Debugging InstallScript-Based Installations

InstallShield 2019 » InstallScript Debugger

Debugging is the process of finding and correcting logic errors in computer software. Those are the errors that can cause a script to operate incorrectly or to halt unexpectedly. Unlike syntax errors, logic errors are not detected by the compiler, which ensures only that statements are expressed correctly. Statements with logic errors look perfectly fine to the compiler. It cannot tell whether or not the instructions expressed by those statements are complete and correct.

Detecting Logic Errors

The best way to detect logic errors in a completed script is to execute that script and observe its operation. Most serious logic errors will turn up while you're developing and testing a script; however, some logic errors can remain hidden in scripts long after they are put into use, only to surface unexpectedly when the script is run on a particular computer or when a user selects a certain sequence of functions or inputs a particular value.

Logic errors can be fatal, bringing the script to an abrupt halt and displaying a run-time error message to the user. Or they can be subtle; the script executes, but there are problems with its appearance and/or behavior. Perhaps it installed files in a folder other than the one selected or it may not have placed a shortcut on the desktop or in the Windows Start menu, even though that option was selected during the setup.

Resolving Logic Errors

Once you have observed a bug or received a report of a bug, you should follow the steps below.

Open topic with navigation