repackager problem

[entopiaisrael]

I am using AS 6. when using it for the first time I managed to create a package and all seemed to go well. When trying to create a package the second time around I encountered a strange problem.
The repackager doesn't seem to capture all the files in the [INSTALLDIR] (77 items) as it did on the first try. now it captures only 6 files.

Appreciate any suggestions...

[OMSTEF]

Do you use Multiple Step Option ?
If yes, I think that Repackager create an initial system status and when you launch it a second time, it doesn't recreate another initial system status , it perfoms "system status change". So I you always want that repackager capture your setup, in the Snapshod Method => Multiple Step Option, choose "Initial System Status".

[Christopher_Pai]

I assume you are coming back to a clean machine each time. RIS/Ghost/VMWare type solution.

[entopiaisrael]

10x for your reply...
Right you are...I have tryed everything. I use VMWare & Ghost.
Nothing seems to be right.
What puzzles me is that my first attempts with the first package were o.k. all files were captured using installation monitoring.
I have reverted to a clean environment and when running the same method on the newer package a lot of the files were not captured.

[davech66]

How about the user ID you are suing? if your profile including the first time installation files information, it can also mess up things.
Make sure you have clean profile and use snap shoot method.
good luck.

[patrikb]

I may be "old-fashioned", but my experience of the Installation monitor option is bad. It often misses files. I (like many others) suggest you go for the "old" Multiple step option. It has never failed me (not yet anyway).

[entopiaisrael]

That's the thing...
I found that using the Installation monitoring provides by far a better result than the snapshot method.
I can't seem to find any specific reason for this exept a reply I got that the installation monitor doesn't work sometimes with no technical explanation.

I hope someone can give my a lead as to what can cause this to happen.

Thanks.

[Christopher_Pai]

Monitoring the I/O of a program ( registry and file system ) involves low level hooking of O/S API's and this can be problematic. Especially if the legacy install spawns off additional threads that the program doing the monitoring doesn't know about.

Traditional snapshotting captures a delta of all changes regardless of what made the change. Then they filter this against an exclusion list to try to get a more accurate picture of the changes made by the install.

In the old days before repackaging wizards I'd pick programs apart with a program called InCntrl ( version 3). On a clean machine I'd generate a report ( text file ) of the changes made by an install. Then I'd manually parse through it filtering system changes not made by the installl ( purely intuitive experience based process ). I'd run an install in various installation modes to create a relationship between the setup types and the resources. Then I'd basically author those resources manually into an InstallShield Pro project.

These days capturing an install with the traditional snapshotting mode usually works best for me. After words I manually exclude resources if I think the exclusions list missed it. Occasionally I'll come across a problematic install that will require a second capture using monitoring. Then I compare the deltas from the two and see if anything is missing and manually port it over to my first captures project.