InstallShield 2012 wishlist

[Server]

Hello,

I would like to start to collect user requirements related to InstallShield 2012 in this thread. Please post your suggestions and proposals.

And when it comes to us:
1. Setup.exe supporting multiple product installation (customization of the products to be installed and etc.);
2. Make parts of the InstallShield functionality re-usable and re-distributable from WIX DTF custom actions as .NET libraries;
3. InstallShield Automation interface - provide simple example code in the documentation, how to add components to the InstallShield project and so on.
3. TFS integration should be improved - ready to use TeamBuild automation template(targets?) and examples of the implementation;
4. VisualStudio UI should be faster;
5. Solve licensing headaches with Standalone Build;
6. Lower price ~20% - realistic, but in fact 30-40 needed to follow the market. Maybe step by step.

That is what we initially need...

[jstarbird]

Be nice to be able to read the values that are set in the XML files you have in the XML File Changes area so that you can utilize them elsewhere in the installer if needed.


Thanks,
J

[Mescalero]

I'd love to see automatic "clean up" of an installation's locally cached msi during Remove and Major Upgrade. I've added a CA to take care of this during an uninstall, but in the case of performing major upgrades, these pile up. It's almost inevitable that some of our end users (or at least their system admins) are going to complain about this use of disk space.

[palanisamy]

66.) Current version of installshield does not support to load 64-bit DLL in Installscript function(UseDLL),

Please provide 64-DLL Load functionality in upcoming version of installshield.

[NigelCook]

I would like to see a count of files for the current folder in the Files and Folder view.

[Roman1]

68. Please build in an user friendly InstallScript-Project logging function.
It should works same as logging option of msi - setups
It should not be crypted as now is.

[Roman1]

69. Please build in the possibility to set policies/rights
as caspol.exe does.
It could be a next property in directory view, or predefined IS-CA.

[Roman1]

70. Please build in the possibility to set registry keys permission
for ISScript-Projects same as in MSI-Projects.
Open context menu on reg. hive and choose "permission..." submenu

[Roman1]

71. Please define new script function for creating strings.

prototype STRING StrString(NUMBER,STRING);

str = StrString(len,SubString)
Returns a string containing a repeating character string of the length specified.

Example:
strTest = String$(5, "a1")
' strTest = "a1a1a1a1a1"

[Marc75]

I would like InstallShield to inform the user which upgrade is taken place when a baseline version is already installed. Now it just says 'this setup will perform an upgrade'.

Please extend this with version information like 'this setup will perform an upgrade of from to , at least for minor upgrades.

thanks,
Marc

[Tetsuo]

73. Ability to select (and delete) multiple components in the Setup Design view. i.e when there's 20 components to delete from project it gets a little tedious with the click, delete, click, delete...

[wollka]

74. New, modern Wizards UI with latest features, incl. Glass, new Vista/7 File Dialogs (not only in user’s wizards but also in IDE itself) etc. Current design is outdated and is from pre-vista era.

75. Integration with Windows 7 (pin program to taskbar, etc).

Looks like there were no real investments in IS development since ‘InstallShield Software Corporation’, just few fixes to charge users for paid upgrades every year.

[BrHartmann]

76. Would be nice to make the number of projects in recents list (File menu and "get started" page) configurable in IS options (at least up to 16 or 20). Often 8 is too few if I'm working on multiple product releases that roughly coincide (where each "product" is actually comprised of many installshield projects), so I need to go back to the tedious step of browsing for some project files.

(note to Wollka - for point 75, win7 prevents pinning the shortcut because it contains the keyword sub-string "install" ... make a new shortcut and rename to something like "IS 2011", and then you can pin it.)

[Roman1]

77. Extend Component Wizard about next tab with prefix- suffix- Component Name.
Component Wizard builds autom. all component names.
Using user prefix it could create component names as follow:

prefixAllOtherFiles
Component1Suffix

[Roman1]

78. Please allow to take control over xml - component (XML File Changing-
Design) using conditions.
Now, it is not possible to write/rewrite xml-components conditionaly.
For example, you can not disclose xml file being overwritten
during update proccess.
To achieve it, you have to control IS CA:
ISXmlUninstall
ISXmlInstall
which are working global for all xml.

[Roman1]

Please allow xml conditioning similar to SQL-Script execution.
SQL - Script is being executed if condition is true.
XML file /Component has not similar condition property

[Roman1]

The "InstallShield 2012 wishlist" is the most viewed 2011 community thread.
I does mean, some ideas could be very insterested for Setup developer.
There are not any critical comments.

InstallShield Developer Team:

Please file the wish list posts (#IOA-*) to track our requests in IS2012.
Please give us the opportunity to prove some of them in Beta-Community.

Thanks!

[Roman1]

Without Beta test phase.

http://community.flexerasoftware.com/showthread.php?p=470575#post470575