Organizing Files for Your Installation

InstallShield 2026 Express Edition

The primary task of an installation is to transfer files from your distribution media to your end user’s hard drive. In an InstallShield installation, files are organized in a hierarchy: files are included in features (and optionally subfeatures), and features are associated with setup types.

At run time, your end user simply selects the setup type—or, if you allow it, the features and subfeatures—that he or she wishes to install.

A file often relies on functions in other files to perform a task. However, you may not be aware of all these other files—known as dependencies—when you include your application’s files in your project. To help you identify dependencies, InstallShield offers three dependency scanners that automatically add these files to your project.

In addition to including individual files in your project, you can also include redistributables (InstallShield prerequisites, merge modules, and objects), which contain logic and files needed to install distinct pieces of functionality. For example, to include the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) files in your installation, you can add the InstallShield prerequisite for JRE to your installation project.