This website uses cookies. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of cookies. Click Here to learn more about how we use cookies.
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
- Revenera Community
- :
- InstallShield
- :
- InstallShield Forum
- :
- Help with MsiGetProperty in custom InstallScript action?
Subscribe
- Mark Topic as New
- Mark Topic as Read
- Float this Topic for Current User
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Printer Friendly Page
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Dec 19, 2008
12:33 PM
Help with MsiGetProperty in custom InstallScript action?
Project Type: Basic MSI
I've not been able to find how to do this yet. I've got a custom dialog box in the UI sequence. There's an edit control with a property named SPS_DATASOURCE_NAME. When I enter a value in this field it appears to be kept for later retrieval in an InstallScript custom action (immediate execution). However, if I change to deferred execution I seem to be losing my property. My InstallScript code is:
Why does this work if it is set to immediate execution but not when set to deferred execution?
I've not been able to find how to do this yet. I've got a custom dialog box in the UI sequence. There's an edit control with a property named SPS_DATASOURCE_NAME. When I enter a value in this field it appears to be kept for later retrieval in an InstallScript custom action (immediate execution). However, if I change to deferred execution I seem to be losing my property. My InstallScript code is:
nDataSourceNameLen = DATA_SOURCE_NAME_LEN + 1;
nResult = MsiGetProperty( hMSI, "SPS_DATASOURCE_NAME", szDataSourceName, nDataSourceNameLen );
MessageBox( "data source name: " + szDataSourceName, INFORMATION );
Why does this work if it is set to immediate execution but not when set to deferred execution?
(10) Replies
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Dec 19, 2008
12:49 PM
Long story short: you have to access CustomActionData in your deferred custom action, normal properties aren't available.
I could go on and on about this, but Christopher Painter has already done this perfectly, so I suggest you read this:
http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2006/06/installscript-meet-customactiondata.html
...and follow his link to installsite. I use his handy little installscript function every single day, even wrote one in c# for my DTF CA's.
I could go on and on about this, but Christopher Painter has already done this perfectly, so I suggest you read this:
http://blog.deploymentengineering.com/2006/06/installscript-meet-customactiondata.html
...and follow his link to installsite. I use his handy little installscript function every single day, even wrote one in c# for my DTF CA's.
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Dec 19, 2008
02:55 PM
There's also the topic "Accessing or Setting Windows Installer Properties Through Deferred, Commit, and Rollback Custom Actions".
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Dec 19, 2008
03:03 PM
I've read over that link and two others linked from it. I still do not have this working correctly yet. My guess is that my type 51 custom action is not defined properly. I set it up to execute as the final activity before "Execute Action" in the UI sequence. However, I don't think CustomActionData is being set to anything at all. I added a MessageBox to the MsiGetCustomActionDataAttribute to display the full /name=value but the message box was empty. How do I get the /name=value into CustomActionData correctly to make this functionality work (yes, I am new to InstallShield)?
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Dec 23, 2008
04:25 PM
The Type 51 CA should be scheduled in the execute sequence and the name of the property it is setting must match the name of the deferred CA. This is how the join is made. Also be aware of Public Properties ( vs private properties ) and the SecureCustomProperties property.
FYI- If you are using C#/DTF ... it already has a CustomActionData class that makes serializing/deserializing super easy. You don't have to write the kind of code I wrote.
(In fact the comment on my blog was somewhat prophetic as DTF does exactly what I was contemplating doing .. I just didn't have a strong enough business reason to invest in the pattern. )
FYI- If you are using C#/DTF ... it already has a CustomActionData class that makes serializing/deserializing super easy. You don't have to write the kind of code I wrote.
(In fact the comment on my blog was somewhat prophetic as DTF does exactly what I was contemplating doing .. I just didn't have a strong enough business reason to invest in the pattern. )
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Jan 30, 2009
11:30 AM
I found this very helpful, thanks 🙂
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Mar 26, 2009
06:06 PM
I finally got back to this (after a long period on another project) and was able to figure out how to make this work for a single property. How do I get multiple properties set? Everything I've tried seems to trash CustomActionData. What's the trick to sending multiple values into CustomActionData?
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Mar 26, 2009
06:16 PM
Each deferred action gets one CustomActionData, so common practice is to pack multiple properties into CustomActionData in immediate mode ([PROP1]|[PROP2]|[PROP3]|etc.), and then unpack them (using StrGetTokens in InstallScript, for example) in the deferred action.
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Mar 26, 2009
09:01 PM
Have you tried googling for "installscript customactiondata"?
The first two hits are a sample that I put together that should be helpful to you.
The first two hits are a sample that I put together that should be helpful to you.
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Mar 27, 2009
11:50 AM
RobertDickau wrote:
Each deferred action gets one CustomActionData, so common practice is to pack multiple properties into CustomActionData in immediate mode ([PROP1]|[PROP2]|[PROP3]|etc.), and then unpack them (using StrGetTokens in InstallScript, for example) in the deferred action.
So the basic idea is to create a single Type 51 custom action that pushes multiple values into the CustomActionData which I later decode during a deferred custom action in the execute sequence. I have about 10 or 15 properties I need to pass through to a deferred action in the execute sequence (user name, password, etc. that are used while executing some installed executables). All of these need to be set in a single Type 51 action?
Christopher Painter wrote:
Have you tried googling for "installscript customactiondata"?
The first two hits are a sample that I put together that should be helpful to you.
I've read over both of these several times and have imported the code you wrote. The difficulty for me is not with the decoding of CustomActionData. I understand the script code perfectly well. My difficulty is on the other end of this process, populating CustomActionData in the first place (with multiple properties). Is this done with a single Type 51 custom action or with multiple?
- Mark as New
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
‎Mar 27, 2009
09:51 PM
It depends on your needs. If you just have something like:
/SUPPORTDIR=[SUPPORTDIR] /INSTALLDIR=[INSTALLDIR]
Then you could use a type 51.
IF you have something more complicated like data driven custom actions then you might need to query a table, evaluate component action states and create a dataset that tells the deferred which actions to perform, then you'll probably want an InstallScript Ca that does all of this then sets the property.
/SUPPORTDIR=[SUPPORTDIR] /INSTALLDIR=[INSTALLDIR]
Then you could use a type 51.
IF you have something more complicated like data driven custom actions then you might need to query a table, evaluate component action states and create a dataset that tells the deferred which actions to perform, then you'll probably want an InstallScript Ca that does all of this then sets the property.
![](/skins/images/A5EADE085F77DE82FB3B14D6B307AE6A/responsive_peak/images/icon_anonymous_message.png)