Generating a Single MSI in an InstallScript MSI Project

[james_davison]

Hello, just trying out the software and it looks like we're going to purchase it. I've been working for the past few days on converting one of our more advanced and customization intense installer to an InstallScript MSI, but there is one thing I can't figure out.


In the documentation for the release wizard, it says (on the build tab in the release section) "Compressed—Select this option to compress all of your product's files into either a single executable file (Setup.exe) or a single Windows Installer package (.msi file)."

I've selected this, but I don't seem to see a way to generate as an MSI instead of setup.exe

We require this because, for some of our products, the IT people on site may be deploying to thousands of computers at once, and as such MSI makes it much easier. I have the InstallScript User Interface option set to "New Style (Requires Windows Installer 4.5)—If you want to use the InstallScript engine as an embedded UI handler for your InstallScript MSI installation, select this option. With this style, InstallShield embeds the InstallScript engine within the .msi package. The Windows Installer calls the InstallScript engine to display the UI. The Windows Installer also runs the Execute sequence of the .msi package."


I do have a bit of InstallScript in the application for event flow and user interface, for the purpose of backing up files we're replacing. But even so, is there a way to get the output of this project to write "Product.msi" instead of "Product.exe"? Or is there an easy way IT Admins will be able to deploy this across thousands of computers like an MSI?
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Edit: To clarify, I realize that setup.exe as a bootstrap is required for MSI Projects, but the New Style seems to contradict that by saying it embeds the script engine into the MSI. Which of these is true? And will I have to redo all my hard work as a basic MSI project to get a single MSI?

[james_davison]

After exploring a little with export components, it seems like it could potentially save me some work. However, there appears to be no way to collect a user's login information like their is in the InstallScript MSI (SdLoginInfoEx specifically), is this a limitation of Basic MSI?

[Stefan_Krueger]

I don't know about SdLoginInfoEx, maybe you meant SdLogonUserBrowse? In this case you can get similar functionality in Basic MSI by giong to the dialogs view, right click on All Dialogs and select "New Dialog". From the wizard you can then select "Logon Information Panel and Associated Child Dialogs".