Automation Interface

InstallShield 2020

The InstallShield Help Library explains how to use the InstallShield interface to author all elements of your installation and then build a release. For advanced developers, InstallShield exposes a COM interface that allows you to perform many of the same tasks from a program, such as a Visual Basic executable, or a script, such as a VBScript file in Windows Scripting Host. By calling methods, setting properties, accessing collections, and so on, through the automation interface, you can open a project and modify its features and component data in many of the same ways that you would in the InstallShield interface.

The highest-level object in the automation interface is the ISWiProject object. The first thing you must do to access the interface is create this object. Then, you can use its objects, methods, and properties to modify your project.

Note:The automation interface affects a project only at design time and not run time.

For information on automation interface support in Basic MSI, DIM, InstallScript, InstallScript MSI, InstallScript Object, and Merge Module projects, see the following sections:

Automation Objects
Automation Collections

For information on automation interface support in Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI projects, see the following sections:

Automation Objects for Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI Projects
Automation Collections for Advanced UI and Suite/Advanced UI Projects

See Also