Creating Installations
InstallShield 2020
If you have ever installed an application onto your computer, you have seen an installation in action—from the end user’s perspective. An installation’s primary task is to transfer files from the source medium to the local drive. An installation often also displays a user interface to obtain end user selections, configures the target system (for example, makes any required registry entries and creates shortcuts), and enables modification or uninstallation of the installed application. Creating an installation involves performing some or all of the following tasks.
Specify Installation Information
Basic information that you enter in the General Information view is used in various parts of the installation; for example, the product name is used to create the application information registry key.
Organize and Transfer Files
File transfer involves copying files from the source medium, such as a CD or DVD, to a local drive on the end user’s machine. Depending on the configuration the end user chooses—by selecting a setup type (in an InstallScript or InstallScript MSI installation) or features—all or only some of the files may be transferred to the local disk.
Organize the files to be installed into setup types and features to help your end users select the most appropriate files. Within each feature, organize the files into components according to their type and purpose, for example, files that are installed to the same target folder.
Configure the Target System
In addition to installing files, many installations need to configure the target system by creating shortcuts and program folders, modifying the registry, modifying initialization file (.ini file) data, configuring Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) resources, modifying environment variables, modifying XML files, modifying text files, schedule tasks, and install and control Windows services.
Customize Installation Behavior
InstallShield offers wide-ranging customization options. InstallScript installations are driven by InstallShield’s simple but powerful InstallScript programming language, which—in addition to its built-in functions—enables you to call DLL and Windows API functions and launch child installations and other applications from your installation. Windows Installer-based installations can use custom actions to run InstallScript, VBScript, or JavaScript code; call DLL functions; run executable files; call a managed method in a managed assembly; set a property or a directory; trigger an error and end the installation; run PowerShell scripts; terminate a process; or run other installation packages.
Define the End-User Interface
An installation’s end-user interface provides information and installation configuration options to the end user. Through the user interface, an end user can choose to install only part of a product, choose to leave some files on the source medium, view a license agreement, or provide the installer information that may be necessary to properly configure the installation.
The user interface can be customized to meet the needs of your installation. For example, you can prompt a user for a serial number before starting the installation to protect your software against illegal use. During file transfer, an installation can display billboards that provide product information such as new features or usability tips. A status bar may also be displayed to show the progress of the file transfer process.
Configure Servers
A server-side installation may need to create and manage new Internet Information Services (IIS) Web sites, manage COM+ applications and components, or manage and organize SQL scripts by server connections and settings.
Prepare the Installation for Maintenance and Uninstallation
To uninstall, modify, or repair an application, the operating system must have some indication that the application is present. To accommodate this, an installation registers an application with the operating system so that it can be easily maintained or uninstalled.
Much of the information registered in this process is available to the end user through Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel. For example, technical support contact information, product update information, product version, and product publisher information are registered in this process.
Build, Test, and Deploy the Installation
Once you have created your installation project, you will want to build, test, and deploy the installation: create the files that you will release to your users, test the installation for errors, and optionally copy the files to a local or network location or an FTP site.
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