Specifying a Readme File

InstallShield 2019

Project • This information applies to the following project types:

In the Read Me setting in the General Information view, enter the name of the Readme file for your product. On some versions of Windows, this information is displayed on the Support Info dialog box for your product’s entry in Add or Remove Programs. Alternatively, you can link to a Readme file located on the Internet by specifying a valid URL.

Project • In a Windows Installer–based project (Basic MSI or InstallScript MSI project), special formatting is required to properly display a path when the Readme file is installed as part of your installation; see the following section. In an InstallScript or InstallScript Object project, enter a hard-coded path or a URL, or specify a path relative to a system variable enclosed by angle brackets, for example, <TARGETDIR>\Readme.txt. This data is written to the target system’s registry by the default OnMoveData event handler.

Displaying the Readme File Path in Basic MSI and InstallScript MSI Projects

You can enter a hard-coded path or a URL for the Readme file. However, the name of a folder, such as [MyDirectory], or of a component, such as [$MyComponent], is not resolved. That means that the Readme value in the Support Information dialog box would be displayed as [INSTALLDIR]Readme.txt or [$MyComp]Readme.htm. The path is not resolved because this property is merely setting the initial value of the Windows Installer property ARPREADME, and formatted strings are never resolved for Windows Installer properties.

InstallShield’s solution is to use a custom action to set ARPREADME with the value that you enter in the Read Me setting. By setting it with the SetARPReadme custom action, the path is resolved during the installation. For example, Readme.doc might be a file in the component Help_Files. In this case, enter [$Help_Files]Readme.doc for the Read Me setting. Assuming Help_Files is installed to C:\Program Files\MyCompany\MyProduct\Help, the path that would be displayed in Add or Remove Programs on the target system would be C:\Program Files\MyCompany\MyProduct\Help\Readme.doc.

Instead of the component name, you can use the file key. Do not use a folder from the Directory table because it will not be resolved at run time. The file key is not as reliable as the component name, because it is subject to change if the files are dynamically linked or the release uses patch optimization. Continuing the example above, if Readme.doc has a file key of F501_Readme.doc, enter [#F501_Readme.doc] for the Read Me setting. If it is installed to the same folder, Add or Remove Programs displays the following path on the target system:

C:\Program Files\MyCompany\MyProduct\Help\Readme.doc

The custom action SetARPReadme is added every time that the Read Me setting in the General Information view contains a string and the Installation Execute sequence contains the CostFinalize action. SetARPReadme is inserted into the Installation Execute and User Interface sequences directly after CostFinalize.

See Also

General Information View

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