Is dynamic file linking reccommended with upgrades
hi, I have BaseApp.msi and i have added all the files via dynamic linking. Now, i have created MajorUpgrade.msi which is a major upgrade of BaseApp.msi. MajorUpgrade.msi's content has also been added to the project via dynamic file linking. I want to know is it safe to use dynamic file linking in the above scenarios? should i be adding the files statically? if there are dangers in adding the files dynamically, what are they? thanks for any responses on this.
if you are using the uninstall / reinstall type of major upgrade the dynamic file linking should not cause any issues.
However, it is generally recommended that you not use dynamic file linking for applications you will be needing to upgrade as you cannot be sure of the component codes, and unless something has changed since I last looked there are no key files defined for the given components when dynamic file linking is used.
The exception to this would be non-versioned files. Since the unversioned or non-PE files are generally grouped into a single component per destination it is generally acceptable to use dynamic file linking for those kinds of files.
Specifying the Previous Package in your release flag will help you to solve potential problems caused by dynamic linking. Dynamic linking for major upgrade is usually fine. One typical problem for using dynamic linking in minor upgrade (patch) is that files/folders might be removed in the minor upgrade but InstallShield will build the package without error due to the nature of dynamic linking. We know that we cannot remove component during minor upgrade, which would cause the corresponding feature to be converted to Advertised state. An advertised feature will cause the files fail to update and future patch/repair fails as well.
