Adding to Your Project Files to Be Installed on Target Systems

InstallShield 2020

You can use the Files and Folders view to add files to your project.

To add a file to your project:

1. In the View list under Application Data, click Files and Folders.
2. In the View Filter list, select the feature that should contain the file that you want to add.
3. Windows Installer–based projects only: In the Destination computer’s folders pane, right-click Destination Computer, point to Show Predefined Folder, and then click the predefined folder that you want to use.
4. In the Destination computer’s folders pane, click the folder into which you want to place the file.
5. In the Source computer’s folders pane, navigate to the folder containing the file you want to add.

INSTALLDIR (for Windows Installer–based projects) or Application Target Folder (for InstallScript projects) is the most commonly used target location, because this is the default root directory for your application’s files.

6. Select and drag the file you want to add from the Source computer’s files pane to the Destination computer’s files pane.

Tip:You can specify how INSTALLDIR is displayed in the Destination computer’s folders pane of the Files and Folders view by setting your preference on the Directory tab of the Options dialog box.

You can also specify a hard-coded destination directory.

The Destination computer’s folders pane contains a list of predefined destinations. You can add a file to either a predefined destination or to a destination that you create.

Automatically Creating New Components When You Add Files

InstallShield can create new components to properly handle the new files as you add them to your project. To accommodate this, use the View Filter in this view to select the feature with which you want to associate any newly created components.

If no features exist, you have the option of creating one when you first add files in this view.

Project-Specific Differences for Automatic New Component Creation

In a Windows Installer–based project, InstallShield creates components according to Setup Best Practices. For example, all portable executable files (.exe, .dll, .ocx files) are given their own component. All other files are added to the default component for each destination directory. However, if you drag files directly to one of the components listed under a destination folder, the Setup Best Practices rules are ignored.

In an InstallScript project, InstallShield creates components based on the file types—for example, all self-registering files are contained in one component, all non-self-registering files in another component, and all .NET files in a different component. The components appear as subfolders in the Files and Folders view.

Changing the Component/Feature Relationship

You can change the component/feature relationship by right-clicking a component in the Destination computer’s folders pane and then clicking Properties. On the Properties dialog box, use the Features tab to make the necessary changes.

Tip:To display components in the Files and Folders view, right-click a destination folder (in the lower-left pane of the view) and click Show Components.

See Also