)
ModuleSubstitution Table (Windows Installer Help Library)
Designing InstallShield Prerequisites and Other Redistributables
InstallShield 2016 Help LibraryAugust 2016 |
Copyright Information | Flexera Software |