Any options to include/exclude files dynamically at inatall?
Hi,
I have faced the following question several times from our developers/QAs.
I build package(s) and hand it out, then some developers/QAs want find out that they have missed or extra files in the package built, if they want to fix that, they have to send me the file(s) to be added/removed, and ask me to rebuild and ship the package to them, which could be a long process depending on. Lot's of them have asked that is there any way (command options, config files, or others) that they can use to add or remove files by themselves once they have the package? In other words, once they get the package, can they add/remove files without rebuilding the package? Assume that they have MSI installed, and I can provde them Ocar as a tool to use.
I know this is not a good practice but I would like to let them know if that's possible eventhough it's not a recommended solution. And I would like to know the steps to do it.
If you're just trying to exclude them from the installed image (not the msi/cabs/... itself), it shouldn't be hard to either transform the msi file to delete appropriate components and files. Or if you have a good idea which files these will be, you can put conditions on the components to let them say msiexec /i the.msi EXCLUDETHIS=1 EXCLUDETHAT=1 or whatever.
Adding files is a lot harder, and while our direct-edit modes allow you to do this, I certainly wouldn't recommend it at and end-point with just orca. Regardless, this all has the potential to wreak serious havoc with small updates and minor upgrades; if you ever use those, shy away from suggesting this level of control.
