Info on different versions of InstallShield

[AngeloF]

Hi!
I'm a newbie of InstallShield Technology to make packages installation, I have a first question to start:
What are the differences between these three versions of InstallShield ?
- InstallShield Premier
- InstallShield Professional
- InstallShield Standaone Build Developer

A second question, I'm interesting to a version of InstallShield that allows me to work
with windows installer technology (so can I make .msi package installations)
with a script editor for may custom actions

Thanks for all replies

[Videstra]

I can only address what I have - which is IS Professional. I assume premier has a few more features - but it doesn't have anything my environment requires. I am not really familiar with IS Standalone.
IS Pro does let you write DLLs (in .net or other languages) and also lets you write VBS Scripts as custom actions. You can do A LOT with them - and in fact I use both techniques regularly. You can also use install scripts - but I don't like it. My skills are limited - I do vb.net and some C#. IS Pro lets me do .net dlls for more complex things - but there is some funny behavior due to the way IS shells these - you have to spend some time wrestling with these eccentricities - and that's why getting experience with IS is important.
Personally I think IS is in desperate need of a complete overhaul - it is possibly the most esoteric software I have ever worked with. The documentation is accurate, but not helpful. It's like asking: "What's in this sandwich?" and getting an answer like: "Ingredients" - accurate, but again, not helpful. So if you are planning on self-training, don't be in a hurry. You can learn it, but you will get some bumps on your head and stub your toes A LOT. I must say I feel a little hostage to IS. Training is expensive - sadly I think Flexera actually profits from the over-complexity of their software by selling expensive training. If you need 64 bit you have to go to at least IS Professional which has a much steeper learning curve then IS Express. Even if IS Express does everything you need - except 64 bit.
I have not investigated the competition - just don't have time - too busy figuring out the complexity of IS pro...

Des

[Stefan_Krueger]

The Stand Alone Build (SAB) module is an add-on. You can install it on a build server to build your InstallShield projects from the command line. It doesn't have an IDE so you must have a full InstallShield Professional or Premier installed on your development machine. Premier comes with 5 SAB licenses, Professional with 1.

Both Professional and Premier can use varipous types of custom actions, including scripts written in VBScript, JScript or InstallScript. A feature comaprison table can be found at http://www.flexerasoftware.com/products/installshield/features.htm . Major features only in the Premier editions include multiple language support, repackager and a couple of extra tools.